Although set at the same time as the story of the books and movies, rather than putting you in the shoes of the movies' heroes the game has taken a different path by creating a parallel story that compliments the original story. It is a brave step for them to take given the amount of fans that hold the original story as precious as the ring itself. The developers have, however, done a wonderful job of creating a story that sees you following behind the fellowship initially and giving a sense that you are on the fringes of the original grand story.

The game starts with some of the original footage from the movie and throughout the game you get to unlock over 100 clips in total. Unfortunately the translation into a game means that some of the definition is lost over the original footage and in particular, scenes with a high level of virtual effects show some blurring. The in-game clips are delivered with the option to skip them altogether for those more interested in the game, but this would be a shame as they provide some good ties into the game.

You start the game in the role of a Gondorian Warrior on a forest trail and quickly the pace and the grandeur of the story is unleashed. The first confrontation is with the Dark Riders, introducing you to the turn-based combat engine. The order is determined by each character's speed, with a great little effect during the transition into combat mode with the sort of blurring to a distance used in the movie when the ring was first adorned.

In combat mode you can select various skills that you can use each round. These vary from simple attacks with the weapons at hand, special weapon moves and also the more mystical spirit skills that differ from character to character. Each has a great graphical effect although once you have used them time and again they can start to annoy. This is largely solved by the granting of additional skills the more you utilise the particular skill set. As you use these skills you deplete your 'spirit' reserve which is either topped up over time or through potions and the like.