(Editor's Note: This review may feature small hints to the plot of the Return of the King film, which could be interpreted to be spoilers. PALGN makes no apologies for this. If you've not seen the movie or read the book yet, proceed at your own risk)
An Old Alliance
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is the third and final part of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The fellowship of the ring has split into three different groups, all headed in different directions, each having an important role in the destruction of the Ring of Power. The Hobbits, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee are headed to the fiery Mount Doom inside Mordor to destroy the ring once and for all. The Wizard, Gandalf the White journeys to Gondor to rally the remaining men to put up a fight against the forces from Mordor. Finally, the trio of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas make their way into the depths of a mountain to make an undead army honour their oath to Isildur, and fight along side men. The game reflects this by splitting into three different paths - the path of the Hobbits, the path of the Wizard and the path of the King.
Return of the King is structured very similarly to The Two Towers, but has the three aforementioned paths instead of one. All three paths must be completed to finish the game, though you can make it a fair way through each path before you have to jump onto another. The path of the Wizard and Hobbit only allow you to use one character to begin with (Gandalf and Sam), but the path of the King allows you to use three (Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli). Once you complete the game, you can use pretty much any character on any path, as well as a few unlockable characters.
Little has changed in terms of gameplay, with Return of the King playing virtually identically to last year's effort. This isn't a bad thing, as The Two Towers has been one of the best movie tie-ins in recent times. Return of the King does add some minor improvements, such as new combos and the ability to purchase universal upgrades, but the major improvement has been the addition of the co-operative mode. Co-operative mode brings back a level exhilaration that has been lost for the past few years, as well as a sense of urgency, teamwork and achievement. Campaigns played in co-operative are separate to those played in single player, which may be a blessing or a curse; depending on how much you enjoy a challenge, or how often you have a teammate.
Longevity is still a major issue in Return of the King. There's still a stack of interviews with developers, crew and actors, design sketches and other Easter eggs, as well as character upgrades and the co-operative mode to extend play time, but the main game is still over relatively quickly - no more than about 8 hours the first time through for a player of moderate skill. This problem leads to Return of the King becoming more of "the perfect rental" rather than a recommended purchase.
Elvish Beauty
Return of the King retains the gritty, realistic look of The Two Towers, with the same film footage to game graphics transitions that made the previous game stand out. Just about everything has a similar look to The Two Towers, from character modeling and animation to the art style and general look of the stages. The level layout is just as good as the previous game, with some fantastic looking locales such as Miras Tirith, the Palinor fields and inside Mount Doom. There are more enhanced special effects in areas such as lighting and particle effects. There is also a more epic feeling coming across in some of the later battles, due to the sheer size and numbers of the opponents on the battlefield. Return of the King's framerate is much smoother than that of The Two Towers, but there are still minor drops. Return of the King doesn't feature support for 60 Hz mode, continuing the EA tradition.
Howard Shore's composition from the films forms the basis of the soundtrack for Return of the King, just as it did in The Two Towers. The soundtrack comes together with the sound effects to bring across a chilling atmosphere, and when combined with surround sound support, you'll feel like you're in Middle Earth, on the battlefields with the rest of the fellowship. The entire cast of the film has lent their voices to the game once again - a professional cast combined with a good variety of dialog dramatically enhances the quality of the voice acting.
Our Precious
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is every bit as good as last year's game, The Two Towers, but improves on it in quite a few areas. Unfortunately, there are still a few problems that needed to be addressed, such as the overall length and difficulty of the game. So, while Return of the King is a great experience - a game we think that everyone should play - it only offers enough content for one or two rentals. This basically means that Return of the King is the perfect rental. Big fans of the movies or the Tolkien canon may be tempted to make a purchase, and I wouldn't dissuade them, as Return of the King provides the quintessential Lord of the Rings videogame experience.
Loading...
