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Best game from a film

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 41 / 42
Date: July 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Having just come from Comic-Con where it was available for visitors to play, this is a great game. I've greatly enjoyed the Two Towers game, but this one beats it hands down. The graphics are superior in every way: The environments are rich and natural (wait until you see Minas Tirith in flames) and the characters are much more detailed, even down to fabric and hair texture. The fights are just as engaging as in Two Towers (cave trolls everywhere!) and as in TT the original actors' voices are used extensively.

But here's the best: There is team play! You and your significant other (who obviously wouldn't be your significat other if they didn't love LOTR) can now play right along side of your character. Legolas and Gimli back to back fighting trolls as the city burns around them! (And in one full screen -not some disorienting split-screen.)

Sorry, you will have no choice but to buy this game - and you will never see the light of day again.

The Battle for Middle Earth has truly begun!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 24 / 29
Date: November 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I picked this game up the day it came out and immediately went home and played up until the last 2 levels. The next day I finished those and started going back through the previous levels with the new characters and building up my others. I was somewhat worried about the game before it came out because I had heard a new development team would be working on this title, rather than the one who did The Two Towers - which I thought was just a tremendous success as not only a LoTR fan, but a gamer as well. Turns out my fears were laid to rest as soon as I watched the opening movie and started the first level back at Helm's Deep. The controls are even better than before (althought at times your timing for moves has to be spot on) and the AI is much improved. The choice of characters is great and you never feel like you are playing the same characters over (except for the case of the secret ones which I must say disappointed me.) I can't wait to see the movie even more now after seeing how Jackson has interpreted some of Tolkien's work. My favorite parts of the game were probably the later levels (mostly because I had plenty of moves to dispatch my foes with.) The battle of the Pellenor Fields and The Black Gate are two of the most challenging and impressive levels simply because of the onslaught of orcs and other enemies that pour over your character and allies. I haven't tried the co-op mode yet, although I can't imagine it being much different than the single player game. I do look forward to pairing up the characters in some fun combinations : (i.e. Sam and Gimli hacking their way through Cirith Ungol to find Frodo, or Gandalf and Pippin defending the beseiged walls of Minas Tirith from the waves of Uruk attackers.) Good fun for all, and I couldn't recommend this title more. Only complaints lie in the length of the game (in which I just never wanted it to end) and the lack of more interesting secret characters (although I appreciate them for being there, I really would have liked to play as some other characters...but I won't spoil the surprise for anyone and hope that I haven't already.)

One of the best for XBox this year

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: November 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Lord of the Rings - Return of the King videogame is now out for just about every platform. You can be Aragorn, Sam, Gandalf or other characters on your quest to save Middle Earth!

Made in the same style as Two Towers, the game covers the third movie complete with video clips from the movie, actor interviews, voice-overs by the original actors and much more. Gandalf's actor, for example, jokes that the wizard in the game seems to be far more agile than the wizard in the movie was :)

The gameplay is very similar to Two Towers and apparently they made many improvements based on user feedback. For example, when you do character upgrades, you can choose just to upgrade the character you are currently playing with (say Faramir) or to upgrade ALL characters for that ability. That makes the upgrade paths VERY interesting.

There are three main event paths. There is the way of the Wizard, where Gandalf takes on the Gondor defenses. There's the way of the King, where Aragorn builds up his army. Then there's the way of the Hobbit, where poor Sam and Frodo struggle their ways into the depths of Moria.

It's a great preview of the movie, showing lots of film clips of the various battles and scenes. There are many very slick changes between video and gameplay that really make you feel involved. The character movement is great, between the combo attacks and killing blows.

It's not just a hack and slash, there's a fair amount of strategy involved, both in in-game handling of the enemies as well as how to upgrade to get all characters to the end point. And once you reach the end - the game isn't over. There are characters to unlock, and special skills to earn for each one. You go back through the various levels with each character, trying to get even higher scores and build up your characters.

Co-op mode adds to the fun - pair up Aragorn with Gandalf and wade your way through massive piles of orcs. If you want to see something truly impressive, wait until you get to the final battle at the black gate and SWARMS of orcs, each an individual AI person with its own direction and attitude - are seething around you. Now THAT is impressive.

The sounds are amazing, the blasts of smoke, fire and thunder surrounding you truly give you the sense of battle shock. The game plays fast and can be replayed indefinitely. A definite must-have!

The Return of the King for Xbox The BIG review!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: March 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First Impressions
As soon as you put the CD in the Xbox it starts the game. You have to sit through almost 2 minutes of inescapable logos and stuff until you get to a kind of prologue bit. Then your stuffed right into the middle of a battle as Gandalf! This adds to the sudden excitement of the game.

