

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I (DOS)

100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
5 point score based on user ratings.
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Many years ago, the dark lord Sauron forged the One Ring to control the races of the Middle Earth. He was defeated by the human prince Isildur, who took the ring to himself. But such was the evil power of the ring that it brought misfortune to whoever dared to bear it, corrupting their souls. Eventually, the ring ended up by Frodo Baggins, a peaceful hobbit who was unaware of his possession's true nature. Realizing that the only way to be free of the ring's power would be to destroy it, the wizard Gandalf tells Frodo to carry it to Sauron's land, Mordor, and throw it into the lava rivers of the Orodruin volcano, thus saving Middle Earth from destruction.

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I is a fantasy role-playing game based on The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the Lord of the Rings book trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. The events of the game follow those depicted in the book rather closely, though a few characters and occurrences are not present, and many quests have been added. Characters belonging to various races and nations join Frodo on his quest; these include key figures from the book as well as several characters unique to the game.

The game is rather open-ended, allowing the player to roam vast top-down environments and undertake side missions in addition to the main storyline, which must be followed in order to complete the game. Combat takes place in the same area as exploration, and is turn-based. The player has full control over the actions of the characters in the party. These characters can also be swapped, equipped with weapons and armor, and use various skills (individual and shared), such as sneaking, perception (to find hidden items), unique "words of power", and others.

Unlike the vast majority of role-playing games, there are no experience points or character levels in the game. Player-controlled party becomes stronger by obtaining better equipment and items, learning new abilities, and recruiting stronger characters that would help the weak hobbits to survive encounters with Nazguls and other dangerous creatures. There are optional ways to access major locations, and much of the combat in the game can be avoided.

The CD version of the game features cutscenes taken from the animated Lord of the Rings movie by Ralph Bakshi. The original floppy release often required the players to read story-related text from the manual; the CD version inserts this text into the game itself at the appropriate places. It also adds an automapping feature to the game.


J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I DOS This game has some of the most honest side quest givers in the history of RPGs!..
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I DOS Combat screen - Frodo is attacked by a white wolf.
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I DOS A scene showing Legolas and Gimli talking. This movie clip is actually quite long
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I DOS Exploring the huge dungeon of Moria. Crossing a lava river

Alternate Titles

  • "El Señor de los Anillos, Volumen Uno" -- Spanish title

Part of the Following Groups

User Reviews

One game to find them, and to exploration bind them אולג 小奥 (171665) 4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars
This game introduced me to the book! Lev Epshteyn (11) unrated

The Press Says

Top Secret May, 1992 5 out of 5 100
Joystick (French) Feb, 1991 96 out of 100 96
Génération 4 Feb, 1991 94 out of 100 94
Tilt Mar, 1991 17 out of 20 85
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) Aug, 1992 10 out of 12 83
Joker Verlag präsentiert: Sonderheft 1992 74 out of 100 74
PC Games (Germany) Apr, 1994 62 out of 100 62
PC Player (Germany) Sep, 1993 52 out of 100 52
Power Play Mar, 1991 46 out of 100 46


Topic # Posts Last Post
Has anyone played this? 4 אולג 小奥 (171665)
Oct 20, 2011


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Rogee (506) added J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I (DOS) on Apr 18, 2001
Other platforms contributed by JRK (11152) and Terok Nor (19024)