A short-and-sweet review for a short-and-sweet game.
The game's strength lies in its effective skill-point based reward system, which provides the player with flashier combos and special abilities as his fighting skill improves. The abundance of unlockable special moves and playable characters, combined with the addition of a two-player mode, help keep the gameplay fresh well beyond the end of the single player adventure. Which is a good thing, since there are only about ten levels in the game, and they must be replayed ad infinitum if you want to unlock everything the game has to offer. Unfortunately, the unlockable special moves and characters also serve to make the game significantly easier, which may cause some gamers in search of a challenge to shelve the game long before they have unlocked everything in it.
Other than the painfully short single-player mode, the game has very few flaws. The graphics, although occasionally dim, are on par with most of its peers; the sound effects and music are exactly what one would expect in an LOTR game; and the gameplay, as described above, is engaging and enjoyable. All of these factors combine to make The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King one movie-based game any fan of classic beat-'em-ups should not miss.