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Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Review - Xbox

The Fellowship of the Ring formed to save Middle-Earth from the treacherous power of The One Ring. Frome the Council of Elrond in Rivendell they set forth on their journey towards Mordor to destroy The One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Many challenges assailed the Fellowship, from Ringwraiths to legions of Orcs to the fearsome Balrog that took the great wizard Gandalf from their ranks. However, hope ultimately prevailed and the Fellowship kept true to its path.

That is, until the Fellowship split apart as they neared the dangers of Mordor. In the forests of Fangorn, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli met up once again with a reborn Gandalf the White and travelled the lands of Rohan. There, a great battle occurred at Helm's Deep between men and the wizard Saruman's forces of evil. To the East, the hobbits Frodo and Sam continued on the trail to Mordor with the destruction of The One Ring in the forefront of their minds.

As the hobbits draw closer to Mount Doom, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf travel to Gondor to aid the men of Middle-Earth in preparing a desperate last stand against the unspeakable forces of evil. Against the gates of Minas Tirith they expect Sauron to unleash thousands of troops to quickly snuff out the hopes of the free people. Against the unrelenting forces of Sauron, the men of Middle-Earth know the destruction of The One Ring is the only thing that can save them. Will Gondor prevail? Will Frodo and Sam make it to the fires of Mount Doom? In this final chapter of The Lord of the Rings, the fate of Middle-Earth is in your hands.

Many thanks to EA Games for their wonderful introduction into Return of the King

Gameplay

Gameplay is practically identical to that of LOTR: Two Towers. If you've ever played Two Towers, or if you're planning on playing through them all like a marathon, then Return of the King will be a pick-up and play game with no need for a learning curve. Co-operative play is now stronger than ever, right through the whole main quest, and the side quests are only playable through single player as Sam or Gandalf. Most parts of the levels will have you running for your life through hundreds of Orcs, and collapsing structures. In fact at one stage when we were playing some co-op at GameBiz, one of us decided to do a Neo from The Matrix Reloaded. Stop, turn around and say "Something's Different…" only to quickly be squashed by a pile of rocks from above, causing a certain death.

Every character has a fireable weapon. Whether it be Sam throwing a sword, Gandalf with his beam cannon, or the infamous Legolas with his arrows, they are all very useful throughout the game for different tasks, and taking out enemies from afar. Legolas is (continued next page)