Press Start to Play

By Reid Davenport

Collegian Staff

‘Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’

X-Box, Gamecube, PS2

EA

Rated: T

Rating: A+

The long-awaited sequel to Electronic Art’s “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” game is finally out. “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” delivers in every area that the past game did and brings a few new modes and characters to the game play.

“Return of the King” has the same great game play that was found in the previous game. The characters are highly detailed and voiced by the actors of the movies. Each level is meant to give the players and “Lord Of The Rings” fans a story beyond the story. The levels are original creations that are meant to be the untold stories and adventures from the movies.

The game also delivers the excellent effect by morphing from a movie clip to game play. The game flows very smoothly, considering that most games that have more than eight players on a screen at the same time normally start having small glitches and skips. “Return of the King” will throw orcs, trolls and even spiders at players, and some enemies will require specific tactics to take out.

One of the more interesting aspects of the game is the ability to use your surroundings to aid you in battling enemies. Most levels will contain objects that can be picked up, such as spears and torches that can be hurled at enemies or at other targets to trigger a bigger assistance. For example, when you’re using Sam in the Shelob’s Lair level, you can use torches to set bags of coal, which hang from the ceiling, on fire and take out large groups of spiders and orcs in one move. This is a definite help for times when you are low on health and need to take out a large group quickly.

Another positive part of the game is the ability to upgrade your characters. With each level you can add new abilities to make the next level easier to get through. Each character has upgrades for up to level 10, but can ultimately reach a peak of level 20. Some of the better upgrades include group health upgrades, Aragon’s flaming sword attack and Legolas’ double arrow upgrade. Also you can give the entire set of characters a single upgrade, saving you some experience points to gain upgrades meant for the use of a specific player.

“Return of the King” also provides a few more levels than “The Two Towers.” Some levels will take a few dozen times through to master before you can move on. The game also gives users a reason to beat the game and delivers more replay value through unlockable characters and secret codes. After defeating the final level you will be able to use Pippin, Merry, Faramir, and Frodo as playable characters.

The game also gives players interviews with the cast and amusing little videos of the actors playing the game. Some of the videos are also unlockable by beating the game. One video shows Billy Boyd (Pippin), Dominic Monaghan (Merry) and Elijah Wood (Frodo) making fun of each other about how they play video games. The only interview you won’t find in the game is with John Rhys-Davis (Gimli).

The only downside of the game is that it gives away a lot about the upcoming movie and can ruin the film for those who have not read the book recently. It can spoil the film even for those who have read the book as it shows clips from the upcoming movie as well.

“Return of the King” is a must buy for fans of the trilogy and for gamers that like battling masses of enemies at a time. It can provide you with hours of extended game play and although there are a few levels that may frustrate you, they are beatable.

“Return of the King” is now available for X-Box, PS2 and Gamecube and retails for around $49.99.