The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"A great throwback to the old days of gaming."

Back in August when I bought the LOTR movie dvd on it there was a preview on EA's LOTR game, which is based on the movies. After watching the preview I was somewhat interested, however considering how bad just about every movie to video game conversion is, I was justifiably wary. As the months moved closer to the release date and I read and say more of the game, my anticipation for it rose and rose until I was parked outside my EB on the release day, awaiting it. To say the least, I was not disappointed.

Graphics-9
Let's tackle the first thing most people notice in games today. For the most part the graphics are extremely nice; the character animations, for the characters as well as the enemies, are smooth and life-like. I'll never get bored of the various instant kill animations. But the area where the graphics impress the most are the elaborately detailed environments. Whether you play in the Balins Tomb, Amon Hen, or Helms Deep stages, prepare yourself for a visual feast. The environments are as accurate to the movies as they are realistic. The character likeness however doesn't hold up that well and is the one blemish of the graphics. Aragorn is the best looking of the lot. His in-game as well as his fmv model look very close to the movie counterpart. Legolas is a bit of a mixed bag. His in-game model is fairly well represented but the fmv version looks like Orlando Bloom in his thirties. Then there's Gimli, poor old Gimli. The in-game model doesn't look at all like he does in the movies, but the real travesty is in his fmv model. No words can describe how horrid EA botched his fmv version; he literally looks freakish. Another area worth noting is that instead of recreating parts of the movie in fmv form, EA went with a unique approach. Fmv will play to either introduce or end parts of the cinematics, with footage of the movie providing the meat of it. This way is great cause it serves 2 purposes; it gives the team more time to work on the game as well as making you feel like your playing the movie instead of a game.

Sound-10

EA, instead of creating their own music for the game, smartly employed the movies music and boy does it improve the game immensely. Likewise, in a move that both surprised and impressed me was that the LOTR movie actors actually did the voicework for their characters in the game. Imagine playing through stages with both the movies music and actors. Enough said.

Gameplay-9

For a beat em up game along the lines of classics like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, this game has a good amount of depth to it. This is a great accomplishment for 3D beat em ups because ever since the genre left the 2D realm, it also seemed to leave behind the depth. This is clearly evident with other current games in the genre(Fighting Force, Jedi Power Battles, Gekido). LOTR is a big step forward, capturing the depth, fun and gameplay of the old fighters of yesteryear. If you go in expecting to just mash your way to victory, your in for a rude awakening. All of the enemies have specific ways of being dealt with, from using fierce attacks on opponents with shields to fast attacks on the quick as hell goblins. Another great addition is the fact that one can purchase upgrades for the characters. They vary from different combos, weapon and armor improvements, and even instant kills that, once pulled off, will dispatch a particular enemy with a very cool animation.

Replay-9

Depending on your love of the genre along with the LOTR movie you'll either love it or hate it. If you expect an rpg lengthed game, though consider yourself warned. You can go through the game in 3-5 hours with each character. If you're like me(I dig the beat em up genre and the movie) then this is a sure-fire keeper. Playing through each level again and again is a joy. The only area that I thought was dissapointing was the secret character and stage that EA plugged in previews and interviews(they even advertise for them on the back of the game box). I won't delve into the specifics of either of them but I will say that EA had better make more worthwhile additions in the Return of the King game.

Overall-9

All in all, I was extremely impressed with the final product and salute EA for not taking the easy route typical for almost all movie to game conversions. The game looks splendid, sounds even better, has fun and involving gameplay, and is based on the greatest literary work of the 20th century. If you're a fan of the beat em up genre or if you've ever wanted to play the action scenes from the movie, then you owe it to yourself to pick up this game. Now, back let's hunt some orc!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/02, Updated 10/27/02