The Return of the King (lotr) Review - PC Game Reviews

The Return of the King Review

As you play, you’ll get to experience several clips from the movie that blend perfectly with the game’s plot. You’ll also unlock several extras such as concept stills from the movie and interviews with the cast.
The first level of the game features Gandalf during the final moments of the battle of Helm’s Deep. Once you complete this level you have the choice to walk three paths.

You get to control Gandalf on The Wizard’s path, Sam on the Hobbit’s path and Aragorn, Legolas or Gimli on the King’s path. The King’s path is out and out hack-n-slash action; Gandalf’s path is a combination of action and his magic powers, while the Hobbits path is more about getting to the end of the level in one piece. The designers have struck a fine balance in most levels, making them just difficult enough to require focus but just easy enough to eventually beat. The only drawback to this hack-n-slash style is that it tends to get repetitive towards the end. This is an out-and-out arcade title which will keep flinging an insane number of enemies for you to battle with. While you do have several combos (a combination of key presses that result in a special, devastating move) at your disposal, simply pressing as many buttons as you can as quickly as you can normally takes care of most situations. The better you fight, the more experience points you earn. These points help you to advance in rank; they can also be spent as the end of each mission to buy new combos and upgraded powers. For example, Gandalf could buy an upgrade that increases the damage of his magic projectile. This character-development does help to flesh out the game but should have been better implemented.


Perhaps the biggest failing of the game is the lack of emotion. Each of the heroes in the movie come across as real people who rejoice in victory, despair in defeat and sacrifice themselves for a cause. Even the digitally created Gollum seemed real. Conversely, the non-stop action of the game does not make you feel close to any one of the characters. Naturally, you won’t want them to die, but beyond that there is no real bond created. This will not affect gamers who love pure action, but fans of the movie or book who might expect similar emotional content will be disappointed. However, the graphics in the game are overwhelmingly similar to the scenes from the movie. The designers have done a great job of bringing Peter Jackson’s vision to the world of 3D. Levels are highly interactive, with weapons that can be picked up and flung at enemies, catapults that can bring walls crashing down and vats of hot oil that can be tipped on the heads of screaming Orcs. Since this is one of the first THX certified games you can expect equally perfect sound effects. The clashing of swords, the breaking of shields, the scream of a monstrous troll...all of these are worthy of a big-budget Hollywood flick. These effects are best experienced on a high-end PC. Among the console versions the Xbox stands out graphically, with the GameCube second and the PS2 a distant third. It comes out trumps when it comes to multiplayer, though. That’s right… multiplayer! On the PS2, you can connect online with a friend and beat the game together. You can still play with a friend on the PC, Xbox or GCN but you have to share the same screen. Online play is only supported on the PS2.


All in all, this is clearly a game that should be played by every fan of the movie as it allows you the pleasure of being a part of the epic battle for Middle-Earth. Great Fun.


HIGHS : Epic setting
LOWS : Repetitive, Wonky camera
NUTSHELL: The movies come to life!
Christof Rating: 91%