User Rating: 8.3 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King XBOX
The Return of the King is the follow-up of the Two Towers hack n' slash. It continues in this tradition by using the Lord of the Rings atmosphere to its advantage. Story/Gameplay: The story is told through well-done cinematic cut-scenes which explain the situation of the level. Obviously if you've read the books the story follows fairly close to the book/movie. Their are some changes,but these only take place to make it a hack n' slash. One example is that in the book and game you must travel the path of the dead to recruit a undead army. In the book Aragorn never actually fights any of the ghosts, but in the game that is changed. The gameplay can be very trying even when on the Easy Difficulty setting. The game does a good job making you feel as if you are in a huge battle. Graphics: You would think that the game might be clean-up for the Xbox. This is not the case however. The character models look very pixelated, and the characters lips do not actually move when they speak. The environments do look very good and the lighting is fairly well done. Its not the best, but it will suit your needs. Sound: This is one of the games strong points. The music seems to be music from the movie, with some new music added in for good measure. The sounds of battle are very well done, and you really feel like your in a epic struggle of some kind. The same can be said of the voice actiog, while some of it is probably lines from the movie, their are some lines made for the game that sound convincing. Value: This game almost laughs at being done again. The levels can be very difficult, and most of the time you are glad that you somehow managed to get through the level. Their is a Replay button, but once you complete it you can't replay the level until you beat the entire game. The co-op is the biggest darw. If ound that I got through more of the game with a friend than without one. Their are some issues that take away from the co-op experiance though. The camera can get in the way and is frusterating sense you must go wherever your friend goes vice-versa to really see what going on. Overview: If you liked the Two-Towers game, and haven't read the Tolkien books you might want to get this one. 8.3
