The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Score: 96% ESRB: Teen Publisher: EA Games Developer: Stormfront Studios Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 2 (2 w/ Network Adapter - Broadband Only) Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Those are the only two words that can describe the audio/video experience present in EA's The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Not only does everything about the game look amazing, but you'll be blown away by the combination of special effects and the sheer amount of action happening on screen as you play. With explosions, magic and an incredible amount of enemies to dispatch, it won't matter how long you've played the game, because each new level is another amazing experience. Return of the King's audio is no slouch either. Packing Dolby Surround Pro Logic II and THX certification, you'll continuously be surrounded by the fantasy world that many of us have come to love. Even simple things like swords clanging come through crystal clear. But when you're heavy in battle, the presence of Orcs and other baddies will not only be seen, but also heard. Then, just when you didn't think it could get any better, massive explosions rock Middle Earth even more.
Gameplay: In the same way that the movies give off an 'awe factor', Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is also a jaw-dropping experience. For starters, you'll be treated to a great deal of video clips from the films. But with RotK, you won't just watch the movies, you'll play them! As each live-action clip proceeds, it eventually morphs into the game environment. Then, before you know it, you'll be in total control of your character and be on an instant mission of hacking and slashing. Picking up from and incorporating the movie trilogy, Return of the King is a fantastic game of epic proportions. Throughout the game, you will have the choice to take on the path of the Wizard, the Hobbit, or the King. Each path has its unique gameplay experience due to the storyline, but ultimately what RotK comes down to is the feeling of you against the world as hundreds of enemies will attack you on each level. The game has a lot of action by default, but also incorporates a small amount of role-playing by way of the Experience Points. As you progress, you will level up and be able to purchase additional skills to help you and your Fellowship in its journey to save Middle Earth. Each character has his unique abilities, so leveling up all characters along the way is essential. In all, there are 9 playable characters in Return of the King, including fan favorites like Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Sam, Frodo, and the wizard Gandalf. Quite possibly the best feature in the game, however, is the ability to form your own Fellowship of the Ring with a friend either on a single PlayStation 2, or via a broadband only Internet connection with someone in cyberspace. Teaming up is such a great experience, you'll soon be dispatching so many enemies that you'll certainly lose track of the body count. What makes this partnership so great is that it is not split-screen, so working together to move through the hordes of enemies will take great communication. Without teamwork, RotK is way too difficult, so making your way from Helm's Deep to the Crack of Doom will next to impossible.
Difficulty: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King can turn boys into men; girls into women. It may even put hair on your chest (let's just hope not for the women). The experience of slaughtering the ridiculous amount of enemies required to get through the game is overwhelming, to say the very least. In fact, one could say that RotK is downright hard! And, as frustrating as it is to replay some missions over and over, the satisfaction of finally conquering them is well worth the effort. At times it feels like you are alone in the world, trying to keep enemies at bay, only to realize that they don't ever give up. Fortunately, along the way you will receive help not only from your Fellowship, but also from outside sources, including Ents that use their size and strength to battle the evil that lurks within. Unfortunately, the goals of each level aren't always clearly marked or stated, so sometimes you'll have to take on a trial and error approach until you are sure what your exact mission is.
Game Mechanics: The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is a great game, with a very good setup on the technical end. Although the game requires a lot of flat out hacking and slashing, you can also perform specialized moves (which must be purchased) that can sometimes require certain combinations of buttons. While this in itself can easily be learned, thinking of and acting out these button combinations while taking on 10 Orcs at once can take some getting used to. Return of the King is an overly outstanding game with very few flaws to speak of. The difficulty can be intense at times ... okay, most of the time ... but this adds to an otherwise fairly short game. The ability to import characters from other memory cards adds greatly to the multiplayer experience too, so that each player can use his or her character from the great single player game. For fans of The Lord of the Rings, RotK is a must-own. For fans of great action games, RotK is a must-own. In other words, unless you can't stand either (in which case you should at least rent it), Return of the King is a must-own.
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
NBA Live 2004 NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona