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Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
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Game Info
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Griptonite Games
Genre(s): Action, Adventure
Players: 2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: November 5, 2003
Summary
Return to Middle-earth in the only video game based on the epic final chapter of the highly-acclaimed The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Developed using the same digital assets as the films, The Return of the King re-creates in stunning detail the final events of the War of the Ring. Become the heroes who determine the fate of Middle-earth as you traverse the haunted Paths of the Dead, defend Minas Tirith from the onslaught of thousands of Sauron's minions, and even play co-op multiplayer with a friend as you march against the impenetrable Black Gates of Mordor. The fate of Middle-earth is in your hands. [Electronic Arts]
Also On Metacritic
FILM: LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring LOTR: The Return of the King LOTR: The Two Towers
GAMES: Lord of the Rings: The Third Age Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Also On The Web: GameSpot Preview Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
GameZone
While not a dramatic change from its predecessor, Return of the King is a solid action game.
Read Full Review >Nintendo Power
Although item use is complex and battlefield navigation can be a chore, gameplay is solid and production values are high. [Jan 2004, p.161]
Cheat Code Central
Has just enough elements added to keep it interesting. Perhaps the way the game is designed to be played is one of its most important traits. That, being the ability to save anywhere in the game which allows for an installment style of play.
Game Informer
If you like Tolkien and have a GBA, Return of the King is a no-brainer. [Dec 2003, p.186]
Read Full Review >Deeko
While I feel that Return of the King doesn’t offer as many new features as those found in the "Two Towers," the features that it does add are quite impressive and work well.
Read Full Review >Pocket Games
One of the coolest aspects of the game is the inclusion of the crebains, the crows that Sauron uses as spies. [Spring 2004, p.35]
IGN
The GBA sequel doesn't add much beyond the new storyline, additional playable characters, and minor gameplay and graphic tweaks, but it's still a great and recommended design.
Read Full Review >GamingWorld X
A good, solid game, but it doesn’t offer much more than the previous title did. If you’ve played that to death, there isn’t much here that you haven’t already experienced.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
A good hack-and-slash RPG that will keep you occupied for hours just building up a character that's useful in all three of the game's separate play modes.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
Unless you're a fan of repetitive beat-'em-ups that require dozens of hours of devotion to unlock every last item, level, and character, RotK won't have much to offer.
Read Full Review >1UP
There's not enough variety to keep you playing through everything EA's set up for you. You'll be addicted to the game for a short while when you go through with your first character, but after that, the novelty of building up medieval superheroes starts to wear extremely thin.
Read Full Review >Weekly Famitsu
7 / 7 / 7 / 6 - 27 [Vol 786]
Electronic Gaming Monthly
The core gameplay is essentially the same as last year's "Two Towers," though the graphics have been given a minor facelift and the stages are a bit more varied. [Dec 2003, p.236]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
player jo gave it a10:
My favourite game! This is an easy and really pleasant game , with a really lots of adventures and various tricks! The funny thing is that after you finish it you actually go all over the beggining :) Also bonus maps rock! Lots of gold , later xp and great items! This type of games is the best in the world.
Brandon W. gave it a 1:
Boring. Absolutely boring, this is the only game where I came close to dosing off while playing. Muddy graphics. Repetitive gameplay which is BORING. Music is decent. The Characters die way to fast. If you want something like the ps2 or xbox versions of ROTK stay away from here. Absolutely horrible.
Robert W. gave it a 10:
This game rocks. Almost exactly like Two towers but it is a solid game with awesome graphics and nice gameplay.
Yarn V. gave it a 9:
Hey Bob...are you sure that you'e not reviewing the CONSOLE version of the game? There are no mid-level checkpoints in the GBA version, and maps that take more than 15 minutes to get through are fairly rare. The difficulty curve you describe also sounds much more in-line with the console game than the handheld version. Please don't do an this game a disservice by spreading misinformation.
Tamara K. gave it a 10:
Mainly, I am posting this as a response to Bob H.'s review. In the options menu, you can adjust the difficulty settings. I believe there is Normal, Hard, and Grueling. I don't think the game is as hard as he makes it sound, unless he has it set on Grueling.
Bob H. gave it an 8:
I have been waiting for this game for months, and bought it today because im a huge fan of LOTR. I have to admit I am disapointed with the difficulty. The difficulty settings are a one-size-fits-all set to impossible. I played this thing for 3 1/2 hours and got past 3 levels...thats right...3 accursed, impossibly hard levels. This is one of the first games that I have not been able to get past the first 2 or 3 levels in one or two tries. The problem with this game is that the checkpoints in the level are few and far between, so when you die, you usualy have to go back halfway, if not all the way to the beginning of the level, and have to gruel through 15 minutes of already played game. On the one hand, people who like a challenge will love this game, but people who want some good Lord of the Rings insider before december will feel exasperated and disapointed. Great graphics & sound pull this game out of a 5 or 6 for me, so I'll give it an 8 because I love Lord of the rings and a challenge is good once in a while.
