This game is one of the best in the LOTR series. If you are impatient or a button masher this game is not for you. This game is more about stealth and strategy, placement and patience. Think Metal Gear meets The Lord of The Rings. Now that I think about there is a certain family resemblance between Snake and Strider. The feel and movements of the game holds much truer to the spirit of the series in particularly the first book. There is the haunted hunted feeling though out the game that puts you on edge and forces your hand at times.
This game is one of the best in the LOTR series. If you are impatient or a button masher this game is not for you. This game is more about stealth and strategy, placement and patience. Think Metal Gear meets The Lord of The Rings. Now that I think about there is a certain family resemblance between Snake and Strider. The feel and movements of the game holds much truer to the spirit of the series in particularly the first book. There is the haunted hunted feeling though out the game that puts you on edge and forces your hand at times. There is plenty of combat to keep you happy and there always is a certain satisfaction to smacking around ring wraiths
and goblins like bad puppies.
The maps are huge and the graphics are very good. It really draws you in to the world of middle earth and makes you fell like you are there. The sound is decent but then again I don’t play it for the sound. Game play is awesome, very addictive and compelling. I found my self playing this game instead of sleeping on more than one occasion. The game is much closer to the book than to the movies so that if you have read them you have a huge head start. Too many people complain and get frustrated with the game because it is very difficult at times and will have you throwing things at the TV and yelling. Some times you just need to walk away and give your self time to refocus. While not as action packed as later LOTR games it is just as intense as any of the other if not more because you have to wait and time your movements to get the exact result you are hoping for.
The main characters in the game are Fordo, Strider or Gandalf in various parts of the game. Frodo has the one ring to aid in his stealth but if you keep it on too long and you will be taken over by it. One of his most useful abilities is throwing rocks, not much on the damage but great as a distraction, gets you enemies going in the right direction or the wrong direction depending on what you want. Strider has a sword and bow. His fighting style is a mix of refined swords man ship and back ally dirty tricks. Gandalf has some spells to mix in with his combat. His combat controls are a bit odd since he uses both sword and staff. His moves are slow and a bit awkward but his spells more than make up for it.
All in all I would give this game no less than 7.5 on a scale of 10. All kinds of fun and more challenging than most but it has draw backs, not many combinations and special moves but you don’t really need them either.
