Hasbro's Lord of the Rings: Warrior of Middle Earth Plug & Play
by Lando da Pimp

I can't believe how much fun this game is. If you haven't thought about buying Hasbro's Lord of the Rings: Warrior of Middle Earth Plug & Play then check out this review.

The game is built into the game console that is a representation of a castle turret that holds My Precious... I mean the ring. The console is placed on top of your television, connecting to your TV/VCR via audio/video ports. Four AA batteries are required to power the console. On the console is a sensor that will read your sword fighting.

Before you begin the game you first must calibrate your sword to the console. The sword utilizes a wireless technology that reads a good 8 feet away (this could be more but I don't have a large living room). When you swing your sword the sensor on the console reads your sword-work and instantly renders it on screen. Fighting with the sword was a bit difficult since the game was designed for an 8 year old. Once calibrated you start the game. Following the Fellowship of the Ring story line you make your way to Rivendale including the fight on Weathertop where you battle the Ringwraiths. You continue into the Minds of Moria. I haven't made it past this stage yet but I assume it continues to follow the trilogy story. With each level completed, the game saves your position.

The game technology works amazingly well. The sword's swing reads perfectly on screen as long as the sword is calibrated correctly. The game has a few downfalls and nothing that is Hasbro's fault. Anybody that is taller than an 8 years old may find it difficult to get a good reading of the sword on the console. My fix was to place it on top of my surround sound speaker instead of the television. This gave it enough height to read my massive skills with a sword. The other is that if you play in a brightly lit room the sensor does not work properly keeping the lights low or off remedies this problem.

I had seen this game in stores with the other Lord of the Rings merchandise and was always curious as to how well it worked. Well I am impressed and I hope to see other variations of this technology for other Hasbro licences. Maybe even a lightsaber game for Episode III.

The sword is obviously a bit small for me but because of the size proportion it makes me feel more like a Hobbit then Strider. So of course after a long day of fighting Sauron, I enjoy a pint!

You can pick up this game from Amazon.com. Also stay tuned to our Toy Fair coverage to see what LOTR things will be coming out this year.

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