Considering how hot the Lord of the Rings name is right now, a game based on The Hobbit was inevitable. And why not? The precursor to the Lord of the Rings may not have grand battles or an epic storyline, but it is an enchanting adventure filled with fascinating characters and magical lands. It would seem that the developers of The Hobbit couldn’t really think of a good way to use the license, because the game ended up being a rather basic platformer that really has very little to do with Tolkien’s masterpiece.
The Hobbit plays much like countless other platformers that came before it. There are plenty of jumping sequences, switch puzzles, and items to collect in each level. The plot loosely follows that of the book and each stage’s theme should be familiar to anyone who has read it. The game’s storyline won’t make sense to anyone who isn’t familiar with the novel, however, as large portions of the story are left out or go unexplained.
The player assumes the role of Bilbo Baggins, . The game begins innocently enough with Bilbo running around the Shire performing basic tasks such as retrieving lost items for his fellow hobbits. Soon enough it is time for Bilbo to leave on his journey with Gandalf and the dwarves. During his travels, Bilbo will encounter a lot of unfriendly creatures and must defend himself accordingly. At first, Bilbo is armed with just his walking stick and some stones. Later, he finds the elven blade, Sting, which becomes his primary weapon. The walking stick and sword function exactly the same, however, and differ only in how much damage they are capable of dealing. Combat, unfortunately, is one of the game’s weaknesses. Enemies in The Hobbit are very quick and Biblo’s attacks are fairly quick as well, but suffer an enormous delay between attacks. It isn’t uncommon for an enemy to move into attack range, but then quickly jump away when you swing your weapon, only to attack again while you’re vulnerable. Sure, it sounds like great AI, but in practice, it is very frustrating. Eventually you’ll get a bit better at knowing when to swing, but it always feels much more like luck than skill. Bilbo has a jump attack that is quite a bit stronger than his normal attack and can knock some enemies down, but it has pitiful range and is very difficult to connect with on all but the largest of enemies. Even more baffling is the fact that the jump attack is on a timer of sorts and the player must wait a few seconds before using it again, as if it were some magnificent, overpowered attack or something. Bilbo can also throw rocks to damage enemies from afar. This can be done by simply targeting an enemy and throwing, or the player can assume a first-person perspective and aim manually. Fortunately, the targeting method works just fine, as the second option is too cumbersome to use in the midst of battle.
Despite the difficulty and problems associated with combat, The Hobbit is actually a fairly easy game. Mushrooms and potions that restore Bilbo’s heath are scattered generously throughout most levels and save points seem to pop up every couple of steps. Bilbo can also buy health potions and other items at the end of each level to make his journey easier. In reality, though, if the designers hadn’t done these things, not many players would bother playing the game for very long, because death in The Hobbit occurs rather frequently and, more times than not, it is due to Bilbo falling to his death. The Hobbit suffers from what I like to call “TDJS”: Three Dimensional Jumping Syndrome. You’ve probably come across it before and just didn’t realize that there is a scientific term for it. This occurs when a third-person game attempts to make the player perform difficult jumps from one platform to another, despite the fact that there is simply no way to judge the distance that needs to be crossed. Some games handle it better than others, but none have perfected it. The Hobbit doesn’t handle it so well, which is a major problem as there are many, many points in the game that force Bilbo to make such jumps. Not content with simply frustrating the player, The Hobbit forces you to jump from vine to vine, many of which break apart after a few seconds or pull you up into damaging thorns. If a video game has ever caused a person to do something violent, it isn’t due to violent images in games such as Grand Theft Auto, it’s from frustrating gameplay in games like The Hobbit.
There are literally hundreds of jewels and gems for Bilbo to collectscattered throughout each level. These can then be used to purchase items at the end of each stage. Many of these gems are in plain view while others are hidden on out of the way, difficult to reach ledges. Undoubtedly, there are players out there who will strive to find every last jewel on every level, but for most players, it simply isn’t worth it. First, going after every single jewel takes an enormous amount of time. Second, more often than not, the work isn’t worth the reward. It may take you three attempts and fifteen minutes to get to a hidden ledge only to find a couple of jewels. The risk vs. reward simply isn’t balanced. Other jewels and items are found in various treasure chests that Bilbo will encounter. There are usually trapped and can only be opened by completing a series of timing puzzles in quick succession. Failure to do so will often poison and damage Bilbo. These mini-puzzles are one of the few well-designed aspects of the game.
Visually, The Hobbit performs pretty well. Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves look fairly authentic, though in a “cartoony” sort of way. On the same token, most of the enemies that Bilbo encounters are drawn the same way. Of course, it’s difficult to have much fear or respect for trolls that look almost exactly like Shrek, but that really isn’t the point anyway. The levels in The Hobbit are more impressive and have a colorful and alive feel to them. Bilbo and his adversaries are animated quite well and their movements are fluid, though some of the animations are comically overdone. For instance, some of the orcs Bilbo fights will perform somersaults and flips during battle that just look absurd. Most of the game’s cutscenes use in-game graphics and these are often jerky for whatever reason, as though they were slapped together at the last minute. The FMV sequences, however, are brilliant, though they are few and far between.
The music in the game is pretty well done and usually fits the theme of the current level. For instance, in the Shire, the whimsical tune that plays has a merry sound to it, while more foreboding levels feature a more subdued melody. Most of the game’s sound effects are pretty standard, but the voice acting is rather good. So while the game’s audio doesn’t do anything particularly lavish, it gets the job done.
As mentioned earlier, the actual gameplay has very little to do with The Hobbit. Sure, the levels are loosely based on events in the book and a few of the enemies you’ll encounter will be familiar, but after the intro to each level, the game is pretty much your standard platformer. The majority of the game is spent collecting items and solving puzzles that have very little to do with anything that happens in the novel. The other characters are rarely seen except at the beginning of some levels. Most of the major events that take place in the story are shown in cutscenes rather than allowing the player to play through them. In fact, the use of The Hobbit license usually feels like nothing more than an attempt to disguise an otherwise shallow and mundane game.
The Hobbit really just doesn’t have much to offer. Aside from a weak combat system and poorly designed jumping puzzles, the game is just a tedious scavenger hunt that usually feels more like work than entertainment. Players that enjoy exploring every nook and cranny of a game may find The Hobbit to their liking, but everyone else is advised to quench their thirst for adventure elsewhere.
