The Lord of the Rings proves yet again that it can be incredible on all mediums- even games.
The Bad: Many of the characters are noticeably worse than others in just about every way; despite it all, the game is still very short; hobbit levels are way too easy compared to the others; many characters are unlocked very late in the game.
Improving in nearly every way even over its very impressive predecessor, The Lord of the Rings game franchise has at last proved that games based on movies can be good, with the right effort involved.
It's still very clear that a hack and slash, given the circumstances of the games being based on movies, is the best choice for a Lord of the Rings title. There are more levels now too, so there's much more variety, and the length and replayability of the game is even better than what was in The Two Towers.
The controls, too, have made the jump well. The new action button to shoot catapults, heft spears and drop pitch on orcs and such is a welcome addition, and the game avoids using the dodge button (now very out of the way on the controller) so it doesn't have a real controller deficiency.
The best addition in the game though, is certainly the co-op mode. One might have feared that EA would just slap on the two-player because people wanted it in Two Towers, but those fears can be quelled. Multiplayer is just as fun, efficient, and actually well done as the rest of the game.
The graphics have improved, as they very well should have since it'd been a year since Two Towers. The music, live action scenes, voice over and interviews all still make spectacular use of the license, and the game is improved because of it. It feels that EA made sure to make a good game for Two Towers, and then improved on it in every way for the sequel, having a whole year to make the best of the next game.
There are still issues though. By adding in more levels, the EA team naturally added in the story of Frodo and Sam for the game, but when played as, say, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas or Faramir, these levels are pathetically easy. That's because the character roster isn't balanced at all. If you love playing as Frodo or one of his hobbit friends (as you probably will if you've read the books), you'll end up getting pwned in co-op by your buddy who's newer to the game, but playing as Aragorn.
That issue, fortunately, only comes in later, when the replayability is almost in jeopardy. It's still a lot of fun later on, mainly because there's so much variety in the levels and enemies, nine total characters and an even better RPG character building element than was seen in Two Towers.
So is it worth it now? If you're a big fan of Lord of the Rings, love beat-'em-up games, or especially if you're into both, it's definitely worth a look just for the price and the fun involved. There are three difficulties and a couple extra levels unlocked with the end of the game, and those make the replayability even better. It is very old, and that shows relative to the three new consoles for sure, but if you'd like some mindless orc killing, look no further.