The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a video game by EA Games based on the movie of the same name. Released in 2003.

Player paths
The game has three paths of play with each path involving a different set of characters.

The Path of the Wizard
Characters Levels
 * Gandalf
 * Helm's Deep
 * The road to Isengard
 * Minas Tirith - Top of the Wall
 * Minas Tirith - Courtyard

The Path of the King
Characters Levels
 * Aragorn
 * Legolas
 * Gimli
 * Paths of the Dead
 * The King of the Dead
 * The Southern Gate
 * Pelennor Fields
 * The Black Gate (Level)

The Path of the Hobbits
Characters Levels
 * Frodo
 * Sam
 * Escape from Osgiliath
 * Shelob's Lair
 * Cirith Ungol
 * Crack of Doom

Playable Characters

 * Gandalf the White
 * Sam Gamgee
 * Aragorn
 * Legolas
 * Gimli
 * Frodo Baggins
 * Faramir (Bonus character)
 * Merry (Bonus character, playable character in Co-op mode)
 * Pippin (Bonus character)

Battle Rating System (BRS)
The Return of the King video game's battle rating system is based on how many hits the player can get quickly without taking damage. This fills an experience bar. The experience bar, when more full, causes the player to gain additional experience. However, the experience bar drops when you take big breaks without fighting. The ratings are as follows:
 * Fair - rusty Uruk-hai helmet
 * Good - bronze Uruk-hai helmet
 * Excellent - silver Uruk-Hai helmet
 * Perfect - gold Uruk-Hai helmet

Bonuses

 * Palantír of Saruman (Bonus level)
 * Palantír of Sauron (Bonus level)
 * Billy Boyd interview (Bonus interview)
 * Dom Monaghan interview (Bonus interview)
 * Andy Serkis interview (Bonus interview)
 * David Wenham interview (Bonus interview)
 * Faramir (Bonus character)
 * Merry (Bonus character) (Not a bonus character in co-op mode)
 * Pippin (Bonus character)
 * secret codes

Differences with Book and Film
Here are listed the differences between the video game and the book and film. The bold text shows the characters in co-op mode.

Helm's Deep
The player must defeat the Uruk-hai at Helm's Deep. This is a tutorial level, in which the player gets to experiment with the different moves the game has to offer. The level ends when the player destroys a cart of explosives on the causeway with three ballistas, driving the Uruks away from Helm's Deep.

How to fail: The player cannot fail.

The Road to Isengard
The player chases the orcs and Uruk-hai through Fangorn forest. At one point, the player must kill 75 enemies alongside the Ents in order to proceed. After following the path, they will end up at the Dam of Isengard. The player must then protect the Ent from the orc archers by killing them and letting the Ent break the dam. The level ends when the dam is destroyed.

How to fail: The player dies.

Minas Tirith - Top of the Wall
The player must move up and down the walls of Minas Tirith, knocking down siege ladders (using the O button) and killing any enemies at the top of the wall. All the time, he must make sure that the overrun meter is as low as possible, because the player will fail if too many enemies make it on the wall. Occassionally, siege towers will appear, which the player must either fire a catapult at (left-side towers only) or shoot directly. When the player destroys the fourth siege tower (which will land on the wall no matter what), a cut-scene will show trolls using Grond. The level ends when the player makes it down the stairs to the courtyard.

How to fail: The player dies - OR - the wall is overrun.

Minas Tirith - Courtyard
The gates have been breached, and the player must now defeat the waves of enemies coming through the broken gate, with only a few Gondor soldiers to help him. His main objective is to save the people of Minas Tirith from the orcs. When 150 people are saved, huge trolls will join the ranks. The level ends when 200 people have been saved.

How to fail: The player dies.

Paths of the Dead
The player, as either Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli, must make their way to the very heart of the Dwimorberg mountain through the Paths of the Dead, in order to call the Dead Men of Dunharrow to fight for Gondor. Throughout the paths, they must fight specters that will seek to kill them. There is also a point where the three are trapped and must defeat 35 specters before they are able to move on. The level ends when the player makes it to the end of the Paths of the Dead.

How to fail: The player dies.

King of the Dead
The player must now fight the King of the Dead alone. The King attacks either by a three-strike attack or by calling dead soldiers. After about half of his health has been depleted, he starts to blow powerful wind at the player (who must duck behind rocks) and his three-strike attack becomes five-strikes. After the King is defeated, the player must escape the collapsing mountain and defeat any specters in his path.

How to fail: The player dies - OR - the cave collapses on the player.

The Southern Gate
The player must get past the Southern gate in order to help the Rohirrim at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Unfortunately, however, he must fight off hundreds of Uruks and orcs that lay in ambush. Two trolls also lay in wait. The player must fire three catapults, two at a tower and one at a troll, to get to the top of the gate. After he defeats the troll at the top, he must slay a Mumak by shooting at its armor and blowing it up. He must then open the gate. The level ends when the player gets through the gate alive.

How to fail: The player dies.