Graphics
The graphics are state of the art and they surpass even Xbox's usual brilliance, EA Games has another award winner here. Everything is just so realistic! The settings match the film perfectly, Helms Deep, Osgiliath, Minas Tirith to name but a few! The characters are amazingly exact and you really feel like you are the person! There are small commentaries before each level read by Gandalf over the top of real footage from various parts of the three films, then you are lead into the game by means of the film kind of merging into the game graphics, the join is unnoticeable, honestly!

Game play
The game play is even better than the graphics, if at all possible. There are three different "paths". Path of the wizard using Gandalf; Path of the King using Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli; path of the Hobbits using Frodo and Sam. You basically fight your way through Orcs, Uruk-Hai, The Dead, Spiders, Easterlings, Cave Trolls and various other evil creatures to complete your goal. You can interact with items around you as well; spears, ladders, rocks, catapults, levers, ropes...etc. You get to fight Bosses such as Shelob, the king of the dead, Sauron's messenger and even the Ringwraiths themselves. Of course you get to battle the evil Gollum on the very edge of Mount Doom. There are also levels that your characters can aim for, you start at level one and then can go as far as level twenty. As you're battling you are earning yourself experience points. The more points you have the more combo moves you get and the better you can be. There are four different ways of killing a foe, fair, good, excellent and perfect. You get more experience points the better you kill someone. Then you can play a co-op game with your friends and try to get more kill points than them, which is very fun!

Storyline/Plot
The story line is filled in in-between levels by the use of scenes from the actual film, a voice over provided by Gandalf tells you the story so far. This is the only storyline/plot element, but it works well because it does not interfere with the game play and it adds to the realism of game and film.

Sound/Music
The voices for all the characters were done by their counterpart actors from the film, making it very, very realistic! Also the original musical score from the film is in the game too, so it really does feel like you are part of the film! All done excellently, all sound fits together perfectly and the music is in all the correct places for top dramatic affect!

Things that have been done really well
ü Graphics - Settings are beautiful
ü Sound - All music and voices are exquisite
ü Game play - Endless fun, lots of variety

Things that have been done really badly
û Combo moves - can be tricky to pull off
û Beginning Titles - cannot be skipped

Conclusion
An overall excellent game! There is absolutely nothing that I can fault with it! It really feels like you are there fighting alongside your companions at the Black gate or trying to find a way into the tower of Crith Ungol to rescue Frodo from the Orcs! The graphics, game play and perfect sounds all fit together to make up this award winning game, which you will never tire playing.

The Movie, only you are in control!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: September 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The release of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for xbox was much anticipated by many avid gamers, myself inculded. When I first purchased the game, I was amazed that there were three different paths that you could take in the game (unlike the Two Towers). The three paths are: The Way of the King, the Way of the Wizard, and the Way of the Hobbit. The first battle you are automatically thrown into, however. This is the end of the battle of Helmsdeep! You are playing as Gandalf the Gray and must thwart the orcs and save Helms deep! After you have beaten this level, however, you are free to chose which path you want to take first. The Path of the King is the hardest and starts off with Aragorn, Gimili, and Legolas going to the undead to enlist their help to fight the Orcs. The Path of the Wizard is slightly shorter, but not easy. Here you play only as Gandalf the White and are involved in everything from the destruction of Sauron's tower, to Minas Tirith where you have to run around and knock off the orcs and the bombard towers, to the Courtyard of Minas Tirith where you are charged with protecting the women and children from the orc onslaught. Lastly, the Path of the Hobbit is hard, but fun. You play as Sam, most of the time and have to go through everything the hobbits went through in the movie.

Once you complete all three paths, you will be able to play the Black Gate level. Here you can pick from any of these characters (Gimili, Aragorn, Gandalf, Sam, Legolas) and you will have to fight , along side your allies to defeat the armies of Sauron outside his own Gates.

On Completion of this level, you will be able to partake in the final level of the Game (The Crack of Doom). Here you will play as Frodo and have to fight Smeogol inorder to kill him and destroy the ring. Smeogol is particuarly difficult mainly becuase he is so fast and his hits take down your health fast. Once you have beaten this level..CONGRATULATIONS!! Now you can use cheats. There are two bonus levels (the Palantir of Sauroman) that you can fight to get all of your characters up to max. level 20. Now you can use all the characters (Gimili, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pipin, Legolas, Aragorn, Feramir, and Gandalf).

As a last note...after the completion of any level, you will be able to buy upgrades for your character with exp. points! And even better..you can go through the game with a friend! Co-op missions allow you all the same level, except with a friend by your side!

PROS:
- Excellent Graphics
- Co-op missions
- Tons of Levels to play
- After you complete the Crack of Doom, you can go back and replay any mission you want
- Great and useful upgrades

CONS:
- On Co-op its not split-screen, you and your friend are on the same screen (which I like but some might not)

Hope this helps!

