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Solid RPG game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: May 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game sets itself up for criticism from 2 different camps.

The hardcore Tolkien people aren't going to like it because it messes with their universe and plays into some of the changes to the mythos made by Jackson in the movies (Frodo & Faramir @ Osgiliath, elves @ Helm's Deep, evil Denethoer).

Hard core RPG fans aren't going to like it because its a pale imitation of FFX or it doesnt have enough depth or there isnt enough problem solving or there arent any real sidequests.

I liked this game and considering I picked it up for $10, I feel I got my money's worth.

The in game story is kind of weak, but that might be because I was sick of the cutscenes halfway through the game and quit playing them. Although I should say that is one bonus to this game. Unlike FFX, you are not forced to watch every cutscene.

The music & sound are excellent. The same cinematic score as used in the movies is applied here. You hear the Rohirrim theme when you meet them, you here the foreboding Nazgul music when they approach. You hear the Nzazgul scream. You hear the clink of swords on armour and the cries of the party.

The graphics are outstanding. The character's image changes with new accessories. The enemies are faithfully detailed from the movies. Even the backgrounds in the battlescenes are faithful to the area in middle earth in which the action takes place. Fighting on the Pellenor Fields with Minas Tirith at your back and Nazgul flying overhead was great.

The game is linear. You have to follow a certain track to the end of the game much like the early part of FFX.

There is no buying or selling. All items are obtained from enemies or treasure chests. There really aren't any puzzles. I can only think of a couple of times were it is necessary to stand at a particular place and hit a particular button.

The fighting itself is your basic formulaic turn based RPG fighting system with status effects and HP, etc... It seemed a little too easy to me until midway throught the game when I started to have some major problems missing hits, which leads me to my next point.

The documentation on this game is poor. I had to discover on my own that the only way to recover HP & AP is to save or level up. Annoying. Also unless you look at the STAT screen you will not discover that every time you level up you are given discretionary points to allocate to a character. I discovered this halfway through the game after wondering why my players were so much weaker than the average enemy.

One nice feature that I would like to mention is that the game keeps track of what armor/weapons are new to each character when you go to equip. I just wish it would have provided me with the numbers on how each piece would change my stats when equiped. I hate trying to remember 5 different numbers everytime I equip a new piece.

All in all a fun game with great graphics and good gameplay. I had been waiting for a LOTR RPG for a long time and this fits the bill. It could have been better. I would love a kind of GTA approach to middle earth where I could explore on my own, but thats probably too much to ask.

lotr

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 18
Date: December 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

it gotsda goods, but it aint that funn. im 79 and i love to play lord uv the rings. but this was made me uppromely sad and maddened it has great pictures, but really bad game. plz give me 5 stARS i hope i was help

DO NOT BUY!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 10
Date: December 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

My son received this Christmas morning. The disappointment on his face within the first five minutes of play broke my heart. His complaints were that he didn't get to actively participate in the battles -- he just chose a weapon and the game battled for him. While searching for battles & things, the characters would just run and run -- we all got laughing at it because it was so ridiculous. A complete waste of money!

Okay but still fun to play

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: February 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

In this game you are not any of the characters from the movies. You do fight alongside them like Gandalf for example. In this game you visit all of the areas that the Fellowship travled to like Moria, Helms Deep and other places. I thinl the story is bad that you are just following the Fellowship and you are not actually those characters. This game can also get kind of boring because you choose how to attack, or defend, or heal instead of running around and fighting people. This game was a little bit of a dissapointment but I still play it to relax and have fun.

The third age is the best game out there!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: January 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is fantastic. I have never played a game so exciting like this one.
Great story, great graphics and at a good quality.

Not too bad

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: January 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Overall, this game is pretty good. It has great graphics, and good LOTR music that goes along with the game. It's only problems were the slow and confusing gameplay, plus there were no shops or villagers to buy items from, so if you need a potion, you either have to find it, or kill something to get it.

Became bored too quickly

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: January 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Graphics were terrific. The Balrog was particularly great. After Moria though I quickly became bored with this game as I ran around and fought the same groups of creatures over and over again. This game moved too slowly for me and I lost interest.

This game is in no way like Return of the King and Two Towers for PS2. They were more action-oriented while this is not.

Not good for 2 player...or 1 player either...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: February 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

GRAPHICS - While this game does feature cutscenes, they're not anywhere near the caliber of the later Final Fantasy games in terms of detail. However, the movement of the characters is incredibly fluid, both in the cutscenes and during play. Backgrounds are also gorgeous, and since you have the option of moving the camera around your character as you see fit, you can enjoy the full 3D panorama.

