The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

"The king returned to a great game."

For years I have been a huge Lord of the Rings nerd. I've seen all the movies, read all the books, and some other stuff. Also, the games are great, too, and they just fuel my obsession. Well, now, I think I found one of the best of them so far.

Gameplay - 10/10

When we have combat games, some person always brings up the argument, “But it's not turn based!” Well, turn-based combat systems have been in some of the best games ever, but a combat system not based on turns, much like this one, can be great and is also in many great games. This fighting is most of the gameplay, and the transitions between fights are very smooth. The level system is good, as well, and makes getting farther along easier than having to roam around by yourself to get where you need to go. Even more so the three paths are good in ways that it helps you to get you in the right direction and to limit you from doing things that will mess you up, but it hurts you by only allowing you to use certain characters on the first time playing through since two paths only has one character to play as and one of them has one of the weaker characters.

Storyline - 10/10

This game is based off of a movie which was based off of a book, and they were smart enough to keep everything important to the storyline the same as it was originally written by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, all three of these have some of the greatest storylines ever in the history of literature, cinema, and video games. If you liked either of the other two, this storyline is good for you because it is pretty much the same as the movie, but the first couple of levels start out towards the end of the second book of the trilogy. It has your drama, action, suspense, a bit of comic relief, etc. and truly does make this game better.

Controls - 10/10

The controls of this game are excellent. The action performed by each button is easy to remember and there aren't any complex combinations of buttons you have to remember to pull of better moves. In fact, I mostly perform special moves by playing normally and somehow pressing in the correct way to do the move, not even thinking about it. The menus are simple as well, but I've never heard of a menu with confusing controls, to be honest.

Graphics - 8.5/10

You have to admit that the PS2 does not have the best graphical capabilities, but this game is somewhat of an exception to the stereotype of bad PS2 graphics; well, at least to me, but some of you may be obsessed with graphics and they have to be perfect , in which case you may not like the graphics this game offers. The characters have enough of a resemblance to their characters in the movie to please me, but the backgrounds and textures could have used a little more work and aren't too realistic. For those of us looking for one hundred percent realism in our graphics, you may be disappointed because the blood that shows when an attack lands is very unrealistic. It is mainly a reddish blob that comes from the person when they are hit and then disappears, not being of dire importance. Now, for me, I love this because it adds to the realistic quality of the game, somewhat, and it doesn't focus too much on it, giving detail and causing the game to possibly get an M rating and be oriented on blood and guts a tad too much for my liking.

Sound/Music - 9.5/10

The music in this game is much like it was in the movie. By that, I mean that it is wonderfully orchestrated and sounds stupendous in the cutscenes, background, etc. The sounds of this game are great and realistic. You'll here the grunts that these people normally would give when hit; however, these may annoy you a small bit after hearing them for a while. The sounds like opponents, bridges, and dams falling and all other sounds are much like they are in real life. Finally, there are not any annoying clicking sounds in the menus or pause menu that drive you insane and make you want to smash your television and/or game.

Extras - 9/10

To be completely honest, there is not a huge amount of extras in this game. However, the main one is the fact that the cheats are unlocked after beating the main storyline, which I like because it makes sure I will not give up and fall back on cheats to get me farther on in the game. Then, after every occasional level you unlock either an interview with one of the actors, which I personally love, or some concept art.

Play Time/Replay Value- 10/10

If you are extremely good, you might beat this game in a day. However, since most of us probably aren't that good, this game takes maybe a week on average if you play it daily for a good time. Then, after finishing, you can play again for a long time. After beating the game, you can play with any character in any level, except the first, which can only ever be played with Gandalf. You want to get all of your characters to level 20 and get them to learn every move, and this takes time, as well.

Final Verdict - 9.5/10

It became one of my favorite video games ever when I first played it, and it still is now. If you like the other The Lord of the Rings games, you will love this one. So, if you are thinking about getting this game, I recommend this game highly and suggest that you get it, but as I have said before and will come to say many more times, do a little more research into this game before you get it to make sure you will like.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/19/09

Game Release: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (US, 11/05/03)