Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

List Price: $9.99 Discount Price: $24.93

Features:

• Based on New Line Cinema's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings
• Journey through multiple gameplay paths, taking control of the motion picture trilogy's heroes
• Defend the walls of Minas Tirith as Gandalf; raise the Army of the Dead as Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli; and more
• Exclusive voice-over provided by the actual actors from the films
• All-new multiplayer co-op mode will let players form their own Fellowship

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

CHEATS DONT WORK ON LAPTOP [Posted on 2005-12-08]
IF you are playing this game on a LAPTOP and you beat the game you now have access to the cheat codes. You are supposed to hold in the Left SHIFT CTRL and ALT and then punch corresponding numbers to use the cheats but on a LAPTOP when holding down SHIFT it makes the numbers become the symbols and you can't make it work. Its frustrating. i even had the NUM LOCK on and it still doesnt work. i think for inputting cheats they could have came up with something better in case of people installing the game on their LAPTOP.

THIS IS A GREAT GAME!!! [Posted on 2006-01-21]
This is one of the best games I've ever played. I know some people say it's too difficult, but it's actually not too bad once you get used to it. You'll have to have some strategy too, because hacking and slashing all the time isn't going to work. For example, in Escape From Osgiliath, your goal is to run away, not stand and kill orcs. In that level, if you're out in the open, there's a timer and if you take too long to find shelter, you die. Using combos is a good idea too, especially with the King of the Dead. I was stuck for a while on that level, as it's one of the harder levels. So I found out that I could use combos! So I kept using Orc Hewer and soon beat him! Orc Hewer is one of the best combos available. You can use it to get to perfect mode quickly. Yes, the keyboard controls are a bit cumbersome, so a gamepad is recommended, but it's not neccesary, because I beat the game without one. Overall, this is a great game, and anyone who's a LOTR fan should buy this game!

Waste of time [Posted on 2006-07-19]
Game has average graphics (I've seen better though), but that's about it. Gameplay is repetitive and becomes annoying quickly. You spend more time watching the storyline movies than playing the game. Very little flexibility in the game's plot and settings. An overall disappointment to say the least...

This game rocks worth the money [Posted on 2007-06-19]
This game is easy to learn the controls and master after a fashion. It is not just hacking and slashing through orcs and other bad guys, you actually have to strategise a bit and look for some help from your surroundings but all in all a pretty interesting game. I have not gone very far in the game but it is one of the best games I have ever played. IF you lose a few times just pick it up and try again

Could have been great, but... [Posted on 2007-10-05]
I'm a fan of the LotR's movies and really adore EA's Battle for Middle Earth 2. Return of the King has all of the earmarks of a great game, but is crippled by a few unpardonable flaws. I recommend it only to the most fanatical fans of the movies/books and those who have the patience to wrestle with this very frustrating game.

Gameplay: I think this game is best played with a gamepad, although it can be played with keyboard and mouse. It's the usual button-smashing adventure game. You get to fight battle sequences from the movies as one of the major good-guy characters (Aragon, Frodo, Gandalf, etc.). The game has some light role-playing elements such as leveling up and gaining new abilities. However, it is primarily an adventure game involving killing a lot of orcs. It's good, mindless fun for a while until you realize how many times you are replaying levels due to the difficulty. I'm not great at these kinds of games, but I'm pretty decent and persistent. But the difficulty of this game (even on "easy") is just outrageous. It wouldn't be so bad if you could save the game whenever you wanted or if the checkpoint saves were more frequent. But no. You could play though 20 minutes of gameplay and kill 199 orcs. However, because you didn't get orc #200, you have to restart the level again. I must have replayed the level with Aragon and the undead king over 30 times, and still couldn't beat it. It just makes no sense. I'm not one to give up on a game easily, but this one just became a chore by mission 4 or 5. A pity since it was quite fun in the beginning.

Graphics: Looks really good and captures the spirit and mood of the movies. The cutscenes are straight from the movies and blend in well with the gameplay. Character models are dated by today's standards, but still look decent. The camera is very erratic and can easily make the game much harder by swinging around to some funky angle. And you have no control over it at all.

Sounds: Everything is in order here. Great background music from the movies, voice acting is spot on, and special effects are believable.

Technical issues/documentation: Thin, but functional manual. The game was perfectly stable on my computer, although I never finished it. Overall, a well polished game.

Value: If you can get it for $10 or less, it might be worth a try. I would suggest playing the demo first, although it is easier than the game itself. Again, be forewarned: this is a very frustrating game due to the absence of a real save system. If you don't mind replaying a mission 5-50 times, go for it. Otherwise, save your money and time.

Pros:
+good production values
+nice graphics, music, and voice acting
+action can be intense and very reminiscent of the movies

Cons:
-absolutely ridiculous difficulty, even on "easy"
-no real save system to speak of

Click here for more details and discount information...