The early 00s was an incredibly special time for video game adaptations of movies. Yes, some of them sucked and were quite clearly soulless cash grabs aimed at parents desperate to shut their children up for an afternoon. But some of them were so much more.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King is one such video game that went above and beyond, offering an adaptation that enriched the moviegoing experience substantially. Suddenly, we could leave the dark cinema and immediately run home to a dark bedroom where we were able to relive the epic movie's greatest battles. Alone or with friends!
EA did an incredible job of bringing the massive scale of Peter Jackson's movies to the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. It might not look like much by today's standards, but it managed to capture the chaos and brutality of the movie's fiercest battles, from Helm's Deep to the gates of Mordor itself.
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Such a game would have been inviting enough as an entirely single-player experience. The fact you could invite a friend to jump in and play as one of the Fellowship was a delicious bonus.
That's why it's no surprise that fans are still desperately crying out of a remake or remaster, all these years later. There are dozens of viral posts and petitions in which tens of thousands of fans back the idea, refusing to let go of the dim hope that it could yet happen one day.
"One of the great co-op games of the 2000s," one fan proclaimed. It's kind of hard to disagree, to be fair.
"Yeah these were surprisingly polished for movie tie in games," another added. "I loved the live action to game transitions."
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While this certainly sounds like a great plan on paper and the demand is clearly there, it's sadly highly unlikely that it'll happen anytime soon. Still, we can always dig out those old consoles from the loft or under the bed, grab our friends, and party like it's 2003 all over again.
Featured Image Credit: EATopics: The Lord Of The Rings