The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

"The King has Returned."

This is the newest Lord of the Rings game from EA. It follows on from the Two Towers and this game is even better as it has more everything, more characters, more levels and more story. So let us begin the review.

Story 10/10

It is based on the greatest story ever written so of course I am going to give it the full 10. The game starts of from the battle of Helms Deep playing as Gandalf this is the tutorial level. There are 3 separate stories to follow in the game as well they are the kings path, the hobbits path and the wizards path. You can do each path on their own or mix and match, although each path has its own levels.

Graphics 10/10

Simply breath taking the moment you are thrown into battle at Helms Deep in the tutorial level it is brilliant. The camera angles are slightly dodgy sometimes although you can learn to live around this. There are so many different enemies this time around and each of them has had lots of work put into them to make them brilliant. The characters you play as are highly detailed as well and each has their own weapon. So for Graphics I shall give 10/10.

Sound 9/10

Possibly the worst thing in the game and it still got a 9. The sound is a let down because although the music suits the moment it does get a bit annoying when you are fighting the countless enemies. This however is not a problem if you like the Lord of the rings music, however I do not. There is also the sword noises, it makes you feel as though you are really there in the action. The actors from the film all lend their voices to this brilliant game. so sound gets 9/10.

Gameplay 10/10

This game probably has the best gameplay ever. When you enter the tutorial it only tells you what to do at the top right hand corner of the screen and you are not limited to what it says, you do what you want. The levels however are a bit linear but there are lots of enemies on these paths. The addition of extra characters also makes the game good. You can now choose which path you take so this makes a lot more levels. It does follow the story of the new film, so if you do not want it spoiled I suggest you do not buy it. It does however include clips from the film and you will want to see it straight away.

Replay Value 10/10

Once you have completed it you will want to play it again, maybe through the two towers again as well.

Rent or Buy?

Buy it. Do not rent it you will not complete it when you have rented it. If you do rent it buy it after. You will want to play it again and again. So buying it could work out cheaper.

Final Score 10/10 Perfect

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/23/03