The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"Wee-men out to destroy a menacing ring? Oh, my!"

You want truth? Hah, you bastards can’t handle the truth. But fact of the matter is: I’ve never read a single Tolkien book, somewhat hated Peter Jackson’s 2001 adaptation of the Fellowship of the Ring, and haven’t yet touched the sequel (which I’m actually somewhat anticipating since it’s promising more action scenes, which were arguably the original’s only saving grace). The sequel, of course, is called the Two Towers, and it picks up straight after the events from Fellowship (particularly highlighting Frodo -- he’s a Halfling, half-human and half-elf – Baggins’ quest to destroy a powerful ring crafted from the dark lord Sauron).

Now, don’t get me started but I was only ever interested in one thing from Tolkien’s world, and that was of course the Hobbit, which follows the story of Bilbo Baggins. Though I’ve never read the book (I own it, just never read it), I, long ago, watched the 1978 cartoon of the same name and I was hooked. I rented it, saw it multiple times, everything. I knew the characters so well that when I finally saw them in the movie adaptation of the Fellowship, I was amazed at the little details. I thought it was a perfect move from cartoon to movie, while in reality it was a perfect match of novel to motion picture.

Not surprisingly, to keep up with the recent trend in videogames, Vivendi Universal inked a deal to create games based on Tolkien’s novels, while Electronic Arts signed on to create games based on Peter Jackson’s epic, big-budget movies. And while Vivendi has taken the blame for creating a poor gaming experience of the Fellowship story, EA has gotten all around positive marks for their adaptation to last year’s remarkable blockbuster, the Two Towers.

At the start, EA’s Towers actually doesn’t begin with the events of the second film. It essentially goes back to the first film and tells the whole story in a small number of levels before kicking it off to the adventures of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli (the three main characters whom you can choose to play as in this game). Among the places you’ll go to include the small battle at the very beginning of Fellowship where Isildur, an aging, brave knight who later becomes the father of Aragorn (also known as Strider), destroys the hand of the dark lord Sauron and steals his ring of evil. Following that, you’ll combat as Strider as you save Frodo from shadowy creatures out to kill him (you’ll have to take a torch and set them aflame in order to destroy them), and then things will fast-forward to a forest where you must kill a large sea-creature with nasty tentacles, to a mine where Frodo and his group battle against orcs in a battle that seems like it might never end, but it does. It does when the very same blue-monster (the huge troll) from the movie comes in and starts destroying everything and you’ll have to resort to taking out your bow to bring him to his untimely death.

The story of Fellowship continues and ends with the death of friend Boromir, and your slaying of the evil Uruk-Hai monster that killed him. Then the fun begins. While the game itself is a huge spoiler to the folks who haven’t seen the second film (or, much worse, the first film) it is fun and explains the long-winded Lord of the Rings story to its utmost perfection. It weeds out unnecessary details for a game (like the film’s romances and crap like that), while other times it only tells you so much that it leaves the movie to explain it for you. Since I didn’t read the book or watch the movie, I had no idea what “the Gap of Rohan” was or what exactly was so bad about “Moria,” since what I saw of them was through this game and while that probably explained more then I was ever interested in, it was also cool because it let me know that these are the details that were saved for the movie (which further explains why there’s an extended platinum edition of the flicks every year).

Of the three characters you’re given to select from in every single level (except the first two of course), I prefer Aragorn the most because he’s got a style, which I love, and is my preferred choice. He has, in my opinion, the best attacks of the three, and while he doesn’t have as much ammo in the secondary weapon category (the bow and arrow), he’s still much better then Gimli (who throws axes that take forever to hit an enemy and which don’t go as much a distance as the arrows). Legolas (the elven-wonder boy played by Orlando Bloom) is faster then the two characters, using his two blades in a rapid motion to kill off his enemies and his massive amount of arrows to silence them for good, but in terms of damage he probably takes the most and does the least. Gimli (whose voiced and played by the rather funny John-Ryse Davies) is probably the worst of the three in my mind. He’s very slow and I hate his throwing axes at enemies (despite the fact you even see him do this in the films), but, however, he packs a mighty punch.

