The Hobbit

Unlike the foreboding menace of Tolkien's earlier tale The Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit is a brief, more lighthearted foray into the beardy literary marvel Middle Earth.

Set several years before Frodo's gruelling sojourn to Mordor, The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and a band of gold-obsessed dwarves as they venture into the heart of Lonely Mountain to swipe the dragon Smaug's gleaming hoard.

Crystal Clear

The PC version of events sticks to the script pretty faithfully and the upshot is a charmingly playable 3D action-adventure. All the best moments from the book are there, such as the bickering trolls, stealing' the ring from Gollum and of course, the final attack on Smaug. Not too much to gripe about when it comes to content, then. Yet, The Hobbit will not appeal to every lover of the little people...

This is because it's so sanitised, you can almost smell the disinfectant. With inoffensive gameplay along the lines of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone and a nonthreatening cartoon style reminiscent of Zelda on the GameCube, The Hobbit is aimed squarely at pre-teens.

When Bilbo kills an enemy, instead of severed limbs, gushing blood and wails of agony, you're rewarded with a sparkling shower of crystals.

The more courage crystals" Bilbo collects, the stronger he becomes. Enemy innards are not the only places harbouring crystals. Virtually every corner, crevice and cubbyhole on each of The Hobbit's essentially linear levels hides a gem; it's like a plague you can't escape. What's more, the tinkling sound of crystals echoes around your head hours after you've stopped playing.

Despite the linearity, there's still room for a few mini-quests, secrets and puzzles. Completing every quest (please find my son! etc) and finding every secret is not always essential, but the chances are it'll help in the long run. The puzzles could be anything from knocking apples out of trees with stones, to unlocking a chest by playing a strange sort of reflex test, where you have to stop tumblers at the right time. Oh, and cowards will be pleased to know this is one Tolkien game where you can wear the Ring and run away... And platforms? Don't talk to us about platforms; The Hobbit contains more precarious vaults across crumbling rock precipices than all the Harry Potter and Zelda games put together as one.

So, cute and annoying it may be, but The Hobbit is still worth a shot if you have little ones itching to smear their greasy fingerprints all over your computer. Okay, it might not possess the glamour and gore of EA's more topical Lord Of The Rings game, but at least it won't give anyone nightmares. In fact, you'll be lucky if you get any sleep at all with all those bloody crystals jingle-jangling around in your head.