Originally I wanted to try the Wii version of this as a co-op experience. Unfortunately the disc was scratched up badly and refused to work after the tutorial. I found the DS version as a consolation. Interestingly, it was made by TT Fusion, the team that creates the handheld Lego games. I can see similarities—I swear they reused some interface noises—but this is more action-focused than the Lego games.
So this is a retelling of the Lord of the Rings trilogy from the perspective of Aragorn. There’s a framing device with Sam telling his children the story, which is nice for newly recorded Sean Astin dialogue and showing some measure of the peace of the Fourth Age, but these cutscenes can get tedious. You do also miss big parts of the story; at one point Sam essentially goes “and then me and Mister Frodo went and destroyed the Ring”, but it’s also humorous because his kids interrupt him: “We’ve heard that part hundreds of times!”
The game’s fairly simple action fare. You move through the levels, whacking bad guys. There’s some backtracking, items to find and chests to open, minor environmental puzzles. You also level up, unlock skills, and find different equipment (with cool lore names). But the main thing is using the two different sword attacks to make different simple combos, sometimes blocking or pulling out the bow.
Of course the levels span Aragorn’s journey through the War of the Ring, so there’s some amount of variety. But you’re doing basically the same thing in most levels. Luckily it doesn’t outstay its welcome; it’s over in several hours, a bit more if you want to collect all the things and clear the bonus battle arenas.
So it’s a fairly basic licensed game. The journals and equipment customisation are a nice touch, and the occasional touch of levity from an orc tripping and falling off a ledge was appreciated; I wish there was more of this sort of thing, although the Lego game, released later, does cover that angle. I would also add more characters. The Fellowship’s talking heads often popped up, but apart from the very occasional friendly NPC Aragorn feels alone. Maybe it’s symbolic. On that point, since Sam is narrating you don’t really see what Aragorn is thinking or feeling—he seems like a mere avatar, which doesn’t feel right for a game which is strictly about him. But anyway, it’s an acceptable job. Perfectly adequate.
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