After you’re done choosing which character you are going to use you then choose the level you want to play in. The formula for progressing is simple: beat a level with one character to help open up the next. And in actuality you can sweep through this game never having to use the other characters, but where’s the fun in that. As you beat a level (there’s around 12 in this game), your character’s experience points (which you gain by beating up enemies) will increase raising your character’s level (the maximum is 10) and giving them money. With the money you can go into the following menu and then choose to buy attacks, finishing moves, shields (which raise your health), and bows (whose arrows do more damage) to help you in this game. Many of the extra attacks and moves have a simple button pattern, but when fighting I find these really hard to pull off, especially since I see overrated actor Elijah Wood pulling off every “cool” trick in the book in his game-exclusive interview.

“Exclusive interview you say? No way!” Sorry, but fortunately these are just about the coolest parts of the game. When you begin you’ll already have unlocked some of the interviews, which include Peter Jackson’s opinion on this adventure, Ian McKellen’s (Gandalf) thoughts on recording his voice for the small screen, and, of course, Wood giving his personal opinion on this game (don’t worry, it’s all positive). But EA wasn’t content to end it there, having three more interviews done for this game. However, you’ll have to work for them and take all your characters to level five; so can unlock all three from the three actors who play them (Mortensen, Davies, and Bloom). They all have good thoughts and opinions on this game too, and they’re pretty funny in certain areas as well. Along with the interviews come more goodies. A special making-of feature is shown, as well as a bunch of still photos from the Fellowship and Two Towers films. And, finally, to add to that are special levels that test your skills by letting you take on hordes of enemies through twenty short stages. And by beating that you unlock the game’s hidden character, Isildur (who, pretty much, plays like Aragorn in many ways).

Now for the graphics, let me just say something first. Not only was I impressed, but sometimes I was just amazed at how many enemies will appear, while the game runs perfectly without slowdown. Sure, sometimes its obvious that the aging PlayStation 2 hardware can pull many of the game’s tricks to utter perfection, but, other times, it makes you wonder (especially in the final three Helm’s Deep levels where enemies are everywhere -- sometimes filling up entire screens). Sure I might be talking out of my ass with the above statement, occasionally the game might stutter, but the frame-rate is smooth with no pop-up whatsoever. Added to the package are sharp, detailed character models and huge environments, and special cut-scenes that were created by EA as well as movie footage of the two films provided by New Line Cinema. Seeing Fellowship in its full CGI glory and then noticing that all you’re doing is playing a game is a sure plus in my book. The game’s music is just as great too, being entirely comprised by the original film soundtrack. Plus voice-acting by the aforementioned stars and sizzling sound effects, and you have a perfect score to listen to whenever you are playing this game.

Finally, The Two Towers by Electronic Arts is an outstanding game that shows that not all movie-based games must suck. It does have its flaws, which I’ll take time to mention. Firstly, the game can get repetitive. Smashing and killing things is always fun at first, but like Devil May Cry and Onimusha before it, the effect does wear out. Sure the game gets better and better, especially since the final levels are so action-packed, but the experience does eventually get boring and tiresome. Then, you’re faced with a game that lacks depth in certain areas where it should, and lacks any multi-player component whatsoever to qualify a purchase that can be enjoyed with a friend (or friends). And the game could do with more characters, seeing as how the hidden character, Isildur, is pretty worthless to use since he doesn’t level up and has enough power and moves to destroy some of the early bosses who might’ve posed a challenge (and believe me, at first some of the bosses are really unforgiving and tough). The game is also pretty short, leaving die-hard fans to find its hidden extras and witness everything that’s in this game in a small period of time (I finished it in three days with nearly everything unlocked). But given its flaws, the Two Towers seems to do more good then bad, and, to enthusiasts, this is as cool as you can get.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/07/03