User Reviews (21 - 31 of 94)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Poor direction plagues great potential

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I want to love this game. I love the Lord of the Rings film series. I loved most of the Two Towers game for the GameCube. I cannot love this game, as much as I really want to.

Everything I hated about TT, and there wasn't much (some bad camera angles, a vague level or two, some annoying enemies), returns in ROTK with a vengance. False sense of 'difficulty' created by constant bad camera angles, shoddy controls, button-mash inspired 'special' moves (that don't work even when you try to do them right), and poor direction. Sometimes they guide you through ("hit Z to use" or "use ranged to stun them, then strike"); Other times you are left to wonder just what it is you're supposed to be doing (hit X to kick down ladders? Why didn't they tell me? Was I supposed to remember from the last game?).

The levels are so vague sometimes you can get SERIOUSLY lost. In this game the path is NEVER clear. Numerous times my enjoyment was marred by the inability to SEE where I was going. My view was hindered by dark levels, environmental effects, and the aforementioned bad camera. Some levels just have SO MUCH going on that you can't even concentrate on the task at hand. The screen shakes, things are exploding all around you, smoke and fire obstruct your view, and enemies swarm around you like bees... and the one thing I really hate in a game is the 'push along' factor. Persistent conditions forcing you to move along at their pace. In old side-scrolling platform games it would be something (wall of spikes, giant boulder) moving just behind your character, forcing you to move quickly through the level. If you stopped, even for a second, the object would catch up to you and it was GAME OVER. Though not designed exactly the same way, ROTK is full of 'push along' levels, and I can't stand it.

Another issue I have with the game is the inability to SKIP cutscenes, especially after you already seen it. When you die mid-level and have to restart, you are forced to watch the same intro cutscene for that level. Sure, the cutscene is cool the first time through. The second or third it's still neat but now it's slowing you down. Die several times and it just gets downright annoying.

I feel the potential of this game was compromised in favor of the holiday rush. They should have spent a little more time on the new original level creation aspect instead of rehashing old TT levels. One such level is nearly identical except for the horrid camera angles, vague direction and inept controls. The TT version was much more straight forward.

On the plus side, the visuals and sound are wonderful. The animation is great and the levels look exactly like their on-screen counterparts. The cutscenes are very well made and integrate the story quite well. I do like the three 'paths' you can take, and I hear the co-op mode is pretty good. It also seems this game is quite a bit longer than the (very short) Two Towers.

Almost no replay value

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First off when I got my gamecube for Christmas this was the first game I played, and I liked it right away but I beat it in two days. When I replayed it it was the same thing all over again. If it had more replay value and it was longer I would have given it five stars

(Insert Pun Here About A Ruling Ring)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you are looking into buying this one, you probably already have some interest in the Lord of the Rings saga. Since Tolkien hadn't even finished the story after 100,000 pages or so, I won't begin to tell it here. Suffice to say, if you like the story or the movie, you'll love the hack-and-slash adrenaline rush of the game. And if not, you might try it anyway, as it should have enough enjoyment for a few run-throughs with anyone.

This is a far superior game to last year's Two Towers, also be EA, and that was not a bad game in itself. This one still suffers from a relatively short single-player experience (estimate about 8-15 hours, depending on how fast you work), but is greatly enhanced by a two-player cooperative feature. This multiplayer aspect is one of its strong points, and is quite a bit of fun if you've got someone hanging around the place. A counter-operative mode might have been interesting, but you're stuck with single and co-op for now.

The game mechanics are very well done, and there is a great deal of satisfaction in bringing down a raging cave troll with Narsil (Aragorn's sword), to be sure. The levels follow three story paths, but once you've beaten all of these through, more characters are unlocked, as well as two additional levels.

Overall, graphics and sound are spot-on, as is the frames-per-second and fun factor. Cut-scenes can become more annoying than fun, but do not detract from the overall package. The RPG elements of character-building and combo-acquiring only add to the fun, and will leave experienced gamers with another level of enjoyment.

Despite some relatively minor shortcomings, you should give this one a try, you'll probably like it.

one of the better games out there

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

get this game it is so fun but if you don't like to make thousands of orcs fly in the sky you might still want to get this game. there is literally no blood and there is still the classic lord of the rings plot so you can follow the story along and the fun is doubled when you play in co-op where you fight the dark lord sauron with a friend and I especially like the special features this is worth getting if you have a friend to play it with

Surprisingly Good

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Whatever else one might say about EA these days, at least they put high production values into their licensed properties. LotR: Return of the King features the entire cast from the movies, music from the movies, clips from the movies, and levels based on concept art and designs from the movie. It's this lavish treatment that really makes the game worth a cash investment for fans.

