Back in the early to mid 2000s, licensed games were a dime a dozen. While there were real standouts at the time, the market was certainly flooded with film tie-ins, and not all were of the same quality. For each Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sitha Fight club and Simpson’s skateboard was just around the corner. But that only made the best stand out even more, and EAs The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The return of the king are good examples.
Released in 2002 and 2003 respectively, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King were EA-published hack-and-slash games that allowed fans to play through the events of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Fondly remembered for their accuracy to their film counterparts and ability to control a number of iconic characters, EAs Lord of the Rings games still stand the test of time two decades later, but an official remaster wouldn’t go amiss.
It’s time to remaster Lord of the Rings Two Towers and Return of the King
Released in 2002, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was developed by Stormfront Studios, a relatively unknown developer who often assisted other EA projects such as Madden and BECAUSE OF. Covers both The Fellowship of the Ring and The two towers, this title takes players all the way from The Shire up to Helm’s Deep, incorporating all the exciting action set pieces along the way. Throughout the game, players can choose between Gimli, Aragorn or Legolas to play as, each with their own unique weapons and abilities. Between each level, players can increase their chosen character’s health and unlock new combos.
In 2003, EA released a direct follow-up i The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Instead, developed by EA Redwood Shores, which went on to become Visceral Games, The return of the king is considered to be the better game of the two, with far more characters to choose from, longer campaign durations, more replayability, and a more complex progression system. The return of the king also had a major advantage over its predecessor in that it allowed for 2-player co-op.
With much more ambitious level design, The return of the king manages to capture the scale and essence of its film counterpart extremely well. This is only enhanced by the game’s impressive visual and sound design, with environments and character models that look as realistic as possible for 2003. Due to its fidelity to the source material, and its high level of accessibility, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King quickly became a childhood classic for many, and is still happily discussed today.
It’s about time EA remastered it Lord of the Rings game. With the two titles already standing the test of time quite well, it wouldn’t take much effort for EA to remaster The two towers and The return of the king, with a simple resolution to HD. Fans aren’t looking for a full remake; they just want to be able to easily play the games from their childhood with modern visuals and sound. Nothing about their gameplay needs to change, because after all, their simplicity is what made them so accessible and beloved to begin with, so friends can just jump right in without a lengthy tutorial. That’s money just sitting on the table waiting for EA to collect it.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The return of the king is available on PS2 and Xbox.