First-rate action game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: December 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The second Lord of the Rings game, "The Two Towers," belonged to that rare group of worthy film-based games. How many movie tie-in games have been less-than-stellar garbage capitalizing on a film's popularity? With "The Return of the King," EA follows up their excellent effort on "Towers" with one of the best games of the year. A warning to those who have not read the books and do not know how the trilogy ends: As expected, the game contains many spoilers.

The biggest difference between ROTK and its predecessors may be the amount of action: Fellowship was mostly plot-oriented, and Two Towers featured many small battles and one great action piece--Helm's Deep. ROTK, however, thrives on action. From start to finish, this game is non-stop action and adventure: gargantuan Siege Towers, monstrous trolls, bloodthirsty Uruk-Hai--this game gives you all you can handle, and then some. You'll be thankful for the occasional pauses to rest your thumbs--before the next attack begins. The game features voice-work from the film's actors and some of the most amazing backgrounds and environments I've ever seen in a video game, with perfect contrast between light and dark elements. Like the films, there's meticulous attention to detail. Character design and appearance is first-rate, and character animation (thanks to motion-capture technology) is smooth and even. In addition, the sound quality (THX, no less) is outstanding--every roar, every clash of steel resounds through your speakers.

ROTK features three distinct playable storylines: The Path of the King, The Path of the Hobbits, and The Path of the Wizard. One can play as Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, Gimli, Frodo, or Sam, and beating the game unlocks three new characters. Follow Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead and recruit the undead to fight alongside you, from Minas Tirith to the Black Gate. Follow Frodo and Sam from Osgiliath to Shelob's Lair to Mount Doom. Take the wizard's path, and have Gandalf fight from Orthanc to Minas Tirith. There are thirteen levels, and the three storylines converge in a final level only accessible when all thirteen are finished. Some levels are relatively easy (Shelob's Lair wasn't too tough) and some are barbaric in their difficulty (Paths of the Dead took me six tries before I beat it). Each character has their own unique style and weapons, with plenty of enemies to battle: Shelob, Orcs, Mumakils (Oliphaunts), Uruk-Hai, The King of the Dead, and more. Attacks are pretty straightforward: Quick attack, Fierce attack, parry, or fire (arrows and the like). As you gain experience points from defeating enemies, you can acquire better weapons and skills (such as invisibility and the truly awesome Balrog's Revenge) to combat the increasingly difficult foes one faces as the game progresses. And, one can choose to retain those points for oneself, or share them with other characters.

The game has three difficulty settings: Easy, normal, and hard. Easy is just that: easy. Normal is moderately challenging, but beatable for most average gamers. Select hard, and you're asking for it. The enemies seem to never end, and even the lowliest orcs take incredible amounts of punishment before falling. Hard difficulty may be best tackled with the game's Co-Op mode, which allows a friend to participate. A major problem with the game, however, is that you can't replay a level until you've beaten it. But once you complete it, every level opens up and can be played by any character--which gives the game better long-term replayability than most movie titles (and many non-movie ones, as well). One thing I didn't like was the occasional difficulty caused by the game's third-person perspective. Like most TP games, certain positions or angles create blind spots. In close combat, this can prove to be a major aggravation. But those are relatively minor things that detract little from the overall quality of this game. For anyone looking for an excellent action/adventure game, this can't be beat. Highly recommended.

I hope this review was helpful

--Christian Wheeler, gamer and games retailer

The King Returns Strong

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: February 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I got this game for christmas, and could not wait to play it. I was amazed at this game. It built off the movie very well. You can play as Ghandalf, Frodo, Sam, Aragon, Legolas, Gimli, and there are a few hidden characters. Whats cool about this game is you can go on different "paths". There is the path of the king where you follow aragon into the city of the dead, into the fields of the greatest war, and infront of the black gate. You can follow the path of the Wizard through the woods to Izengard (pardon my spelling if its wrong), and onto the walls of (whats the city named again? where allt he people live thats being attacked?). Finally, you can take the path of the hobbit, when finally at the finale of the game, you battle gollum inside mount doom! I wont lie, this game is challenging and you will get frustrated. Eventually you will beat it, and unveil codes, hidden characters, and videos. You can also play co-op with friends! This game is just amazing, the controls are not challenging, and if your a lord of the rings fan, this is a must have!

Return of the King turns out to be a fine game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'll be honest. When a movie is made into a video game I don't usually enjoy it. They always seem to miss something or the developer gets lazy and doesn't put enough effort into the game. "Return of the King" is a different game. It has its frustrating moments but many a time you can deal with it.

