The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"Towers Over All Competitors!"

Now THIS is what a movie-based game should be like! After so many shoddy (and I mean VERY shoddy) movie-to-game conversions, I was very skeptical to say the least to try this. But after hearing how this one blew other movie-based games out of the water, I just had to try it! And I must say right now, I was truly amazed by the quality of the game. You can play as five characters from the films: Frodo Baggins, Gandalf the wizard, Aragorn the ranger, Legolas the elf, and Eowyn, niece of King Théoden of Rohan. It follows the plot well, starting after the council with Elrond (about halfway through ''Fellowship''), and ends at Helms Deep. Now, my review of this breath-taking game...

Graphics - 9/10
For the GBA, these visuals are amazing. The members of the Fellowship all have fluid, smooth animation (consisting of more than a couple of frames) and are quite large and easy to see. Level backdrops are a sight to behold, but some do get tedious (especially Moria). The sprites are varied, but there is a colour swap for a few monsters (not a big deal). Even pictures of the actual actors in the dialogue scenes are in here and look great (Aragorn and Théoden stand out most for me)! Excellent in every way.

Sound - 9/10
Now we're talking! THIS is how the GBA was meant to be soundwise, and though the GBA has not reached its full potential yet, the sound and music in LoTR:TTT comes VERY, VERY close. Music from the motion pictures has been digitized and sound wondrous, especially with a set of stereo headphones (my personal favourites are the character select scene with the LoTR theme, and the music that plays in the first scene of Gandalf's scenario with Théoden). The sound effects are definitely great, though lacking a little bit in variety.

Gameplay - 10/10
The crown jewels of this game! With five characters with different fighting styles, this one causes you to think (Aragorn and Eowyn are ''in-your-face'' melee fighters, Gandalf is a mage, while Frodo and Legolas are hit-and-run). Item drops are quite interesting, as they are completely random. You can also play the game again with the same character and set it on a higher difficulty setting to try and reach the level cap of 52. There are also eight Artifacts to find if you want to unlock a level in Multiplayer mode. And speaking of that, kicking some Orc butt with a teammate is truly fun!

To buy or not to buy? The obvious answer is... YES, BUY!!! This game will keep you busy for weeks, and probably a good two or three months. If you thought movie-to-game conversions were terrible, TTT will forever change your mind!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/30/02, Updated 12/30/02