Product Description

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them... The Return of the King video game once again puts the fate of Middle-earth in the hands of the gamer. Mirroring the final instalment of the blockbuster movie trilogy, the game charges players with destroying the One Ring by casting it into Mount Doom and thus freeing Middle-earth from the clutches of the Dark Lord Sauron.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King allows players to journey through multiple gameplay paths, taking control of the motion picture trilogy's heroes. Defend the walls of Minas Tirith as Gandalf, raise the Army of the Dead as Aragorn, Legolas or Gimli and, with Frodo and Sam, deliver the ring to the fiery depths of Mount Doom.

Based on environments from the upcoming movie, The Return of the King has third-person gameplay that includes immersive action and adventure elements set in rich, interactive levels. An all-new multiplayer co-op mode will let players form their own Fellowship before embarking on their journey through Middle-earth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9152 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2003-11-14
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platforms: Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review
Bringing familiar faces and locations from the hit film, EA's tie-in game The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King could be easily written off at first glance as a simple cash-in. It's therefore a very pleasant surprise to find such an addictive and high quality game nestling at the heart of it all.

The developers have, as with the enjoyable Two Towers tie-in, opted for a beat-'em-up in the style of old classics such as Golden Axe. It proves to be a wise choice. Seamlessly incorporating some of the finest cinematic moments from the film, the game is a frenetic, rip-roaring and hugely entertaining affair. And surprisingly, it's a well-thought-through and highly challenging one too. The gameplay rewards the player willing to try things other than the same old moves, and through a series of combos and upgrades, it constantly pushes you onward. It's no one-weekend wonder either, with a healthy long-term challenge packed in.

Downers? A couple of levels don't quite reach the standards set by the game's best, and the toughness of the challenge may also deter more casual gamers. They'd be really missing out though, for not only is Return of the King one of the best movie tie-ins of recent times--certainly eclipsing the aforementioned Two Towers title--it's a tremendously enjoyable game in its own right. It's just a shame now that EA have run out of films and books, as we'd happily thirst for another instalment 12 months down the line. Best make the most of this one, then... --Simon Brew

Customer Reviews

Well worth buying
I am overall very impressed with this game, the graphics are excellent, combat looks impressive and yet is not too hard to carry out, levels have been well designed and integrated with the plot. The story portrayed in the game does deviate slightly from the movie at more than one time however this is essential to ensure the game is fun. Each new level is introduced using footage from the films and the voices of the characters have been done by the actors from the film, even the film soundtrack has been used.

Characters you start with are Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. There are also three unlockables available when you have completed all the missions. As you kill enemies you gain experience points for your character, which can then be exchanged for new abilities or upgrades, these are usually combo attacks that you can use to kill enemies quicker.

One thing that did strike me as strange was that the game despite having only fifteen levels came on three disks. This is explained by the fact that the game contains exclusive interviews with cast members which must take up a lot of space. It should also be mentioned that one or two of the levels are rather short. In particular the first level at Helm's deep.

This game contains 15 highly interactive levels, 12 of these I thought were excellent, 2 of them were good, and one level which was consequently the last level of the main missions was slightly boring. The level which I thought was boring is called the crack of doom and basically you have to push gollum off the edge of the platform, this in itself isn't so hard except that you have to do it six times. The two levels that I would rate good were in themselves excellent levels the problem with them being they were exceptionally hard and you find yourself replaying them many times until they start to become annoying (Incidentally there aren't many check points so your patience with a level is often tested to the limit.) My favourite level was Cirith Ungol where you play as Sam and have to battle your way through the tower to find Frodo.

The only other thing that should be mentioned is the camera which seems to end up looking from odd angles and seems to never look in certain directions, probably implemented so that the game designers didn't need to design walls or scenery for certain parts of the levels. Altogether a game well worth buying.

A truly fan-spanking-tastic game!
I'd pre-ordered the game about a month ago (being a huge LOTR fan) and it was definitely worth the wait! The game-play is fantistic and it's great to get the opportunity to use so many different characters. The movie to game transition is extremely fluid, providing characters that really do look like the actors! It's a lot more story-driven than the Two Towers game, which is ideal for someone like me who loves the original book and not just the battle scenes (although they were great!) I must admit it's not easy, but it's not a game that you want to complete straight away.
I really can't recomend this game enough. If you love adventure - it's for you, if you love the book and the film - it's for you, and if you just like killing things - it's for you! Give it a go and believe me, you'll be hooked!

Return of the King (PC)
The game looks brilliant, and for the first 10 minutes you will sit in awe with your mouth wide open.

However after this amount of time you start to realise the failings of this game.

If you are after a true RPG don't bother. The upgrades you achieve for your character come in the form of "combo" moves which are reminiscent of Tekken style games, however given the 3D nature of the game, it is often very difficult to pull off these moves.

Additionally, there is no way to save the game in the midst of a level. As the levels are quite big, it's really annoying having to go back to the start of the level when you restart the game.

This could have been a truly amazing game on the PC, but it seems to be a straight conversion from a console. Hinting at the joypad connection, the mouse is pretty redundant in this game and I quickly ditched it for keyboard only.

If you are thinking of purchasing this game, my personal advice would be to wait a few weeks and pick up a pre-owned copy, as there will definitely be a glut of second hand games available when people like me give up and try to recoup their losses.