The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"A New Power is Rising Indeed."

The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers.
T - Blood, Violence.
Electronic Arts
2002

The Two Towers is an exciting action game, coupling hack and slash elements with RPG like character building. This was the first PlayStation 2 game I ever recieved, and it was an instant success in my books. Keep in mind I may be biased, for I am fanatical about the novels and movie trilogy.

Story: 9/10
The story follows Isildur, Aragorn, and Gimli from the Prologue of the Fellowship of the Ring to the epic Battle of Helm's Deep and tells about their part in the War of the Ring. The story is of course a classic. However, the game (in both the portion based on The Two Towers and the Fellowship of the Ring) invents some conflicts that never happened. Most are well done, but some I found to be drab and boring.

Gameplay: 10/10
The controls of this game are esay to pick up and are basically the same in the sequel, The Return of the King. The hack and slash element is well done; the pace is often that of the frantic battles of the films. Kills are graded based on combo moves and damage taken while facing whatever foe you've just dispatched. The rankings are Fair, Good, Excellent, and Perfect. With enough combos or blocks, a Perfect Mode is attainable, enabling the played to be guaranteed perfect kills for a limited amount of time. At the end of a mission, the kill grades translate into experience points that are used to buy upgrades and combos. The gameplay is excellent, especially the absolute madness of Helm's Deep levels.

Interaction: 5/10
This game is not very heavy on interactive environments at all. Some obstacles and furniture can be smashed ot reveal health or experience points, and enemies may be kicked off a ledge for an Excellent kill, but that's about it. Not much is destructible. What is is usually just to further your progress, not for the sheer chaos of it. I like chaos.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are smooth and crisp. They capture the look and feel of the movies very accurately. Swords and bows look authentic and the character models are well done, except for one area: the face. Aragorn and Legolas's faces look too much like pyramids, and Gimli's looks like melted wax. Yuo usually see your character from behind, so this causes minimal annoyance. The movements of the characters are very close to the fighting styles of their movie conterparts. The enviroments are beautifully done, be it a forest or a besieged keep. THe graphic shift seamlessly into movie footage.

Sound:10/10
The sound of the Two Towers sound much like the movies. The clang of swords and whistling of arrows is well done. The actors from the movie generously donated their voices to the game, adding to the overall Lord of the Rings experience. THe various creatures sound like the sound everything fits.

Music:10/10
The music is absolutely wonderful. The game uses the soundtrack from the Fellowship of the Ring movie, and it uses these beautiful peices to great effect. The music always matches the mood, and almost always the corresponding part in the movie.

Fun Factor:10/10
The craziness and frenetic pacing of the battles leave you breathless. Died on Helm's Deep? So what? There's so many people and creatures running around and hacking at each other (and you), arrows and artillery coming crashing down on your head that you don't mind having to do levels again. It is a lot of fun and rarely gets frustrating.

Replayability: 5/10
My taste for this game may be somewhat lessened, since it was my first game. When I got it (May 2004) I didn't yet have a memory card and I had to replay levels over and over and over. So I've pretty much lost interest in it. I play this again only when bored. There's not enough levels to warrant much replaying.

Rent, Buy, or Don't Bother:
Definitely buy. You don't want ot miss this game. However, be prepared to go a few months before you pull it off your shelf again.

Total:9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/11/05