I couldn\'t wait to get home to play this. I have been playing for the past hour and this game is GREAT. I liked the Fellowship due to the fact it was sort of an adventure game, but this is pure hack an slash and IT IS FANTASTIC. First off you start out at the beginning of the first movie (real movie footage) and I was thinking oh this is cool I am going to just relax and watch this. The next thing I know the screen changes to CGI halfway through the "Last Alliance of Men and Elves Battle" and you take control of Isildur!!!!!!! Its basically a warm up, but damn its cool!!! Then Sauron comes out and it switches back to the movie... well you know the rest. I should also point out that a lot of the movie footage is intertwined with the game and it works quite well as a scene pauses in the movie and switches to CGI quite a few times in the little amount I have played it.
The first few battles are a bit short as I am at the Gates of Moria right now and trying to figure out how to beat the "watcher" with Aragorn. I should mention after Weathertop you may chose between Gimli, Aragorn or Legolas. The game also has a level up system where you score points on how well you kill enemies (think Devil May Cry) and you gain new attacks and levels with how well you did the previous level. Loading times are minimal.
The controls - flawless. It is a snap to switch weapons (Aragorn has his sword and a bow). Very easy to pull of combos as well. The soundtrack is the same as the movie with the voices of the actors as well! You can\'t beat this if you either liked the movie and or are a Tolkien fan.
The graphics - no slow down, just beautiful. It really recreates the movie environments perfectly. I am drooling with anticipation on actually getting into Moria. Simply great.
My only gripe is (which is common with these games) the camera angles at times, but even this is minimal. Actually this some of the best positioning I have seen to date.
Also as I was flipping through the menu I noticed there is a special bonus character that you can unlock. Don\'t know who it is, but I can\'t wait to find out. This game is packed with extras including special footage and stuff. I really feel it was well worth the $50.00 I paid.
Damn I have Madden tomorrow night with Bradley and Jbean... oh well I will be playing this one every chance I get.