Note: This review contains no significant spoilers concerning the plot of the film.

December 17th the third and last Lord of the Rings movie will be released, concluding the fellowships quest. For those of you who can't stand the wait, it can also be ended on your GameCube right now! Or you could read the book, but it wouldn't be as spectacular, right? Read on and find out!

Graphics:

After last year's The Two Towers, high quality graphics were expected, but Return of the King has improved on the series visuals even more. The environments are large and full of detail, often with some beautiful lighting effects. The settings are true to the film and absolutely packed with Orcs and other slaughtering material. There is a lot of movement going on, such as fighting Ents, collapsing bridges and catapults bombarding a fortress.

The battles are hectic, but they may cause you to lose track of your character while battling a group of enemies. The camera is fixed, which provides the aesthetically most pleasurable angles, but doesn't make things clearer at times. EA tried to overcome this by making characters close to the camera transparent, in which they partially succeeded.

The graphical splendour is not entirely without consequences for the frame rate, though it holds up remarkably well. Only in the most crowded areas or in levels with a lot of smoke there is noticeable slowdown.

One of the key features of EA's Lord of the Rings games is the use of footage from the films, which is cleverly integrated with the in-game cinematic sequences. The game contains scenes from all three films, edited especially for the game. The quality of the view is good, though the image is sometimes jolty. This especially becomes clear when the camera is slowly panning, tilting or zooming, but it's not really annoying.

Sound:

Beside the footage from the movies, the game also features the film's soundtrack. The music is very good and adequately accompanies the action on screen. Sound effects are also executed nicely, as the clattering swords, explosions and roaring Cave trolls sound very convincing. The game also features Pro Logic II Surround Sound for the ultimate cinematic experience.

Gameplay:

Behind the shiny package goes a fairly simple hack and slash game, not much unlike classics like Golden Axe. The levels are divided in three groups on account of the main characters. These paths follow Frodo and Sam, Gandalf and Aragorn, accompanied by Gimli the dwarf and the elf Legolas.

The game consists mostly of striking down as much Orcs as you can, but a couple of missions offer some variation such as escaping from a collapsing cave, protecting another character or defending a wall.

Fighting earns you credits, which can be used to upgrade your moves or learn new combos. Better fighting earns more credits, so trying to get perfect rankings pays off. The level of the skill meter determines the ranking, which can be fair, good, excellent or perfect. The meter fills by hitting foes and drains when you get hit or when you're not in combat. This system urges to keep fighting to get higher rankings, but a lack of nearby enemies can break your chain, which can be annoying. It also implies some lower ratings to fill up your meter can't be avoided, so getting really high scores is made impossible. Perfect ratings can only be achieved by completely filling up your meter, which then makes you extra strong for a while. This is useful for points, but not as rewarding as the heavily fought excellent rankings.

The game makes great use of so-called scripted events. This means when you pass a certain point, a programmed reaction will follow, such as a collapsing bridge. These events follow one other in a feverish pace, which make you feel as if you're actually participating in the movie. A drawback of this system is that every time you play, the game is exactly the same, which leaves little opportunities to experiment and try completing the level another way.

Playability:

Controlling your character is relatively easy, though it will take time to become familiar with more advanced moves, such as finishing and kicking. Characters need some time to recover from one move (e.g. heavy attack) before they can turn around to fight the next Orc. This is realistic, but it can make the controls feel a bit sluggish in the hectic battles.

Newly purchased moves can be useful, but are sometimes difficult to perform. There is little room for experimenting as constant parrying is required to survive.

A nice touch is the possibility of using weapons placed in the level, such as a spear stuck in the ground. This will kill a Cave troll in a single throw, though you can't take the weapon with you or use it more than once.

Lifespan:

The game is rather difficult on normal, so it will take longer to complete than it seems considering the number of levels (15 or so). It's still inviting to play, even when you've died ten times in a row. It's a shame though, that you have to watch the same cut scene over and over again if you haven't finished the level before.

The biggest improvement to The Two Towers is the addition of a two player mode. This doubles the fun, but also doubles the problems already apparent in single player. Frame rate drops become annoying and the screen sometimes is a mess, leaving you guessing for your characters whereabouts.

The DVD-like extras are a welcome addition as some interviews are entertaining. It's not groundbreaking stuff however, but as there appears to be a market for 4 DVD box sets with countless of hours with useless extras, chances are you'll like it.

There are also some extra characters to unlock, so regarding lifespan; I'd say this would offer enough value for your money. Except for the useless GBA-linkup, which only gets you some extra points.

Final Say:

Return of the King very much like the The Two Towers, so if you enjoyed that, or another decent hack and slash game for that matter, I don't see why you wouldn't like this. Improvements are slight, but mostly good. Two player cooperative play is a nice addition but fails to live up to its potential due to frame rate drops.

The game offers some truly great moments, which prevent it from becoming boring. Aside from seeing the film on big screen, this is the most intense Lord of the Rings experience available.