Not to say that the actual gameplay is bad, only that its pretty standard. This is a beat-em-up/hack-and-slash affair, and you basically plow through the levels killing everything in your path, then trade in those points for upgrades so you can kill a little easier. However, the controls are solid, and the graphics engine is amazing. The main characters are kinda average, but the detail in the backgrounds, as well as the hoardes of enemies and real-time chaos really make the experience. The game perfectly recaptures the epic size of Peter Jackson's trilogy.

And then some. This is a faithful translation of the movie, but its a stretch to think Tolkien intended for Gandalf to chain combos and crack wise. Still, one has to smile when Ian McKellen twists lines from the original story, including my favourite: "Oh Saurman....Gandalf the White comes to Isengard...no longer seeking your council!"

It's a short game, but its a fun game, a good two-player game, a very polished game, and now also a reasonably cheap game. Try it.

The Return of the King is for sure the king of all games.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The game itself is perfect,except for the speed of the characters on which the two towers game they were faster.But that I think makes it more realistic. The graphics, the controls, the story line, the characters, the interviews, and clips from the movie contribute to the game to make it worth your money. Passed the game in less than two days. Hopefully the trilogy game will be harder to pass. Can't wait to see if the game will come out on the console that I have.

Uber cool

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is 10 times as good as the Two Towers. (And that wasn't that bad of a game). Most of the upgrades are Superific and the controls are simple to learn but hard to master. When it comes to hack and slash games this is a noncomformist for sher. Unlike other games of its type, it has a very intricate plot. Furthermore, I have spent countless hours playing the game. (It took me only 15 to beat it once, but the replay value is very high) The 2 player mode makes the game that much better.
!!SO CLICK AND BUY THIS GAME NOW!!
You will not be disappointed at all.

Great!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First thing you have to know is do not judge this game by its average score. I wondered why it got a lower score than Two Towers when everyone said it was better. I looked at all the peoples reviews and i realized that an incredible amount of people had given this zero stars by accident and writen that it is the best gane ever. These zeros really dragged down the average.
Now for the review part!
This is a great game! Not as entertaining as the movie, but great in ittself. Level wise it is short but the game itself is tough to beat, and when you do you can try playing every level with all 9 carecters (Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Faramir)
It is great how it can produce huge amounts of enemies with very little lagging. The graphics are quite good, nothing amazing though.
The music is from the movie. And the movies music is incredible.
Overall this is a great game which you should buy.

Overrated

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: July 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Grapics: 10/10, very good

Plot: 8/10 Directly from the movie; cheap, but what the hey

Difficulty: 2/10 Okay, here is where I start to differ with other people. I am huge gamer, and I pride myself on the large variety of video games I have played. But this game's difficulty is just ridiculus for (what the manufacturers call) 'easy'. I played the section on Minas Tirith appx. 45 times, and MADE ABSOLUTELY NO HEADWAY. Perhaps I'm simply bad at this game, but I think some other fans will agree with me that this was not nearly difficult as Fellowship of the Ring or Two Towers.

Overall: 4/10 Sorry, but what good are graphics/plot if you can't go three levels without dying???

Well, at least this is better than Third Age!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: August 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Imagination! That is the thing that is missing in games today. Oh, that's right. Back to writing! Like I said in my review of Lord of the Rings: Third Age, the thing that EA is not using enough of is imagination. Note that people! Lord of the Rings as far as I know has not had a good enough amount of thought put into it. It seems to me that they just like to throw these games out on the market just to make money. The graphics in the game have had quite a bit of tinkering done on it since the last game. Some of the characters in this game like Gimli and Legolas have had a much deserved makeover in detailing. But don't let that fool you! There is some more problems, like the chainmail links look as if somebody took a pencil to it and drew it. Another thing that is wrong is that the lips in the game when the voice acting comes in are not, I repeat, are not moving! I mean, it is pretty stupid! The good things about this game is the music {done by Howard Shore} and the tons of combos you can do. But thats about it! The physics in the game are worked out better than they were in the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, but it should be worked out even further. Oh, and another thing, this game has limited replayable value in it. But like my title says I think this game is much better than Third Age {the throw on game}. So don't think this review is all about criticism. Lets call it constuctive criticism. Over all I say buy this game over Third Age. So there you are! That's my review. Remember: "Be a customer. Not a consumer! Period."- Jake Smithers

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions