Taste-Test: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Rated: T for Teen Developer: EA Publisher: EA Players: 1-2 cooperative Saving: 6 blocks, option given at end of each level Taste-test by Carl DeNovio

All right, chances are I don’t need to tell you guys the story of this one, because either you know, you don’t care, or you don’t want it spoiled. I’ll just give you the down-and-dirty version. The One Ring, carried by Hobbit Frodo Baggins, with the help of loyal friend Samwise Gamgee, must be destroyed before the Dark Lord Sauron and evil wizard Saruman can take it and reign freely over all the lands of Middle-Earth. Good wizard Gandalf, self-exiled King of Gondor Aragorn, dwarf Gimli, and elf Legolas must wage war against the armies of Mordor and Isengard whilst the Hobbits move closer to Mt. Doom to destroy the Ring. Now that that’s out of the way, how’s the game?

Let’s start with the obvious spot – visuals. I have two words to describe the look of this game: “gorgeous” and “absolutely,” not necessarily in that order. There are segments of the movies interspersed throughout the game which are, quite amazingly, seamlessly intertwined with in-game visuals, and every now and then I can promise you that you’ll think you’re watching a movie clip and what you’re looking at are computer graphics. The look of the game is stunning. Even after you get out of cut-scenes (of which there are plenty, but more on that later), once you start playing the game, you’ll continue to be blown away. So often the in-game and cuts-scene graphics simply don’t match up to each other. In this game, they do. A couple times I actually sat still for a few seconds thinking that I was still watching an FMV, soon to be tipped that I should have been moving by looking around and noticing the gameplay display and saying “Wow, I’m an idiot.” The game is beautiful.

The audio is just as good. You’ll hear the actual actors from the movies (from Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen to Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee to Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies to Sean Astin and Andy Serkis) in both FMV cut-scenes and in-game commentary from the characters. Howard Shore’s excellent score for the films is also used wonderfully, as you’ll hear tunes you’ll no-doubt recognize from your favorite scenes in fully orchestrated majesty. Sound effects, from sword clanging to wood breaking and everything else are super-par, and on the same level as a game like Eternal Darkness.

Controls for me were awkward at first, but once I got into it things were coming rather naturally. Combat is far improved over many other sword-based games of the past, with something that, until now, I’ve only been able to dream of: a true sword-fighting experience. Moves like parry, fierce attack, kick, and special combos are used to near perfection make the weapon-based combat exceptionally well-done and very fun, especially when fighting a fellow sword expert. Don’t hope for a training mode or overly simple first level, though. The game literally thrusts you into the heart of the war, beginning with Gandalf’s heroic return to Helm’s Deep with the Rohirrim just in time to save the fortress and Rohan. The game starts where the war began, and don’t expect any mercy from Saruman’s fighting Uruk-Hai.

Ok, now for the downside. The game feels short. I’ve got about three hours in on it, and I’m 33% (5 of 15 levels) through the game, on all three paths (Hobbit, Wizard, King). That’s not to say that the game is easy or the levels are short. I’m playing on normal difficulty, and I feel genuinely challenged without it being ridiculously hard, and the levels are long enough that you feel satisfied by them, but not so long that they become tedious. For some reason the game just feels like it’s going by too quickly. Hopefully that will change once I hit the real meat of the war, Pelennor Fields and Minas Tirith particularly.

So, what’s the verdict so far? A very solid action/combat title that truly delivers on the “live the movie” ad campaign EA has been running, with stunning visuals and audio to match. The length may turn out to be a disappointment, but if you’re a fan of Tolkein’s vision, you owe it to yourself to play this game, whether you choose to rent or purchase it.

Carl DeNovio