Credit where credit’s due. I often lambest Electronic Arts for being a shoddy company which cares more about sales than it does gameplay. Although this is generally true of EA, they have change a lot over the years.
Where once they bought everyone to do their dirty work, and continually churned out crap sequels to the FIFA games and every other blood sports franchise they have with new textures, team stats and may a new lick of engine paint, Ea now churn out crappy sports games and now also develop some quality non-sports games.
The disappointment I guess with a company as big as EA is their ability to think sequels are the best policy. With regards to the sports franchise, this is quite true. But this has resulted in a poor range of other titles. They began with Need for Speed and Road Rash. Quality titles upon their release, in their first incarnation but these were continually updated with minor enhancements, and eventually boring gamers.
Things have changed for the better now. Need for Speed has achieved quality status with Need for Speed Underground, and another series of games based on the Lord of the Rings films, two name but two examples of improvement for EA.
EA’s ability and power as a big name publisher has attracted film companies before. Just as the film licence has attracted EA, and although financially beneficial to both parties in duping gamers to buy mediocrity with a popular licence, it hasn’t done much to EA’s credit as a games developer. The Harry Potter game’s gave been one the latest licenses, providing abysmal gameplay matched with a pretty engine.
As you don’t have time to truly stand around and appreciate the ensuing chaos around you, you cannot truly capture the magnificence of what EA have achived here
Enter Lord of the Rings (which I played on both the xbox and PC, therefore this review is a bit of both). I was had pretty dire reservations as to whether EA was capable of creating something of interest and entertainment value, since their track record in creating and publish games based on licences has been pretty dismal. The success of the games would be guaranteed, due to the unmitigated global success of the films, and the rejuvenated popularity of the book.
The first game, Fellowship of the Ring was released to widespread acclaim across gaming magazines, and the success was reflected in the sales and charts. The sequel brought equal success, unsurprisingly, and brought with it, alleged gameplay improvements and better graphics. Having not played either game, they appeared to me as a third-person version of Gauntlet, whereby you clear a room and find the exit.
So, it is the last in the action games that I have decided to opt for, Lord of the Rings – Return of the King. After a forced intro, containing video footage from the film, the game flashes as Gandalf rides his horse down to Helms Deep to ensue battle against the hordes of Orcs sent by Saruman. The video footage then switches to the game engine, and the game proper begins.
To say my jaw dropped at the immediate start would be an understatement. Elves, men and Orcs were pursuing in battle. You could see Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas fighting their way through waves of Orcs. You start at the foot of the hill, with the forte of the wall ahead of you.
In this chaotic scene, there are rocks of fire being catapulted across the screen; more and more Orcs start to make an appearence as you parry, lift and strike the Orcs that berade you with shield and club attacks. It is a spectacular, and trecharous opening, where the relentlessness of the Orcs continue to hammer you in the back as you try to get to the foot of the wall in order to assist your colleagues.
The disappointment I guess with a company as big as EA is their ability to think sequels are the best policy
The first thing that hits you is the graphics, the power of the engine and the spectaular scripted events that take place as you go about your business. The music and sound effects wonderfully capture the screaming and screeching of the Orcs, the roar of the men, the explosive destruction of the catapults and so on. It’s breathtakingly executed with gusto.
As you don’t have time to truly stand around and appreciate the ensuing chaos around you, you cannot truly capture the magnificence of what EA have achived here. They have not only captured the film, and it’s battles, but also capture the atmosphere of the film, and brought it to your monitor. It is an extraordinary achievement which can perhaps be compared to Medal of Honour’s Normandy invasion. And as LOTR – ROTK is third person in gameplay, it is a testament to the care and credit to EA for what they have managed.
The gameplay is pretty straight forward, with the standard keyboard set up for movement, a key for parrying, using physical attacks, a use key and a special move key. On the PC, the mouse can act as both movement and attack, with the left mouse button acting as the light attack, the right as the strong attack, and the middle button acting as the finishing move on fallen foes.
I did try to use a PS2 joypad via my adaptor on the PC, however, this proved to be fruitless. It maybe a case of drivers requiring installation, or the game simply refuses to accept emulated interfaces for input devices to be used in the game. In which case any standard joypad that plugs in should be supported.
The game plays far, far better with a joypad as on my Xbox, however, the excellent keyboard and mouse controls on the PC are brilliantly responsive and prove to be a match for any advantage the joypad can provide. This was proven during several intense battles with many enemies on screen at once, where movement to run around and avoid swords and maces were crucial.
Return of the King is an excellent Gauntlet style slash em up that offers a wide variety of characters and missions, with useful RPG elements. A highly entertaining title for one or two players, it’s managed to marry classic gameplay within modern graphics.
Verdict: A brilliantly fun slash em up from EA.