27 out of 27 people found this review helpful.
"This day, we FIGHT!"
Date of Review: Aug 11, 2004
The Bottom Line: LOTR fans will enjoy it.
For those hard core Lord of the Rings fans, here is your chance to pretend YOU are one of the heroes of the Fellowship. Choose the Path of the Wizard Gandalf, as he must defend the people of Minas Tirith from a horrendous Mordor seige. Or take the Path of the King, as Aragorn, Gimli or Legolas, journeying from Rohan to the Paths of the Dead, helping Minas Tirith along the way to the Black Gate. Or, choose the path of the Hobbits, and help Sam guide Frodo from Osgiliath to the dark horrors of Mordor.
Gameplay
As I have only played this game for the PC, I can attest that it's definitely not simple. Both the mouse and the keyboard are needed, although a player may adjust what keys do what action. A player may do a Speed Attack, Fierce Attack, Parry, or combos.
Sometimes I felt with a game like this, I needed a game controller, as used with say the Nintendo GameCube. It was and still is rather annoying to make sure I'm hitting the correct buttons. A game controller would help simplify things. It is possible to use a controller witht the computer, but at this time we can't find ours. :P
The attacks and kills earn experience points which can be used to purchase upgrades for your character--these include increased health and the ability to use more combinations. Usually I found myself not using combinations. While neat to look at and good one-on-one, it was simply not practical when surrounded by enemies. More often than not you would not be able to finish it or end up knocked over because the character was not fast enough.
However, the levels are enjoyable nonetheless. The environments are more often than not interactive. You can throw boiling oil, cause barrels to explode, throw spears, knock over flaming bowls, etc. It helped break up the monotony of the attacks and sometimes really helped in clearing out enemies.
They weren't always accurate to the movie, but as in adaptation to the game, it still made gameplay really fun.
There are few frustrating things in the game. Sometimes the camera change would cause me to become disoriented, requiring me to readjust to the new angle. More often than not it would cause me to get hit a few times.
There was also the cut scenes. While great to look at and helped integrate movie and game, it got boring to watch after a while. Some can be skipped over after watching them the first time, others can't. I would have preferred to be able to skip all of them at any time.
Graphics
The graphics are fairly impressive. You can have hordes and hordes or orcs on screen without any slowdown, with action happening in the background, etc. You can see the firelight flicker and the detail on the buildings. Closeups of the characters, however, are lacking. They vaguely resemble the actors who portrayed the characters, but things like the lips not moving with the words is a problem.
Personally, I really like "The Two Towers" game, where there's a switch between graphic and actual movie footage, which integrates the two mediums even more.
Sound
This is a mixed bag. We have been experiencing problems with the sound, as we find it cuts out any time from entering the game to perhaps 30 min or more of gameplay. Sometimes it cuts out and won't return unless we restart the game. Other times it will disappear and come back within 15 seconds.
However, other than that, it's superb. Most of the actors from the movie provide the actual voices here. There enhance the game, and seems like it could have been dialog taken from the movie. The few characters who did not get their original actor still do a fairly good job in imitating the original, capturing the character's personality.
Extras
We haven't completely unlocked all of them yet. Most of them are interviews with the cast regarding the game. Not particularly special, but good for a chuckle.
All in all, it's an enjoyable game. For those serious gamers, though, I agree with assessments that this won't be their cup of tea. It's mostly button pressing and perhaps luck. No puzzles, really, or none that are too hard.
For those who enjoyed the the Lord of the Rings trilogy though, it's definitely worth a play, rent, or borrowing.
