Metacritic Games

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (GameBoy Advance)

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]

Electronic Arts
Action, Adventure
Players: 2
T (Teen)
Developer: Griptonite Games
Released November 5, 2003

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

77 / 100

Critic Reviews

83 GameZone
While not a dramatic change from its predecessor, Return of the King is a solid action game.
82 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]
80 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.
80 Game Informer
If you like Tolkien and have a GBA, Return of the King is a no-brainer. [Dec 2003, p.186]
80 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.
80 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]
80 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.
76 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.
75 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.
75 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.
70 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.
68 Weekly Famitsu
7 / 7 / 7 / 6 - 27 [Vol 786]
68 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]

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