The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King

It is no exaggeration to say that Electronic Arts' latest licensed opus, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, is the most lavishly produced videogame of all time. The publisher appears to have spared precisely zero expense in recreating every polished visual, every aural cue, and every irate orc from the movie upon which the game is based, in order to thoroughly preserve the film's cinematic integrity. Barring J.R.R. Tolkien's original novels, EA has essentially created the ultimate companion piece to Peter Jackson's seminal film trilogy.

Perhaps Return of the King would be best classified in the videogame subgenre of "digital amusement park rides." As such, it is quite possibly the most thrilling ride ever conjured, shepherding players through deftly rendered locations from Minas Tirith and Pelennor Fields to the Crack of Doom. There is very little about the gameplay that one might call innovative or original; it's basically an all-you-can-kill, hack-and-slash buffet from start to finish, with film footage providing narrative transitions from one combat sequence to the next. But the pacing of the action combined with the harmony of the game's various elements—superb graphics, a sufficiently epic THX soundtrack, an excellent camera system, and a steady flow of elaborate set-pieces—work to generate the highest "holyshit"-per-second quotient in recent memory.

Cooperative play, one element sorely missing from last year's initial Rings outing, is delivered upon in the sequel. Its inclusion is one of the most essential parts of the experience, as it's significantly more enjoyable to free Middle- earth from the clutches of the Dark Lord Sauron when a bleary-eyed friend Ben elicits an awestruck "duuude" at nearly every turn.

Clearly, EA's objective was to create a videogame for a mass-market audience. Such accessibility requires a fair amount of willful compromise, of course, and there is plenty here for the hardcore gamer to condemn. Unsur-prising is the fact that the player's narrative path through the levels is fundamentally a linear one; this is, after all, based on a film based on a novel, both linear mediums. What makes less sense is the fact that "interactive elements" in the environment, such as boulders that can be pushed down hills in order to topple pursuing enemies, are not merely available to the player, they are obvious necessities in getting from point A to point B. They are highlighted with a glowing white circle, so that you know exactly what you need to do at all times.

DVD extras, such as cast interviews and behind-the-scenes featurettes, are unlocked on the level-select screen, somehow making the whole experience feel like more of a program (read: "Pro-grams! Get your Return of the King programs!") than an artistic whole. This is an example of game design by committee, and it shows in the details.

Regardless, the mechanics and combos required to slay an orc provide a solid, viscerally satisfying experience, and one you'll enjoy some thousand times over before all is said and done. Return of the King manages to become more than the sum of its rather straightforward parts and raises the bar for blockbuster videogames. File under: the perfect weekend rental.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Xbox Nation.