Games

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

EA Redwood Shores

2003•Hack and slash•PEGI 12•About 6 hours

Taste attributes: actionadventurefantasymonster/alien/supernaturalfastunsavouryimaginarysimplelinearglossybig & variedemotionally undemandingall consuming questfighting evilhuman spirit/resilience/survival

See which match your taste

Boxlist takeOtherworldly and sweeping: a very fast hack-and-slash game, glossy rather than gritty. Best if you like spectacle over intimacy.

Pace: very fast · Originality: balanced · Tone: dark · Weight: balanced · Realism: imaginary world · Story: simple · Structure: very linear · Look: glossy · Scale: big and varied · Emotional punch: balancedHow we score

IGDB rating

76 / 100

281 ratings

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Based on your film and TV taste: games are matched on the same ten characteristics, with your own match bands.

About This Game

The video game adaption of the acclaimed film of the same name. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a follow up the well received adaption of the first two films in the trilogy. The game expands on what The Two Towers accomplished, with the action and adventure sequel introducing three separate story lines from the movie: one following Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, as The Two Towers did, another following Gandalf, and a third following Frodo and Sam, with Merry, Pippin, and Faramir serving as unlockable characters. Gameplay features were also expanded upon, including multiplayer.

Summary: IGDB

Story

Adapting the closing chapters of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The Return of the King is a hack and slash action game that carries the War of the Ring toward its climax. Picking up from the events of The Two Towers, it follows the desperate struggle of Middle-earth's free peoples against the growing darkness of Sauron. The game unfolds across multiple intertwining storylines, letting players take control of the trilogy's beloved heroes, among them the wizard Gandalf, the ranger Aragorn, the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, and the hobbits Frodo and Sam. Their paths diverge...

Characteristics

Where this game sits on each taste spectrum

SlowPACEFast

FamiliarORIGINALITYOriginal

DarkTONEWholesome

LightWEIGHTINESSHeavy

FantasyREALISMRealistic

SimpleINTRICACYIntricate

Non-LinearLINEARITYLinear

UnderstatedSTYLEStylised

IntimateSCALEEpic

RestrainedEMOTIONIntense

Genres and themes

ActionAdventureFantasyMonster/alien/supernaturalAll consuming questFighting evilHuman spirit/resilience/survival

Keywords

GhostsOrcsWizardsMagicTolkienDeathElvesArchery

Details

Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Publishers: Aspyr Media, Electronic Arts
Released: 31 October 2003
Series: The Lord of the Rings
Platforms: Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Legacy Mobile Device, PlayStation 2
Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
Perspective: Third person
Time to beat: 6h normally
Age rating: PEGI 12
Taste scores: How we score
Source: IGDB

How game matches work

Games are scored on the same ten characteristics as films and matched with the same formula and your own match bands, from your film and TV taste. Game scores are estimates, made by fixed rules from IGDB genres, themes, keywords and descriptions.