The game begins where The Two Towers left off at Helm's deep. You start off as Gandolf and you play through the first level and you'll note the feel of this game is much like Dynasty Warriors. The game will tally up how many kills you get and it will also score you on how well you killed an enemy.

In each level you've got three guages at the bottom, one for experience (EXP) one for your health and a combo guage. Depending on the combo you do (Fair, Good, Excellent or Perfect) will determine how much EXP you get. When you've aquired enough EXP you can buy abilities for whichever character you're using or even for the entire fellowship at once. Just note that for the fellowship the abilities cost more.

After the completition of each level you can choose a different one frome either "The Path of the Wizard", "The Path of the King" or "The Path of the Hobbits." It doesn't matter which route you choose eventually you'll end up having to do them all. "The Path of the Wizard" let's you play as Gandolf but there aren't any other choices until you've completed the game. "The Path of the King" lets you use Legolas, Gimli or Aragorn. "The Path of the Hobbits" only lets you use Sam until you've unlocked hidden characters.

The game has a nice co-op which actually brings me to the first con. When selecting co-op the only path availible in the beginning is "The Path of the King". Since on the Wizards path and Hobbits path you've only one character to play. You must complete the Path of the King to use co-op on the other paths. It's very sad that the Path of the Hobbit consists of Sam and Frodo yet you don't get to use Frodo. Actually, you don't use Frodo until the very last level of the game, and the only way to unlock the last level is to complete all the paths.

The other cons with the game stand out to. When you return to a level you may only play it with those you haven't completed it with. So if I complete a level with Aragorn and go back to it, my only choice would be Legolas and Gimli, considering I'm on the Path of the King.

The gameplay is simply hack and slash. There are moments where you must perform actions in order to progress. However, there are several levels where all you have to do is just kill and last for a certain amount of time, or to put simple, stay alive. This makes the gameplay somewhat boring at times. There are other things to do at least. You can pick up spears and throw them, you can shoot arrows, spill pots of molten lava at some points, throw torches and plenty more.

The game falls a little short in replay. After you finally beat the game you can go back to any level and select any character. The problem is that you'll probably have too much EXP so the level won't present the same challenge, second you just won't want to play through the levels again.

The graphics are rather nice in this game. Visually they're striking though there are points where the game looks really blocky but the animations of the characters are stunning and at times it feels like you're in the movie.

The sound comes directly from the movie so I'm sure you'll love it. The music and sound effects are brilliant. However, the voice overs are quite annoying. I like how they got the voices from the actual actors. There are times when I didn't want to hear them. Lots of times your characters will say stupid comments that otherwise should've remained unspoken. Not only that but they talk too much.

Lastly, if you haven't seen the movie "Return of the King" I'd recommend you play the game after you see the movie. It ruins a few key points, even-though it's nothing major.

Overall, "Return of the King" turned out to be a fine game. It's fun to go through at least once. It is relatively short and the extras unlocked don't stand to be high (Mostly a making of the game) but "Return of the King" is a good game nonetheless. If you're a Lord of the Rings fan you owe it to yourself to try this game.

Very Good Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: November 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ok, for starters this game has a very good layout. You can interact with many things on each of the levels. The graphics are outstanding and the levels are very detailed. Also the game play runs much more smotthly than the two towers. Its not just hack and slash you get more flow when you do those things in this game.
+ On the posstive side the game has great levels and alsome graphs. Also there are many levels with very hight detail and texture. There are many unlockabkles and the chachters are very graphic with smooth movements. Another thing that is great is the co op play. Its fun to fight along side someone else the isint a computer bot. You get a lot better scores in co op also with getting pass levels easier. Also the upgrades are really neat. There are alsoem moves to but. Like Legolas you can buy an upgrade where you can shoot to arrows at once. Its very cool.

- On the negative side the levels can be extermely hard. You have the same levels on co op and single players so its very hard to play on just single. Also the levels can be a little long. A level usually takes at least 15 minutes. So it takes a while to beat the game. The camera angles can be pretty bad to at some times.
=I preored this game thinking it would be just another average game with repetive levels. But I got a above average game with great charcters and levels. This game is defiantly worth buying or at least renting a couple(100) times.

Hard But Passable

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This was a GREAT game. The graphics are amazing and the moves & combos are just as good. Gandalf and Legolas have the coolest moves. Some levels seemed impossible to pass but with practice and patience you can do it. I was ready to give up but I stuck it out and was able to complete the entire time in 4 days. I would strongly recommend playing with 2 players. I don't think I would have been able to complete the second half on my own. I strongly recomment any lord of the ring or video game fan to pick this one up. It is a must have and you won't be disappointed. If you are really stuck and need some help, just visit game-revolution.com to pick up some cheat codes. By the way, you also get some more cheat codes at the end of the game available to you. Have Fun!

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