Troubles of Middle Earth

Details: Category: Computer; By The Fury; 05.Jan; Hits: 9617

System Requirements 386 or faster 2MB or more RAM Linux, MacOS, Win CE 2.0, WinCE PPC, Win95 and above, SPARC, SUN, BEOS, and DOS Introduction TOME is a free game based on the ancient games Rogue and Moria. It is set in the Lord of the Rings universe, so you will find enemies like balrogs, dragons, hobbits, Gollum, and Farmer Maggot?s dogs. In case you are wondering, TOME stands for Troubles of Middle Earth.

Gameplay = B

The game consists of building up your characters strength so that you can destroy Sauron, The Ring, and Morgoth. There are quite a few towns that you can visit. Some of them have shops that can identify items for you, and other shops let you use the great eagles for transportation. You can dig holes in the wall to make a new path for your character, drink potions to heal (or harm) you, read scrolls to cause a massive effect, or just hack away with one of the many different types of weapons. The monsters are varied, and range from weak to very powerful. A few of them can effortlessly destroy even the most powerful player. As you wander along, you have to keep track of how much longer you light will last, and how hungry you are. As you get hungry, you need to eat some food, so that you don?t die. The numerous dungeons are pulled from the Lord of the Rings. You can fight your way through the barrow-downs, Mordor, Moria, Angband, Erebor and many more. Each of the dungeons has monsters that you would expect to find there like in the books. One thing that is frustrating about the gameplay is that you have only one life. You can only save your game when you get out. If you die, your savefile is wiped, and you have to start over. Granted, the game is trying to be realistic, but it still is a bit frustrating. It does, however, add to the challenge.

Graphics = F

The graphics are not that great. They are, depending on what mode you pick, either ascii graphics, or small icons. Monsters are represented by letters or icons, again depending on what setting you pick.

Sound = NA

There is no sound in this game.

Stability = A

This is a very stable game, and it never crashed on me.

Controls = A

The controls are simple. Arrows move your guy around, and various other keys allow you to interact with the environment of the game.

Appropriateness

This game is violent, involving killing thousands upon thousands of monsters. However there is no blood. If you manage to hit an enemy hard enough, a comment is displayed that depending on how hard you hit the guy, it may be a bit violent. In order to remove that it is relatively simple just to modify the text files in the FILE directory. There is magic in the game, however, it is not necessary to use it, and it is set up similar to the magic in Tolkein?s book. Some of the enemy AI uses against you. There are magic rings and staffs, which are used in the same way as in LotR. Some weapons are ?cursed? and they damage your character. To be fair though, there were many cursed weapons in LotR, such as the blade that could cut iron in The Silmarillion, and the Witch-king?s sword. Also, there is necromancy, however, it isn?t necessary to use it. The last little bit of ?junk? is that you can get scrolls with elvish or morgul words that either help your guy or damage him. While not directly from the books, it is similar to Frodo calling out words in Elvish while in Cirith Ungol. Balrogs are referred to as demons repeatedly, like they were in the book. In the base game, there are other monsters referred to as demons, however, the THEME mod or my mod FuryMod removes them. Some may be offended that orcs and trolls are portrayed as being stupid with low intelligence. J On the positive side, if you do decide to keep the ring, the entire world is destroyed, and everything that you have gained is destroyed. demonstrating that evil doesn?t pay. There is also a good moral lesson near the end of the game, which I can?t exactly share without spoiling the ending. All I will say is that you have a choice whether you want to eliminate evil forever, or just for a time.

Conclusion

This is a fun and addictive game if the magic and violence doesn?t bother you, and if you can get past the graphics, or lack thereof. It is free, so give it a try. Look for me in the TOME forums as The Fury. Appropriateness overall score = 47/50 RPG Violence (This is where you enter a command and watch it happen Ex. Final Fantasy) (-3 pts) Minor Swear Words are used throughout the game (-2.5 pts) Borderline magic (hard to tell if occult) is used by player. (-3.5 pts) This game shows the consequences of evil and/or messing with the occult. (+3 pts) The story in this game delivers a good moral lesson. (+3 pts) Gameplay = 40/50