One of the most entertaining games of the past five years was Star Wars Battlefront, in which the player is plunged headlong into all of the franchise’s most famous battles. So it was a no-brainer to export this idea to Middle-earth, giving players the chance to experience the siege at Helms Deep or the battle at Orthanc. As in Battlefront, where you got the chance to play as characters like Luke and Yoda, here you can experience what it’s like to be Gimli, Gandalf or Aragorn.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? So why does it miss the mark on almost every level?
Well, there are the character classes. You can choose between four: Warrior, Mage, Scout and Archer, but the Scout and Archer classes are next to useless. The controls are poor, and there’s little sense of any ‘skill’ being needed in battle, with frantic button-mashing getting the same results as pulling off complex attack combos.
While there is a vicarious thrill to be had in playing Gandalf battling the Balrog, he differs from the standard Mage in looks only. This reviewer even managed to defeat the mighty Saruman without resorting to magic at all; I simply thumped him with my staff!
All is not lost, however: Hugo Weaving’s narration brings some welcome gravitas and Howard Shore’s soundtrack gives the game a lift. Level designs and graphics throughout are brilliant. Anyone who’s familiar with the movies will be able to make their way easily through Helm’s Deep, such is the attention to detail and realism.
These good points, though, are far outweighed by the disappointments. Just a little more attention paid to the combat system (which is, after all, the heart of the game) would have made all the difference. The clunky controls do more to pull players out of the game than the superb visuals do to immerse them in it.
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