The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Good
For those who love a good side-scrolling fighter, or even a game that captures the action of fighting from the books or films, this is the game.

This game is a masterpiece as far as movie-based and fighting games go. Everything from the soundtrack, to the three branches of hero quests, to even gameplay, this game is exceptional. "The Two Towers" was a great movie tie-in game. This game takes all the popular elements of that and eclipses the previous installment.

The Hobbit quests are interesting, as are the Hero and Wizard quests. They follow the film very well, but add in elements that could possibly happen in the story. Even when they take liberties, it still feels proper.

The music does nothing but inspire the action of the game. The movie had a great soundtrack, and it's once again proven here. The actor voices taking the roles of their characters only adds more to the sense of realism, as does every slash, explosion, grunt, and roar.

Graphically, this game is stunning. The heroes look and move like the actors. The backgrounds are just jaw-dropping with the particle effects, and even if every enemy doesn't come at you, it looks like there is a huge war being fought just a little farther over the path or hill. Nothing in this game looks empty. The production value is just stunning.

Gameplay, it just adds another layer of polish on "Two Towers"' gameplay, but this time, it's a two-player romp, and this is the kind of game that multiplayer action was meant for. The Hero path is the only one that starts this way, but once you open certain features....

And gameplay also offers more than just hack 'n' slash action this time. There's a bit of strategy involved, and times needed where the player is called to try and use the environment in their favor. And quite simply, upping the character select to pretty much cover the entire Fellowship, it clears up a complaint that I had from the previous title.

Even the bonuses push this game to a higher level. They give you three noteworthy surprises at the end of the game, and it makes it worth tromping through the game one more time just to test it all out.

The Bad
Don't expect an easy romp. Not leveled up properly, this game will eat you alive, especially in later levels, when you get closer to Sauron's Keep. And there a lot of timed areas that require you to move quickly, or figure out a strategy before you're overrun.

The level where you have to keep the Fellowship alive at Sauron's Gate is a test in patience. It takes a lot of effort to make sure everyone is being taken care of properly. Controlling the characters, each member is a skilled fighter. Computer controlled, they sometimes get a little slow witted.

Since it came out just before the movie, the game is very protective not to release any major scenes from the film. The game improvises around that, but most of the footage could be seen from the second film, or ROTK's theatrical trailer.

And truthfully, there's nothing more embarrassing than getting stepped on by an Ent.

The Bottom Line
If you remember and loved the days of early '90's beat-'em-ups in the arcades, this is a recommended game. Tolkien and movie fans are not going to be disappointed. This game has so much going for it, with its increase in strategy, character selection, multiple story branches to take, and multi-player action, it takes the good of the previous installment, and goes beyond.

ROTK is a fantastic title all around.

Even when players are done with the game, there are still several interviews and production stills to look over, and with the bonus content unlocked, it's fun to cheat the story a little bit with the rewards given.

This is old-school gameplay at its finest. I haven't played a brawler this good since the heyday of Konami's games. It's simple, but aggressive, and ranks as one of my favorite titles released in 2003.

Well worth the look.

The Good
The graphics are simply amazing and they smoothly transition the real time rendered FMVs to clips from the movie that isn't out yet! The gameplay is simple yet engaging and the leveling system is not overly complex. You just kill some enemies in a level and then use the experience to purchase new moves and spells. The Cooperative multi-player is extremely fun as none of the games graphics fade since the game only has to render one new person. The music in this game is from the movies and always fits the theme. There are no overly difficult combos like in most other fighting games. The locations from the movie/book are faithfully recreated in the game and you'll feel as if your battling through a spider filled maze or a massive fortress.

The Bad
In a couple levels the use of the catapult on buildings is there. However when you hit some of the towers. They fall as if they were made of Styrofoam. In cooperative there are no checkpoints and not enough lives to share. So if one of the players dies twice or each dies once. Your back at the start of the level. There are many times that I fought my way through hundreds of orcs only to die and be forced to do it over. Only because of my brothers mistakes.

The Bottom Line
Even with it's few shortcomings this game is worth every cent I payed for it. It's a buy for fans of the movies/books and also for people who just want a good hack and slash RPG with few puzzles. This game is nearly perfect even though fantasy games were never my cup of tea this one had me playing the Xbox whenever I got a moment to do so! Also this is one of the few games with good cooperative play.

The Good
The gameplay has been improved a lot from The Two Towers, there are more characters and they have lots of different skills each other. The levels are cool, they have lots of interaction and feel more alive, you can use objects to kill enemies with timing, open doors with switches and some more things.

The RPG elements are very good too, not very complex but good, the abilities you get are more useful than in The Two Towers game, there are more strength and vitality upgrades and some good new killing moves.

Also, the three different routes that merge into the final levels are a nice addition, you can play with Gandalf, Aragorn and his two companions (Legolas and Gimli) and the hobbits Frodo and Sam, you can progress each route in the order you want, and when you have reached the end of the three you will be able to play the final levels, where the fellowship gets together again.

The music it's cool, the same from the film, and it's very well implemented in the different moments of the game.

Also there are some nice unlockable extras and secret characters, which is good.

The Bad
I would have liked a more extended ending, the one in the game left me a bit empty, I suppose that's because the game was released before the film and they didn't want to spoil it very much.

The Bottom Line
I was surprised when I saw how good this game was, I normally dislike everything with the EA level on it. A great mixture of beat'em up and RPG, an excellent end to the epic trilogy.

The Good
All a game that was based on a great film and a classic fiction story inspired for years. All the enemies and levels for all the fights make sword-fighting and archery magnificent. All the quotes like the ones featured in the movie, are amazing to hear. Although its off key from the movie a bit its great to see it in a new point of view, and since the game features a lot of enemies to fight in every level and featuring enough time, you can upgrade your characters quicker than in The Two Towers video game.

The Bad
Nothing. It was a great game.

The Bottom Line
I think that most people think the game might be bad for being made before the movie, but if they like the fantasy or medieval setting they will love this one.