LOTR:Return of the King(Xbox)

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King on Xbox was on my hitlist for last night. This games takes you through the events of Tolkien's "Return of the King". The game is produced by EA, makers of the extremely popular EA Sports video game line and the stratospherically renowned Harry Potter video games. You are offered 3 branching paths, following the quests of Gandalf the Grey, Aragorn and Frodo/Samwise. Each level path is made up of relatively few levels - 5 or 6 for each path. The game compensates for this by making each game level spectacular and including some noteworthy extra features as "rewards" for finishing each level. The 1st two levels with Gandalf involve you to going to Isengard, smacking around orcs and goblins along the way. Level graphics are very crisp on the Xbox, with plenty of figures flitting about but no slowdown. Electronic Arts has done a spectacular job of integrating the movie very closely with the game content. In the Frodo/Samwise path the game starts with a near seamless segue from movie footage into the game. From here Samwise has to guide a dazed Frodo and cowering Gollum through the chaotic maze of warring Osilgiliath. I don't know how these guys did it, but there something very invigorating about the action sequences in this game. Moving your character around laying the smack down on the bad guys really does allow you to live out the fantasy of the game. Levels in this game tend to be on the long side. It's easy to die at first, with your character being quickly swarmed and put down. As you play through again, though, you notice that you survive a lot longer if you defend a bit. The game also provides fairly liberal health power ups for you to use. EA seems more concerned in having folks "play through" the movie than be seriously challenged with dying and retrying. I like this focus, since it allows me to immerse myself in the responsive battles in the game