"Return of the King, and an arrival of a new one"

Anybody who has read the book already knows what will happen in the 3rd and final movie of ''The Lord of the Rings'' series. Anybody who has read it has probably only imagined it in their head, unable to see it in any other way.
I can only tell you that, whatever you're imagining, you're probably far from it.
This game is one of the best brawling titles I have ever seen for any system, and that's saying quite alot. Like the fighting style of Gandalf, combat doesn't need a berserker's wild button-mashing. Rather, parts of the environment become part of the battle- you can pick up a pike and hurl it at a nearby enemy, or knock over a bowl of burning charcoals, or even roll a large bell down a stairway, killing enemies as it rolls down.
For example- upon playing at Minas Tirith as Gandalf, large siege towers are rolled by Trolls, and these towers will break parts of the wall and allow Uruk-Hai to swarm the tower unless you destroy them from a distance- however, you're still a commander, and at your disposal, besides your bursts of magic, are also people controlling a Catapult.
I shouldn't have to tell you what to do with it then. ;)

Gameplay: (10/10) The control scheme is similar to the one in The Two Towers, so if you're a player of that, then you should be able to fall into it rather quickly. Even new players will find the controls easy to manipulate. The kill moves, which required you to block, slash, and then press the kill button, have been replaced by just making you press block and kill very quickly, making it easy to deliver quick kills. Upon doing these instant kills, you also instantly move into Perfect mode, allowing you to rack up so serious experience and do more damage. And, of course, you're not limited to a melee and ranged weapon. You can manipulate parts of the environment to add some extra carnage. And if going in alone isn't enough, then just hook up another controller and kick some orc-butt with a friend, as another character. A definite 10, no question.

Story: (10/10) C'mon- we're talking about a story that was written by J.R.R. Tolkien, and is so popular it has been translated in over 50 languages. this story is, of course, going to be a hit, even in game format. Though it does skip a few parts, it also touches off on some points not seen in the Two Towers, which make the game a little more appealing to play- who wants to see what happened when Gandalf appeared on the morning of the Battle for Helm's Deep? Or would you like to see it when the Ents tear down the dam? You can see them, too. Solid score, this.

Graphics/Sound: (9/10) If you wish to compare the graphics from this game with the graphics of he Two Towers, I can only say that this game sacrificed what graphics it had in order to improve the gameplay and overall experience- not that there's any problem with it. Whereas the last game had the character's mouths moving, this one either doesn't, or is too small to see the changes when they talk. Again, this isn't a problem, since you'll probably be too engrossed to notice. The graphics could indeed have been better, but here, they do more than enough, and for the amount of Gameplay in it, you'd think there'd be less. The frame rate does slow down in high-populated areas, though, but nothing too serious.
The sound, on the other hand, kind've got to me. While the voice acting and the music (the voice acting coming from all the actors from the movie) were true to the movies, the quality of the sound from the voice acting was a little mediocre. At times, it fit right in, but you'll notice what I mean when you play in Osgiliath in the game. Still, very good on both parts.

Play Time/ Replayability: (10/10) I got the game and beat it in about 12 hours. Does that seem too short? Trust me, you'll be enjoying every moment of it so much, your mind seems to slow everything down for you. And it was only 12 hours to get everybody I played as (Sam, Aragorn and Gandalf) to their last stages, all only at level 8. The thing about it is that, when you finally beat the game and unlock all the new characters, even if they're all simlar to other characters, you STILL want to try to play the game using them, because you want to build up more and more- It draws you in to play more. Once you beat it, you can go anywhere with anyone except the tutorial stage- Want to take on Shelob with Aragorn, or take down an Oliphant with Frodo? All possible, all in good time. And again, if you want double the action, plug in another controller and have a friend tag along.

Final Recommendation: (10/10) There are only a few games in the world that really capture the essence of the movies. Enter the Matrix wasn't as good as people wanted it to be, though enjoyable all the same, and Charlie's Angels more than a disappointment- but if you take a good movie based on a better book, you'll probably, if done right, get a great game. Rent it if you want to wait- buy it later, though. Buy it, or Sam'll ''Have you, Longshanks!!!''

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/03