2002 жылғы «Жүзіктер Әлемі: Достастық» ойынының даму тарихы

the 2002 video game

At E3 in May 2002, Vivendi Universal announced that the game would no longer be an Xbox exclusive, and would also be released for the PlayStation 2 and Windows. Both versions were being developed by Surreal Software. However, as with WXP's Xbox version, Surreal were working closely with Tolkien Enterprisers to ensure the game stayed within the parameters of Tolkien's fictional milieu. A non playable E3 demo of the PlayStation 2 version featured combat from the Weathertop and Moria levels, showcasing the game's combat and graphics. The PlayStation 2 and PC versions used a modified form of the Riot Engine from Drakan: The Ancients' Gates. In June, Vivendi Universal continued to push the fidelity of the game on all platforms by revealing the voice actors would be reciting over 5000 lines of dialogue taken verbatim from the novel. They also explained that as in the novel it is mentioned there are 200 steps at the entrance to Moria, so in the game, there are exactly 200 steps. The first playable versions of the game were shown at the ECTS in August, with the Weathertop level from both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions made available. The competition between Vivendi's Fellowship and EA's Two Towers was spoken about by IGN's Douglass C. Perry, who wrote "the game looks to fulfill the dreams of diehard Tolkien fans who demand that their Tolkien be accurate to the books. The larger levels, various character changes, and attention to story detail will prompt buyers to weigh their decisions heavily before laying down their money on one or the other Tolkien games."

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was met with mixed reviews. The Game Boy Advance version holds an aggregate score of 51 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on eighteen reviews;

GameZone's Michael Lafferty scored the Xbox version 8 out of 10, writing "the essence of the fantastic adventure is there, and while the game does chart an extremely linear path through the lands of Middle earth, there are enough challenges along the route to enable players to joyfully experience the urgency and terror of the journey."

The game sold over one million units across all platforms and was a commercial success. However, it was heavily outsold by EA's The Two Towers game, which sold almost four million units and received considerably better reviews.

Although the planned Hobbit game, Middle earth Online and War of the Ring were all ultimately released, the two sequels in the Lords of the Rings trilogy were not. The first game, an adaptation of The Two Towers, was renamed The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard (a discarded title for the original Two Towers novel), so as not to cause confusion with EA's 2002 Two Towers game. Treason was first announced on April 24, 2003, with plans for a non playable demo at E3 in May. The game was being developed by Surreal Software, who had handled the PlayStation 2 and PC versions of The Fellowship. Vivendi planned to release the game under the Black Label Games banner on Xbox and PS2, which had seen the highest sales of the Fellowship game. Vivendi also hired Daniel Greenberg, a self professed Tolkien fanatic, to work on the game. At E3, a non playable demo was shown. Following the mediocre critical reaction to Fellowship, Surreal had built a new game engine from scratch. Additionally, the rigidly linear gameplay from Fellowship was replaced with a mixture of both linear and non linear levels. Vivendi also announced that a secret playable character could be unlocked in the game, but only if the player performed very specific actions. They refused to say who the character was. The demo featured a level set in Fangorn Forest, with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli fighting a group of orcs. In total, apart from the secret character, the game was to feature six playable characters; Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir (in a flashback level), Frodo and Gandalf. Another new feature in the game was that the player character often switched mid level, adhering to the main point of view of the given moment in the novel. Multiplayer co op was also available, and online multiplayer was said to be in the works. The character models were not the same as those used in The Fellowship, with considerably more detail for each character. In July, Vivendi revealed that Treebeard had been added as a playable character. However, on September 12, Vivendi announced that both The Treason of Isengard and the Return of the King games had been cancelled. The official reason given by Vivendi was that Treason "was not shaping up as strongly as anticipated and would likely not satisfy the expectations of Tolkien fans." Vivendi reiterated that The Hobbit, Middle earth Online and War of the Ring were all still on schedule. Andrew Shiozaki, senior brand manager of Vivendi Universal Games, commented that "it was determined that The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard was not going to achieve the strict, but crucial, standards for our Tolkien games. With that, the decision has been made to cancel this title and focus on the remainder of the Tolkien lineup." The game had been slated for a November 2003 release, and upon its cancellation, Surreal declined to comment.