The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Hands-On

It's doubtful that any recent game based on a movie has been as eagerly anticipated as Electronic Arts' upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The game covers the final film in Peter Jackson's stunning adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic and comes hot on the heels of last year's excellent The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers game, which covered the first two entries in the trilogy. This year's game reflects several changes, both in development and gameplay, that improve on the solid foundation provided by The Two Towers. In terms of behind-the-scenes changes, EA has moved development to an internal studio. Last year's game was developed by Stormfront Studios, which is making use of an all-new graphics engine. As far as what this means for the game, you'll notice improved graphics, gameplay, and, most significantly, features. EA has confirmed that the PlayStation 2 version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will offer an online mode that will let you play online with a friend. We recently had the opportunity to get a closer look at both the single-player and online co-op modes, which served to drive our anticipation for the game to new heights.

Gandalf is pretty spry for having been recently deceased.

As mentioned, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will cover the final installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The game will feature a slightly different structure from the first game. You will now have three routes through the game: the wizard's path, the king's path, and the path of the hobbits. Each will focus on one set of the game's playable characters. This time out you'll be able to play as Gandalf, Sam, Frodo, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. The first time you go through the various levels in each path, you'll have to play through as the characters that are specific to each level. However, as you clear levels you'll be able to go back and play through with the other characters. In addition, you'll be able to open up three additional characters and hidden playable levels as you go through the game. (An interesting side note: You'll be able to unlock features a bit more quickly in the online co-op mode than you will in the single-player game.) You'll also find the same assortment of DVD-style extra features such as cast interviews and art galleries to unlock. The game's narrative has been shaped to focus on Gandalf's role in the events from the films, positioning him as the architect of many key incidents to ensure that Sauron is kept too busy to realize that Frodo and Sam are on their way to destroy the ring.

The game does a fine job of re-creating the insane battle environments.

The gameplay has probably seen the most tweaks, thanks to an improved fighting system that benefits from a deeper use of the existing moves, more animation, new moves, and a refined upgrade system. The game uses the same button layout as its predecessor, but the control feels a bit more responsive, due in part to the addition of more animation. Each character will have unique special abilities that you'll trigger by holding down all the shoulders buttons. Gandalf will have a temporary shield that protects him from harm and damages enemies that come in contact with it. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli will gain a momentum boost that will let them fill up their momentum meter more quickly, allowing them to perform one-hit perfect kills when it's full. Finally, Sam and Frodo will be able to use their elven cloaks for temporary invisibility. The roster of available moves has increased significantly as well. You'll gain most moves via an upgrade system that lets you use the experience points earned during a level to buy moves and other enhancements for your character, whose maximum level is 20. This time you'll find two sets of available upgrades, one set that will enhance the character you're currently using and another that applies the enhancements to the entire fellowship. The only catch is that the other members of the group will only benefit from the upgrade once they visit the appropriate level. The system has been tweaked to award extra points based on your score at the end of a level as well as to show you how many points until your next level via a counter above the health meter.