Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for Xbox Reviews by Gamers

Visuals: Wow. While this is a somewhat aging game, the graphics are fantastic considering the times. The way the movie footage fades in and out of game rendered scenes is a beautiful touch and pays homage to the movies. The well-done motion capture, detailed character models, abundant particles and explosions, and the atmospheric backgrounds really capture every visual aspect of the movies' battle scenes in a flawless and breathtaking fashion.

Audio: First off, the music for the game is most likely the most incredible aspect of it all. Rousing scores punctuating every epic sight of approaching enemy masses and darker, more sinister pieces cuing in as the action slows more to suspenseful walks through unknown passages. Truly worthy of the film's example. But that is not saying that everything else is lackluster. Every explosion has force and the sounds of surrounding battle are very convincing. The voiceover work is also superb, with many of the characters reprising their roles. Though some of the character's comments are completely unnecessary.

Mechanics: The camera is dubbed "cinematic," but that just means you can't control it. It shows you exactly what it wants you to see. Ruins in the distance, huge valleys, etc. but it is extremely frustrating when it focuses on the sights when there is a horde of orcs surrounding your player and you can't get a good view to fight them off. The controls are simple and work well enough for a hack-and-slash, but some of the longer moves that you can't cancel in the middle of will cause you to take damage just because you were trying to pull off a different combo from the the stale three-hitter.

Gameplay: Make no mistake, you will play this game through several times to unlock all the upgrades and max out all the characters, because this action is truly addicting and stays fresh with the many different styles of play and objectives the game throws at you outside of the multiple boss battles. Entertainment at its finest.