Back in the early-mid 2000s, licensed games were a dime-a-dozen. While there were real standouts at the time, the market was absolutely flooded with movie tie-ins, and not all were of equal quality. For every Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, a Fight Club and Simpsons Skateboarding was right around the corner. But that only made the best stand out even more, and EA's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Return of the King are prime 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 let fans play through the events of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Remembered fondly for their accuracy to their movie counterparts and the ability to control a variety of iconic characters, EA's 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 The 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 PGA. Covering 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, encompassing every thrilling action set piece along the way. Throughout the game, players can choose from Gimli, Aragorn or Legolas to play as, each with their own unique weapons and abilities. Between each level, players could increase their chosen character's health and unlock new combos.
In 2003, EA released a direct follow-up in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Instead developed by EA Redwood Shores, which went on to become Visceral Games, Return of the King is widely considered to be the better game of the two, with far more characters to choose from, a longer campaign duration, more replayability, and a more complex progression system. Return of the King also had one big advantage over its predecessor in that it allowed for 2-player co-op.
With much more ambitious level design, Return of the King manages to capture the scale and essence of its movie counterpart extremely well. This is only reinforced by the game's impressive visuals and sound design, with environments and character models looking as realistic as possible for 2003. Due to its faithfulness 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 it's still fondly discussed today.
It's about time that EA remastered its Lord of the Rings games. With the two titles already standing the test of time fairly well, it wouldn't take much effort for EA to remaster The Two Towers and The Return of the King, with a simple up-res to HD. Fans aren't looking for a fully-fledged remake; they just want to be able to easily play the games from their childhood with modern visuals and sound. None of their gameplay needs to be changed, as after all, their simplicity is what made them so accessible and beloved to begin with, allowing friends to just hop in straight away with no lengthy tutorial. It's money that's just lying on the table, waiting for EA to pick it up.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King are available on PS2 and Xbox.