Pelennor Fields
The player is immediately launched into the full-scale battle fighting several Easterlings and Uruks alongside the Rohirrim. They must battle until 60 enemies have been killed. Then, Merry and Eowyn will join the fight. Mumakil will also enter the battlefield. The player must destroy the Mumakil coming for Eowyn and Merry (the Mumak will automatically kill them if it gets there, and the mission will fail) by destroying its armor and blowing it up before it is too late. Periodically, the Witch-king will ride down on his Fell Beast to attack Merry and Eowyn. The player must shoot the Witch-king until it flies off. This process will repeat until the Witch-king's Fell Beast is slain. Eowyn will kill him, and the dead will arrive to destroy the army of evil.

How to fail: The player dies - OR - the Witch-king kills Eowyn and Merry - OR - a Mumak crushes them.

The Black Gate
The level begins with the player facing the Mouth of Sauron who was brandishing Frodo's Mithril shirt. The player then battles to defeat him. After the player slays the Mouth, hordes of orcs will erupt from the Black Gate of Mordor, intent on destroying the armies of the free peoples. After killing several hundred orcs, the player must slay six orc brutes, and then must slay three Ringraith.

The player must kill every enemy that makes it onto the slag ruins while protecting the rest of the Fellowship (the other members regain health when you are next to them). The objective is to kill six champions, but the enemies will come from the sides as well as the front after three champions have been killed. After six champions are slain, three Ringwraiths will arrive to kill the player and the members of the Fellowship. The level ends when the three Ringwraiths are slain.

How to fail: The player dies - OR - any other member of the Fellowship dies.

This is the most difficult level in the entire game. The player must slay hundreds of orcs and Uruk-hai while keeping everyone else alive.

Escape from Osgiliath
The player must make their way through the besieged city of Osgiliath and escape through the sewers. Orcs are everywhere, and the Nazgul are searching ceaselessly for the Ring. The player must fight their way through Osgiliath, and either take cover or get off the roofs as quickly as possible when the Ringwraiths are searching. The level ends when the player defeats the orc champion stationed near the exit of the sewers, and escapes the city.

How to fail: The player dies - OR - the Nazgul catch Frodo.

Shelob's Lair
This level is separated into three levels, each separated by a checkpoint.

The first part: The first part is a gigantic maze, with few paths actually leading to the correct location. Though some paths will lead to EXP bonus stones, they also contain spider ambushes. A couple of Orcs also dwell in the lair. The player's basic objective, in this stage, is to make it to a huge arched bridge, where a checkpoint will signal the end.

The second part: The second part is more straightforward, but harder; there is only one path from this point on, but there are more enemies and more baby spider blockades that need to be separated by a torch. The objective, which is even simpler than the last, is to get out of the lair into a huge rock arena.

The third part: The player must now fight Shelob. She begins with parry-able thrusts, but will occasionally charge into a corner and summon spiders to attack the player. The only way (and an easy way at that) is to hack at Shelob until she is defeated. Frodo will be taken by two orcs, which ends the level.

How to fail: The player dies.

Cirith Ungol
The player must fight through many hordes of orcs, who are at war with each other though will focus attention on the player when they spot him (Note: The enemies seem to not actually kill each other, so it is up to the player to do so if they wish to.) The first part of the mission involves killing at least 80 enemies, which can be accomplished through a variety of paths and action sequences. Once this is done, the player must navigate the level until a short scene showing the remaining orcs fleeing to a bridge is shown. After firing a ballista and destroying part of the level, the player must rush across the bridge, beginning the second part of the level (if the player is too slow in getting across the bridge, the player dies.)

The second part is a short boss battle against Gorbag. Initially, the player cannot damage him, but by using the spears in the room, the player can toss one to break his shield, and another to stun him, during which time his life meter will appear. Note that it is possible to knock him down and use a finishing move, but it will not be an instant kill (it will just deal damage). Once Gorbag is defeated, the level ends.

How to fail: The player dies - OR - the player falls at the bridge leading to the second part of the level.

The Crack of Doom
This level is basically a boss battle: it's Sam and Frodo against Gollum. Gollum only has melee attacks, but his swipes and jump attack can be quite deadly if unparried. To damage Gollum, the player must lure him to the very edge of the platform, slash him, knock him over with an O attack, and finish the combo with a killing move. (Note: This is similar to the Final Judgment move.) The player must use this process a total of six times; each time, additional obstacles like falling rocks and lava oozing on the platform. Once the sixth Gollum-killing combo has been completed, Gollum falls into the lava and the Ring is destroyed.

How to fail: The player dies.

Palantir of Saruman
There are 20 rounds in this level, with every 5 rounds depicting a random deserted place in Middle-earth. In this level, the player must slay every enemy in each round in order to progress. The enemies are easy at first but get steadily harder, eventually resulting in enemies like Trolls and Champions. The enemies involved are the Dead, Uruks, Spiders, and Trolls of all varieties (Normal, Shielded, Archer, etc.).

Palantir of Sauron
This level requires lvl 10 for Gandalf, Sam, and either Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli. There are 20 rounds similar to the Palantir of Saruman, but with different Middle-earth locations and harder and more numerous enemies. The difficulty progresses similar to the Palantir of Saruman. The enemies involved are Orcs, Easterlings, Uruks (Isengard), and Trolls of all varieties.