The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

I'm not one for positively reviewing movie tie in games as with rare exceptions, they tend to be universally terrible. Here we have a rare exception as much like its predecessor, this game borrows elements from devil may cry by having a combo system to increase the score a player can achieve during each level to increase replay ability.

What makes this game better than the two towers is that you can replay levels using any character you want once you complete them, this is noticeable because there are three campaigns involving the three different arcs that take place in the two towers and return of the King which have different protagonists in each of them. Only in Aragon’s campaign can you alternate between characters in your first playthrough given how Legolas and Gimli both return as playable characters here like he does, Gandalf’s campaign can only be played by him as is the case for Sam and his campaign until you finish them both respectively. There are other characters you can play as once all three of them are cleared, giving further replay ability to each of them as you experiment with which character takes on what level they have to offer. The story in each of them is of course top notch, following the extended versions of both films which may have thrown off players initially as this came out before the third film was released on home media (it certainly did for me.) The game also uses the score from the films, meaning the soundtrack is as perfect as you can imagine playing through the pivotal moments from the films.

I'd be lying if I said this is a fantastic game as despite everything I've said, the game does wear out its welcome after a while due to how short each campaign is, however it's still a ton of fun during your first playthrough of each of them, I just wish there was extra content to spice up the post final ending of the overall story.

Return of the King is probably the best of the 3 film based games and actually plays and controls decent enough. It isn't as awkward or restrictive as the previous games. Hell the game even has a somewhat decent multiplayer mode. At the same time the game really isn't anything too special, its an average hack n slash linear game where you fight basic enemies and there is little challenge. Plus overall the game just feels too short and rushed, I feel the game condensed way too many of the better moments from the movie, and even the final fight with the Wraiths didn't feel that satisfying. The problem is this game felt like a big tease, I wanted more by the time I was done with each area, I wanted to go through longer segments with more variety. The game just tugs you along a short linear path and you fight the same generic enemies using the same combos with your same teammates. I feel the game had potential but it wastes it and plays things a bit too safe, and it does get repetitive and is a bit more linear than I'd have liked. It may be a massive improvement over the forgettable Two Towers game, but it still was far from being one of the best Lord of the Rings games.

Considering that its a movie tie in that was no doubt made in limited time to come out along with the movie, its a surprisingly great title. Looking at the name of the developer its easy to see why, Visceral the minds behind Dead Space are great at making impactful and visceral gameplay. Whilst Lord of the Rings is no action horror game, its a 3d beat em up.

You play throughout the various fighting scenes of the third movie, following the trail of aragorn, frodo and gandalf. The frodo levels usually suck, as they force stealth and forced running away in a lot of segments, and these just dont quite fit the sort of game they were going for here. The gadalf sections are okayish, and they generally relly on defending your position from huge numbers of orc hordes. Its really the aragorn campaign that shines in this game. There is actually good level design in these missions, and the ability to choose between aragorn, gimli or legolas really made it that much more enjoyable. Its also possible to play the campaign in coop, which is a nice addition despite the camera issues it has. There also a couple of boss levels, which again dont work with this gameplay.

But the gameplay does offer a lot of fun. Its very simplistic, with a dozen of basic combos and a blocking system. You adequate your tactics to the enemy, an example is that you need to break the shield of enemies before attempting to damage them. It feels impactful, satisfying and with great responsiveness. I couldnt really ask anything more of the type of the game it is. Obviously its not trying to be the new devil may cry, despite the scoring system and unlock system. The game manages throw huge amounts of enemies on screen at a time, and despite they only engaging you one at a time, its still really satisfying to kill them all.

Ovreal its a very solid and casual title. Does way more than it should considering its a movie tie in.