The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

"Only the most devout LOTR fans will find this enjoyable"

I recently rented a copy of this game(about the only game Hollywood had in stock), and I didn't really know what to expect. I popped the disc in and watched the long sequence of movie clips in the beginning. I haven't read the books, but I have seen all the movies, so I have a decent idea of the story.

Graphics: 7/10
There is nothing here that will really wow you. Environments look pretty bland, and the same color is used frequently in some levels. Character models are decent, but again, nothing that uses the GC's power. There are tons of movie clips from all three movies, but why from all three? It makes the story of the game confusing. Effects look decent. All in all, the graphics are just par.

Sound/Music: 9/10
This is by far the highpoint of the game. There are a lot of different songs, many straight from the movie. Sound effects are pretty good too. There are some generic sword sounds, but you can tell that a lot of attention was paid to this department. Too bad they didn't spend this much time on the rest of the game.

Gameplay: 4/10
I know I'm going to get hate mail for this, but this is where the game goes down the crapper. It's not that I dislike LOTR in any way, in fact I enjoyed the movies quite a bit. The gameplay is just...bad.
Let's break it down. Fighting is the main part of the game, but already we run into problems. You can finish off most enemies by just mashing A, and the rest can be taken care of by mashing Y. There are a couple of times you might need to do other attacks, but if you ever forget you can check on the pause menu on how to do them. You can purchase combos and other upgrades, but few of them are at all useful. Next is the AI partners. They are about as intelligent as a pile of dog crap. For an example, in one level, you have to fight 35 enemies in a row to complete the level. I killed 99.9% of them. Legolas and Gimli would just stand there next to all the enemies, and occasionaly attack them, being no help at all. They also used ranged attacks on enemies that were right next to them.
Wait, I'm not done yet. Since your AI companions are so stupid, it makes the game WAY harder for you. Even on ''normal'' difficulty, the game is annoyingly hard. Enemies mercilessly pound the crap out of you, while your partners(if in a level where you have them)stand around and watch. You often wander around, trying to figure out where to go or what to do next. You can't use your knowledge of the LOTR 3 story to help you, because the game follows the story very poorly. Which brings me to my next point. The game uses movie clips from all three movies to try and tell the story. If you haven't seen the movies or read the books, you will be totally lost.
On a good side, the levels are pretty long and there are some unlockable characters and features to keep you busy and give the game some replay value. There is also a GBA link feature, letting someone else control another character, which can make the game a little easier.

Overall: 5/10
The game's average graphics and good sound do little to compensate for the incredible level of difficulty and crappy AI.

Bottom Line: I know this game has gotten several 10 ratings, but chances are they are total LOTR fanboys. The game is worth a rent, but nothing more. There are just too many problems to recommend anything more.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/04