The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"Lord of the Cube"

The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy of books written by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was then transformed into a movie, thanks to the great vision of director Peter Jackson. It then became a very popular franchise that later sold toys, games and various merchandise on the hit books and movies. This game is a mix of both "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers" movies under the eyes of Aragorn, son of Arathorn. I played the game before I watched the movie ("The Two Towers", not "The Fellowship of the Ring"), and the game is spectacularly done in a sense that made the trilogy even better.

Graphics - 9/10

Stormfront Studios did a beautiful job with the environments and the characters. Gimli looked a bit odd, though. He was strange-looking and weird for a dwarf. The enemies look great as well. The ambiance of light and darkness also look cool, from Balin's Tomb to Helm's Deep. The in-game cinematics also were sweet. There were elements to the main two movies on there as well.

Audio - 10/10

The sound is very well done and well produced! There are excellent voice overs from the actors in the L.O.T.R. movies (Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies, just to name a few). The ambiance of the environments also sound cool, especially with the battlefield sounds in Helm's Deep. The sword and arrow noises are also effectively produced to make it sound real. Also, let us not forget the great music composed by Howard Shore. Some of the music is from "The Fellowship of the Ring". That musical score I liked overall.

Controls - 10/10

The controls are really easy to get into. You have your horizontal and vertical strikes. You have a finishing blow that is effectively done. You have your combat kick that you can execute. You have a guarding button that works effectively. You also have long-ranged weaponry that is also effective. Although Gimli's smaller axes are slow to throw, they are still effectively executed. When you gain experience points in the levels of the game and level, you can acquire cool combos and upgrades for your characters. They, too are also easy to perform.

Gameplay - 7/10

Like I said before, this game revolves around "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers" stories under the eyes of Aragorn. You get to play him as well as Legolas and Gimli. You can also play as Isildur if you manage to complete a extra stage. From the forests of Amon Hen and Fangorn Forest to the battlegrounds of Helm's Deep, the game is solid from end to end with respect to the storyline. The A.I. was a little too easy, though. But some enemies are smart which is fine. What upset me a little is that it was cut short. It could have been longer. But, if that was the case, we would have been spoiled a little bit of "The Return of the King". There are also movie type extras to unlock, which includes production photos of the two movies, video interviews from the actors about the game and many others. Try to get Gimli's interview video. It is very enjoyable and funny. The other thing that upset me (a little, not a lot) that it was single-player experience. They could have at least have a hint of multi-player elements on there (maybe Co-op play, for example).

Overall - 9/10

A very cool "Lord of the Rings" game for the GameCube. I recommend picking the movies up first before enjoying the game. I liked the movies and I definitely liked this game a whole lot. I know you will too if you have any platform whatsoever.

Pros:

+ High production value
+ Controls are easy to get into
+ Tons of extras

Cons:

- Game was cut short
- Gimli looked odd
- Single-player

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/10/05