The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"The Two Towers, the one Game-Cube, the one player, the many things to kill."

Intro.

Lord of the Rings. The movies were spectacular and the video game version of the second book/movie came out. If you can't help watching the movie, you probably can't help playing The Two Towers.

Game-play: 8/10

Brilliant. Choose from 3 characters: Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. They each have their own advantages, disadvantages, and techniques. Now once you choose your character, you just have to kill these guys who are known as the orcs. They look like monsters, but fun to kill. Your attacks are obviously important, but the types of attacks you have are even more important. First off, there is a speed attack. This attack is a swift, fast attack. Problem is that it is not that powerful, but the attack you will use most often. Then you come over to the fierce attack. This is stronger than the speed attack, but it is slower and can be used to link two consecutive hits while the speed attack has 3. The very, very good thing about the fierce attack is that it can break shields and penetrate armor. What a nice fighting system. Ever feel like pushing people? There is a attack which allows you to push enemies. More like a shove actually. With this, you can knock enemies off of ledges or knock them down on the ground. There seems to be yet, another attack type called the kill attack. Sounds dangerous, but if you know when to use this, use it. The kill attack is just a simple stab onto the ground. When you knock down an enemy with the attack that pushes enemies (or whenever they are laying on the ground), press the kill attack button and you will stab them on the ground. Instant kill. You have seen enough attacks with the sword and axe, so the bows and arrows will be introduced. When an enemy is out of reach (or when you feel like shooting), hold L to hold your bow, then press A to fire an arrow (Gimli throws an exe instead). Hold A to charge it up.

Throughout the killing, you will gain experience points. It's like an RPG. Each character starts at level 1. As you kill, you will gain experience. Once you gain a level, you can purchase some cool upgrades.

After you beat a level, you come up to a screen with a list of upgrades. Upgrades you see will be like new attacks or stronger long range attacks. You can only purchase upgrades if your level is high enough. You can't purchase stuff that are in the level 6 section if you are level 4. However, lets say you are at level 4. You can purchase anything in level 4 or below. How do you get money? You use experience points. When you spend them, you don't like, decrease in level. Only the amount you accumulated will now decrease. The number of points that can be spent can decrease.

This is such a great game, but the problem is that this game is short in levels. Plenty of unlockable stuff, though.

Graphics: 7/10

Environments change from place to place and they look real good too. Grass may look weird, but the enemies look even worse. At least they look like the ones in the movie. Plenty of coloring and there is a really wide variety of stuff to see. You might never see the same thing on two different levels. Hey, expect some parts from the ACTUAL movie to be put in here.

Sounds: 8/10

Since that this game has a lot of stuff from the movie, you will hear a LOT of music and voices from the movie itself. You will mostly hear swords clashing, enemies growling, and a bunch of other stuff that may sound nonsense.

Control: 7/10

Most of the very important controls are around one area. It's not that bad at all. It's just that there is no camera control to deal with. Basically, the controls are just fine, but not great.

The good, the bad, and the ugly:

The good:
- All the action.
- The fighting combos.
- Experience points and the level system.
- 3 characters.
- A lot of stuff from the movie.
- Great graphics.

The bad:
- Short game.
- Would of been great with two players.

The ugly:
- The looks on the enemy.

Overall: 7/10

This is one of the best hack-and-slash games you can find. It's just that this game is short, but through the entire time you play, there is nothing, but a little smile on your face.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/06/04