Do you remember being kid when you used to imagine putting yourself wielding your own sword to fight off hordes of goblins and demons? Well in Lord of the Rings Aragorn’s Quest, you can finally get hands on with that kind of action. The game uses the Wii’s motion sensor technology to give players and interesting perspective on the hack and slash genre – and that is because you actually have to hack and slash to play the game!
The game is based on the accounts of Samewise Gangee and his adventures during the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. As he tells the stories of his adventures to his young son, Frodo Gangee, you relive his experience of taking control of Aragorn during all of the battle scenes. The game takes you through eight levels of orc smashing fun that are pretty complex, containing both main quests and optional side quests. The game does an amazing job of bringing the atmosphere of the film into each and every level’s detail. Whether it’s the fiery gates of Mordor or the wide-open plains of Rohan, you’ll not only feel like you’re right in the action, but as if you’re playing through an actual scene in the movie. Unfortunately, true to the Wii console’s limitations, the graphics aren’t really that great but the score is pretty incredible and helps add to the atmosphere.
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While the games battle engine may be one of its best features it is also one of its down falls. The repetitive motions of swinging your Wiimote around the room can sometimes get a little boring and even tiring. This would be saved by the ability to create innovative combos using different motions, however the Wii sometimes has difficulty registering said motions. While this generally doesn’t matter much since all enemies tend to die after a few hits anyway, it can get quite annoying whenever the game warrants a specific strike and your motions get misread.
The overall game play is pretty simplistic in nature. You hack and slash your way through the hordes leveling up, and earn new abilities along the way. The games difficulty level is pretty low too and while this may be inviting to young and new gamers, it can be pretty dull to the more experienced gamers in the crowd. At the end of the day I give Lord of the Rings Aragon’s Quest a 7.5 out of 10, taking points away only for motion sensor misreads, less then stellar graphics, and the fact that it’s just too easy for many people to enjoy it. You can purchase Lord of the Rings Aragorn’s Quest at Amazon for $45.99
The Good: True to the spirit of the original movies, fun hack and slash adventure, great cinematic score
The Bad: Graphics are eh, gameplay can become repetitive and is too easy for serious gamers
