To those of you who have been living under a rock, Lord of The Rings is an
epic tale that takes place in the world of Middle Earth. Created from the extraordinary
mind of J.R. Tolkien and years later brought to life by Peter Jackson, Lord
of The Rings has been a pinnacle of great writing. Return of The King is the
third installment of the trilogy and follows the journey of The Hobbit named
Frodo Baggins to destroy the ring by tossing it into the fiery pits of Mount
Doom. While Frodo is on his journey his other companions are also upon their
own, attempting to help fight off the armies of Sauron or avenge themselves
and wipe Sarumon the White from the lands of Middle Earth.

Gameplay
The various stories that take place in the movie have been brilliantly implemented
in the game. After completing the first mission you are given the choice of
three paths you can follow and depending on the path, you can choose to control
various characters. The paths are as follows:

The Path of The Hobbits
This path has you following the two hobbits, Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins,
as well as their guide to Mount Doom, Gollum. The path of the hobbits is more
of a lesson on staying undetected and moving quickly. Since they lack the strength
of the other characters in the game, they are often the most interesting to
play as. Following the story of those three brave souls requires you to change
game play tactics and think slightly smarter. Knowing when to run is often the
most important part of this story branch.

The Path of The Wizard
The path of the wizard has you following the mighty Gandalf the White, one of
the greatest wizards still walking Middle Earth. His story focuses on his revenge
against Sarumon the White, a once close friend that betrayed him to build and
lead an army of mutated orcs for Sauron against the free lands of Middle Earth.
The play style in this story branch casts you alone and battling with your staff
as a melee weapon, but also using it to channel and focus your magic abilities
as spells or projectiles.

The Path of The King
The longest and most difficult path to take, as it requires you to finish “The
Path of The Wizard” and, “The Path of The Hobbit”. The Path
of The King has Aragorn fighting along side the elf, Legolas and his dwarf ally,
Gimli. Aragorn’s journey takes him through the lands of Middle Earth waging
war against the armies of Mordor to defeat Sauron as his ancestors had done
centuries before.

After choosing a path to take you are given the option of which character you
would like that to play that level with, more characters becoming available
as you beat the game with various ratings. Ratings in the game are accumulated
by successfully slaying enemies without you yourself being damaged, and by pulling
off multiple combination attacks.

In Return of The King you can choose to play solo or go at the game in cooperative
mode, where you and a friend start from the second mission and battle your way
through as you would in solo play. In cooperative play, most of the levels are
available to you and whatever characters you have previously unlocked. You are
also given the chance to import a character from your single player campaign
into your cooperative match, thus keeping there levels and skills intact.

This latest installment in The Lord of The Rings line of games gives you the
ability to level up and spend experience points you have gained on adding combination
attacks, magic abilities and bonus attributes to your character. Many of the
upgrades you can purchase for a single character can also be purchased for multiple
characters at a discounted rate to what it would cost to do individually. The
special abilities you can purchase allow you to slay enemies faster, thus increasing
the likely hood of gaining kills without taking damage and helping to increase
your level ratings.

Control
The combination attacks are what adds a nice twist and make this game more then
just a standard hack-n-slash. By stringing together multiple attack forms you
can create a cinema-like rush through the enemy lines. Combination attacks range
from three button combos to more intricate 5 button or higher variations. Some
begin by successfully parrying an attack then following with a stab straight
into the enemy and finishing with a downward thrust through the stomach of a
fallen foe. Each combo move is also named, and upon successful completion of
one it is displayed on screen the name of the attack, particularly useful in
hectic situations when you are buried in a large group of orcs or trolls and
are not sure if you pulled one off or not.

The buttons are nicely laid out, allowing you to control all of your attacks
at the tip of your fingers, using both triggers as well as the standard four
buttons, X, A, B and Y, with X being the button to deflect or parry attacks.
The L trigger works to arm your projectile weapon, usually bows, though Gandalf
uses his staff to fire a magic burst. The R trigger is nicely placed away from
the attack buttons and is used for a finishing move, often a downward thrust
into a fallen enemy. By pressing the L and R triggers together you invoke your
characters special moves that vary from character to character. The left analogue
controls movement and you can alternately use the right analogue in place of
the attack buttons, with a direction on the right analogue corresponding to
an attack button.

Graphics

The graphics in Return of The King are simply amazing, the developers at Electronic
Arts have gone to great lengths perfecting the feel of the game with beautiful
menus and most impressive level selection screen I have ever seen, the attention
to detail is amazing. We don’t buy games for nicely animated menu selection
screens though, we buy them for content, story, characters and of course the
levels / environments.

Each level in Return of The King begins with a clip from either the Two Towers
movie, or a scene from the upcoming Return of the King. The wonderful cinematic
openings often help you to get better acquainted with your character and what
they have been doing since you have last seen them. The most impressive part
of the level openings are the transitions that the movie scenes make when blending
into the game. As the cinema clip is playing it starts to fade into the actual
game, this is where you take over the action just as it is happening. The levels
in the game are to say the least, stunning. The beautiful lighting techniques
in the game help to portray the various modes of the environments, from dark
caverns dimly lit by candles to the smoke filled skies of Helms Deep after a
battle. The levels are nicely modeled containing small details like rubble on
the ground, interactive objects such as giant siege crossbows and javelins you
can hurl at enemies, impaling them. The look and feel of the environments play
a large part of helping to get you fully immersed in the epic adventure taking
place.

All of the 15 levels contained in the game are modeled after actual locations
in either of the movies. The resemblance between the levels and their cinematic
counter parts are simply amazing, from the walls and grounds of Helms Deep to
the Black Gate that guards the entrance to Mordor. The designers at EA have
done a wonderful job of creating an action intensive feel to the levels with
beautifully scripted events, forcing you to keep on the move, whether that is
to avoid Ring Wraiths or the stomping roots of the Ents.

LOTR Return of the King Screenshot LOTR Return of the King Screenshot

LOTR Return of the King Screenshot LOTR Return of the King Screenshot

 

[ Additional Screenshots Temporarily Unavailable, Sorry. ]

Audio
The sounds of battle cries, stomping roots of Ents, or your comrades screaming
for assistance, they are all here and magnificently done. The sound effects
featured in Return of The King are simply amazing, from swords clanging to voice
acting, down to the narration of the levels. The audio in Return of The King
plays a large part of the package and truly allows you to be fully immersed
in the epic quest.

The entire story is told through the eyes of Gandalf the White (Ian McKellen)
and wonderfully narrated, as if they could have chosen a person with a better
story telling voice then his. The characters in the game sound as their on screen
counter parts do, often using phrases you would expect of them, and things you
may have recognized them say in the movie.

Replay Value
Lord of The Rings: Return of The King features many unlockable goods, such as,
three hidden characters, interviews with the cast of the movies and more. Many
things can only be unlocked after defeating the game with certain ratings on
each level or with certain characters. In addition to the wonderful story, the
cooperative mode promises many hours of game play. The ability to play through
the game again using a different line up of characters then you previously used,
allows you to attempt different play styles on levels they were not created
for.

Overall Score
Overall Score: 10/10 [Not an Average]

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