The
Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers
Don't
let the title fool you. This game actually clumps The Fellowship
of the Ring together with The Two Towers into one
exciting adventure game. Unlike the literary Fellowship
of the Rings game, The Two Towers isn't a mind
crunching RPG style game; it's straightforward smash'em bash'em
hack'em up adventure. Based on the elegant movies, of course.
The game
starts off with the longest DVD rip-off yet seen in a film-to-game
title, playing scenes from The Fellowship of the Rings
that take the player up to the Battle of Mordor.
With
no warning, ogres attack. The movie has ended and the game
has begun. As you drop your soda all over the carpet and realize
the game has started, you may find yourself trying to figure
out what to do next.
Never
fear, as a button flashes at the side of the screen, labeled
"Quick Attack." Or something. This is officially your training
mode, appropriately throwing you to the wolves.
Eventually
you become Aragorn at Weathertop shooing away Ringwraiths.
Again you have to figure out to defeat them. Did I say there
was no mind-crunching to do with this?
After
this sequence, the Fellowship is formed, and you can choose
to play one of three characters for every scenario: Aragorn,
Legolas, or Gimli. Try and even out the game play if you can
stand the wait, and once you save you cannot repeat the level
using the same guy again.
Any fan
of The Lord of the Rings should like the fighting using
these heroes. And there are many of cut scenes taken directly
out of the movies that prep you for the adventure that lies
ahead, or starts your level off. Unfortunately not all of
them can be skipped, so if you're playing the scene a second
or third time as a different character, it can get quite boring
watching the same cut scenes over and over. At least the scenery
is remarkable, almost a carbon copy of the movies.
The game
play is pretty straightforward, especially when you find your
best suited fighting style. You will probably spend loads
of time replaying levels to get more points to purchase new
techniques and perfecting them.
Most
of the techniques don't change too much between the characters,
and neither do the scenarios. The movements do differ as you
fight with different characters, but the key sequences don't
really vary at all. And that could be a boring thing, or your
savior.
Depending
on who you're playing, bosses can be pretty easy or darn right
impossible to get the first couple of times. You may find
inconsistencies of where you start if a Boss kills you to
be one big turn-off.
The movie
actors' voices are used, and during every interview included
here they all seem pretty proud of that. At first you the
switch between film and CG is enjoyable, but it doesn't always
work smoothly. Oh, sure, it gets the job done, but it's inconsistent.
The musical
score comes right out of the movie soundtrack. In particular,
the loop for the menu selection is so menacing and powerful
that I left it on for an hour or so to get myself hyped.
Basically
The Two Towers is a well-crafted game to play once,
twice, or three times (just to be able to play everyone you
can), but that's about it. This game will take you a good
five to six hours using one character, watching the unlocked
selections and releasing the mysterious secret character.
What
fans will enjoy more is the unlocking of interviews. There
are stills included, but those are somewhat boring, because
you'll have the feeling you've seen most of them on the extra
special New Line DVD or something. The extras on the making
of the game are probably worth it. And for now, it's a MUST
play for those who like seeing sneak peaks of footage of Part
Deux.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for PS2
The
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for Game Boy Advance
Available
in January:
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for Game Cube
The
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for XBox
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