The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"Diablo II engine, Tolkien style..."

Let me start off by saying...
THIS IS JUST LIKE DIABLO 2 IN ALMOST EVERY WAY!!!
With that being said, if you DON'T like the D2 style of play, then I wouldn't reccommend this for you. If you have never PLAYED D2, then definetly give this game a try. On to the review....

---Controls--- 10/10

Best aspect of this game. Switching magic skills, main attack, picking up items, and casting spells is all that you need to help save the land of Middle-Earth. Very fluid, responsive, and easy to manuver characters. Controls are very easy to pick-up.

---Sound--- 10/10

Some have said that this part of the game can be repetitive and annoying. I beg to differ. The soundtrack is right from the Lord Of The Rings movie, and fits perfectly into the action of this game. So BGM is deffinetly very smooth. May be a little scratchy, but this IS a GBA and not your surround sound speakers on your home theater.

The sound effects are pretty good also. The clanking of swords and the growls and grunts of orcs and goblins alike really add to the gameplay. Not to mention your character and your friends character (cooperative mode), can be heard and specifically told apart between Gandalf and Frodo.

---Graphics--- 10/10

Holy crap! Forget about controls THIS is the best aspect of The Two Towers. After you pick your character, there is a short opening FMV from the movie! It may take a while to realize that you are watching actual clips from the movie.
The short FMV is very smooth and like your watching it on your tv all in the palm of your hand.

Aside from the FMVs, the actual gameplay graphics are also phenomenal. If you ever played D2 then you are familiar with the Third person top view. The characters, for the most part, are pretty detailed. Not so much that you can make out the faces, but you can easily and distinctively tell who your character is.

---Gameplay--- 10/10
This is the meat of every game. The gameplay in TTT is awesome! Your character, who you can pick from Frodo, Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn (Strider), and Eowyn, and a secret character, basically start with a weapon and chest armor. With out going into to much detail and giving it a way completely, it's basically a Hack 'n Slash RPG. D2, Baulders Gate, Gauntlet Legends all come to mind when I think of a Real Time RPG, as aposed to your traditional Turn Based RPG (Final Fantasy). As you kill enemies you gain experience points, and eventually you gain a level. When you gain a level you earn 5 attribute points and 1 skill point. The attribute points you decide where to put them, whether it be Defense, Strength, Accuracy, Health or Courage you decide where to put the points. The Skill points go into either Active or Passive skills. Active use Spirit points(mana) and are you ''spells''. Passive work automatically all the time, so you don't have to use SP.
Gems are randomly found througout the game and are used as currency to trade for weapons, skill points, attribute points, and a stone to increase your melee attack.

---Replay Value--- 10/10

Between Multiplayer, finding good weapons, lvling up to your max, and playing through the 3 different difficulties, you'll be coming back for more and more! You can use your chracter through all 3 difficulties, and on multiplayer. There are also 8 artifacts that you have to find to unlock a ''special bonus''. To earn all 8 you'll need to play through your characters story again and again. With each of the 5 main characters you go through different paths and different lvls.

---Overall--- 10/10

Overall, I give this game a 10 mainly for the fact that it has cooperative. That is what makes the GBA TTT ten times better than the PS2 TTT. Many playable characters, a story we all love, a movie we all want to watch over and over again, and now, a game that no Tolkien fan should be without. I would highly recommend picking up a copy and having hours and hours of fun.

---Rent/Buy--- BUY!!!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/02, Updated 11/17/02