The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"Hackin' and Slashin' at it's most shinin' moment!"

INTRODUCTION
Well, I needed to go down to Blockbuster to rent some games. So I decided to pick up Metroid Prime and this game. I took the games home and put this game in first. And boy, I was NOT dissappointed. Which the first thought that came to mind was ''DYNASTY WARRIORS'', but still, this game is awesome. So let's move onto the review.

GRAPHICS
Oh wow, the graphics are amazing. The opening video is actually the opening scene from the first movie and then it transforms into the game. I tell you, it's a cool scene. But the graphics are very well made. Very often in the game it'll show clips from the movies, which I thought was cool. And besides that, the graphics are very well made. The characters look like themselves and some of the citizens have different looks. So the graphics are going to get a perfect score! 10/10

SOUND/MUSIC
The sound and music is great. The sound of the swords clashing together sounds realistic, the citizens talking sound good, the voice acting is great. The voice acting is actually the people from the movie, which I found a real treat. The music is really good too. The music is actually the music from the movie. Which I like the music from the movie, so it is all good. So I'm going to give the sound/music a perfect score! 10/10

CONTROLS
The controls are great. The A button is attack, B button is parry, the Y button is the strong attack, L is the ranged attack, and so forth. The controls are very easy to get use to, so you should have no problems with kicking those Orc's butts! There is only one problem. Sometimes, when you want to shoot the arrows, it's hard to aim to shoot at the Orcs. Which I found a big problem. But the simpleness of the controls outshadows that. So the controls gets a perfect score! 10/10

STORY
The story follows the movies and books, of course. I don't think I need to go into detail since you could just go rent The Fellowship of the Ring or pick up the books and read them. The story is great though. In the game, they take scenes from the first movie and the second movie and combine them together. Which I found cool. I figured they'd just follow the second movie, but they didn't. So I'm going to give the story a perfect score! 10/10

GAMEPLAY, FUN FACTOR, REPLAY VALUE
The gameplay is simple, it's a hack and slash game. But it's a great hack and slash game. I figured they'd try to rip off Dynasty Warriors with the hack and slashing, but they didn't. At least to the point where it's not noticeable. But in the game, you have three characters to choose from and one character to unlock. The three characters I will tell you about are: Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. Each character has their own individiual strengths. You have twelve levels to beat, some are short, some are long, some are easy, some are hard. And that's how it goes. This game can be very fun, or this game can be very frustrating. Some of the boss battles can get extremely, EXTREMELY frustrating. I wanted to send my Wavebird through the television screen cause of one boss battle. But once you figure the boss battles out, you won't be wanting to do that. The game can also get frustrating in other points, sometimes, you just have too many enemies on the screen and you can't shake them. Also, when you don't have many Orcs to fight, you have the Orcs shooting arrows at you, which gets so frustrating to the point of insanity. Because you want to take care of that Orc, but then here comes another Orc to take you down with a sword. So the game can be cheap, but when it's not frustrating, it's very fun. Now, the replay value is kind of high, but it isn't. Like I said, you have twelve stages to do, and you have to beat those stages with each character. You also have to reach a certain level with your character to unlock things. These things can be photos, videos from the characters, an extra character, and an extra level. You also have to get a lot of points in battle to upgrade your character as well. The downside to this? The game is pretty short. But with all of that stuff to do, it makes up for it. So, the gameplay will get a perfect score. The fun factor will get a 6 out of 10. And the replay value will get a 9 out of 10.
REASON FOR THE FUN FACTOR: It can sometimes get too frustrating
REASON FOR THE REPLAY VALUE: The game is short

CONCLUSION ON SCORES
Graphics - 10/10
Sound/Music - 10/10
Controls - 10/10
Story - 10/10
Gameplay - 10/10
Fun Factor - 6/10
Replay Value - 9/10
AVERAGE: 9.2
FINAL SCORE: 9/10

FINAL THOUGHTS
Well this game is amazing in many ways. One, it's the first time a movie to game actually works. Some of the other things that makes this game amazing is. . .it's actually fun. When I rented it, I was like, ''It might have some good things about it. But I'm sure it's not the answer to Dynasty Warriors.'' Which, it isn't the answer to Dynasty Warriors. But it's still a great game. Any LOTR fans should go buy this. Now if you're not fond of the hacking and slashing genre, then stay far away from this game. Because this is hacking and slashing, not as much as Dynasty Warriors however. So, any LOTR fan should buy this. Any one that isn't fond of the LOTR, then just rent it. If you like LOTR but you don't like hacking and slashing, then stay FAR FAR away. That is all.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/03, Updated 04/25/03