A lot better than the second
The gameplay on this game is amazing. If you have played Star Wars Episode III than you have a taste of what this game is like. What I mean by that is that the controls are the same. It is a game where X is to swing your sword. There are not many games like that that are out now, so i take advantage of them and get them as soon as I can. I think they are just great. You can play as all of the major Lord of the Rings characters in the game. A lot of the characters you will get after you have beaten the game. A great addition to this game is that it has a co-op mode. This game can get a little to easy sometimes though.
The graphics are really good on this game. You can actually tell the difference between the charecters. Even Merry and Pippin. You can also tell the difference between and orc and a goblin. On some games they all look the same. And you can tell the difference between the orcs. There are different kinds of them in the game so that makes the game a lot better.
The sound on this game is really really good. There was nothing wrong with it at all. The swords sounded the best though. I really liked the sounds while you were in the game. Like when the character swings his/her weapon you can hear them grunting and screamig. I thought that was sweet.
Overall, this game is amazing and worth buying. I reccomend that you play it with someone else also.