SOUND - Beautiful orchestration. Characters talk during cutscenes and during play, with optional subtitles.

GAMEPLAY -
*BATTLE SYSTEM - Virtually identical to Final Fantasy 10. You essentially run around, get attacked by something, are shown the order in which everyone is going to attack (which changes as you decide which attacks you're going to use), select your attacks from a menu and watch them go. Your active party during a fight is limited to three characters, but you can switch people in and out during a fight.
*DIFFICULTY - Extremely, extremely easy. You're warned pretty far in advance when you're about to encounter a planned fight, and as far as the "random" encounters go, they're essentially on a timed system - you enter a particular area, "Sauron's eye" will appear on the screen faintly, warning you that you may encounter enemies, and then basically the longer you stay in that area the brighter the eye becomes, till you're finally attacked. Don't feel like fighting? Just run out of the area before the eye loses its transparency. You also regain full health whenever you save at a save point, and these are scattered practically everywhere.
*LEVELING - Also nearly identical to Final Fantasy, as you use certain groups of skills, you acquire points which allow you to learn new ones. Every enemy defeated also gives you points which let you increase particlar attributes, like the characters strength or endurance. Each character starts out with an obvious bias in one skill direction or another, and you're encouraged to improve in those areas. I.e., the Ranger is a great archer, the main character is a good swordsman, the elf is great at magic and healing, the dwarf has a high endurance and powerful attacks, etc. You also find weapons and armor that allow you to customize the look and strength of your character, but you only get these by finding them in treasure chests (yes, FF again) or pillaging them from the bodies of your enemies (...yay).

STORY - You essentially run around chasing after the main party from the movie version of the Lord of the Rings. The bad aspect of this is that it makes the game a bit predictable, but the fun part is finding traces of the main party or seeing how the designers linked the main storyline to this one. For example, fairly early on in the game you're going through the Mines of Moria, and the skeleton that Pippin tips down the well comes crashing down near you.

EXTRA MODES -
*TWO PLAYER - Don't play two player unless you really hate your friend or are both really, really bored, because two player plays EXACTLY the same as one player (only one figure on the screen which is controlled by the first player) except that when you encounter enemies the second player gets to control half of the characters in your party for the duration of the fight. Meaning all they get to do is watch you run around, and then occasionally pick attacks for their two characters whenever you're attacked by something.
*EVIL MODE - After you've beaten a stage (an area of Middle-Earth) you have the option of going back and replaying all the planned battles from the bad guys side. Initially I thought this meant you got to run around as the bad guys, but no, all you do is JUST the fighting parts. EXCEPTIONALLY boring. You'll get tired of this after the first two fights.

OVERALL - While it was initially fun to see the links between the movie and this game, and to watch the lovely graphics, gameplay got so boring as to be a chore. The characters aren't very interesting, the enemies are repetative and predictable, and when you're not involved in a very dull fight, you spend about 70% of game time just running around. Gameplay is extremely linear - here, you need to get to this place, and we'll show a flashing red arrow on your map until you get there - and the strength of the character's attacks progress in such a way that you'll find youself using the same ones over and over till you're sick of watching them, until you've finally built up enough points to get another attack to become bored with. I wouldn't even consider buying this game unless you're a huge fan of the franchise, and would only consider renting it if you're very, very bored.

Not Worth Spending your money for

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is so bad. It doesn't have good graphics, I'm surprised. The whole idea is plain stupid. If you're going to make a game make sure people actually think it's fun! I've gotta say, the first day I got it they helped you along the way... but then they let you explore and the people would stop you anytime and talk about random things, even if you were in battle! Also when you are in different places orcs would come out of nowhere. You'd be looking in at a rock or something and then all of a sudden an orc pops right out. It's doesn't have very good battle arrangements either. People this game is not worth spending your money for, honest! If you don't believe me than you are making an awful mistake. Choose what's right.....choose not to buy the game.

Great for video game enthusiasts with crappy hand/eye coordination

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: December 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love video games, but I'm not always good at them. By the time I learn what each of the controller's buttons do & start the game, I've forgotten.

I feel this game runs along the lines of a role-playing game. You learn what each character can do, build on their experience every time an action is repeated *&* you needn't worry about which button does what. You choose what the character does through a drop-down menu & the character then executes it. With great visuals, I might add!

I love this game & I recommend it to *other women* (such as myself) who are tired of always *watching* the game. This is one you can play & feel satisfied in doing so.

Enjoy!

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