The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for PlayStation 2

INTRO

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy promises to be something not seen on movie screens since the first three Star Wars movies dominated the late seventies/early eightie's. With the books already having a vast following, the first movie thrust the storyline into the mainstream. Naturally with such a money-making machine in motion, video game developers want their piece of the action, so much so that there are two different games on the market. The Fellowship games follow the books more closely, and The Two Towers is directly taken from the movies. Despite having the same title as the second movie, the game actually is a composite of The Fellowship movie and the soon to be released Two Towers. Any gamer knows games licensed in conjunction with movies often suck, or at least are rushed and unpolished in order to meet simultaneous releases. Fortunately this is not the case here, as the same care and attention to detail was given to the game as we've seen with the feature films.

STORYLINE/DETAILS

As mentioned earlier the game takes from both movies and seamlessly rolls it into one. There are twelve missions, about the first five focus on the first movie, and the rest transition into The Two Towers. I won't begin to rehash the entire LOTR storyline, however if you've seen the first movie you'll recognize several of the missions. The first thing you'll notice is that they actually use cut scenes from the actual movies to propel the storyline along. The game starts just as the Fellowship movie, showing you the whole intro up to the point that Sauron is defeated and loses the Ring, then you're off on your journey!

The first mission serves as a training mission, and you play only as Isildur. It's very easy and allows you to get familiar with the control set and gameplay. The second mission allows you to play only as Aragorn, and it reprises the very cool Wraith battle at the campsite. By the time you reach the third mission, you are finally able to select from three characters (Aragorn the Ranger, Legolas the Elf, and Gimli the Dwarf). Care was taken to make sure the characters follow their namesakes from the movie, both in appearance and in fighting style. Legolas is more of a finesse/speed fighter, Gimli is pure strength and power, and Aragorn is a good mix of both. Throughout the game you will have help from any number of the fellowship characters, though most of the time you go it alone, or at least are the one bearing the responsibility of mission completion. One of the major complaints about the missions themselves is that they are very linear. There is virtually no room (or time!) for exploration, and no chance of getting lost. It would have been cool if they opened things up a bit.

As mentioned, a lot of the cut scenes are direct DVD feed from the movies. This definitely keeps the atmosphere of the movie at the forefront, even during gameplay. One of the cool things the developers did was they took the actual models from the movie to create the major screen sets. This is clearly seen when the DVD cut scene transforms directly into FMV right before your mission begins. One of the things I was a bit surprised by was the amount of footage from The Two Towers movie which is interspersed throughout the game. It definitely offers a great preview of things to come!

GAMEPLAY/CONTROL (7)

The gameplay is your basic beat 'em up, hack 'n slash format. Your basic attacks are a speed attack, a power attack, and a ranged attack. Throughout the game you can level up your character (see below) and also buy better, more powerful weapons and attack combos, which end up being essential. Though things can get a bit clunky and congested at times, overall it executes the format well.

The controls are very basic to start, though as you add attack combos it can be a bit of a hassle trying to remember some of the four button combos. The game uses every button on the controller, so I won't go into too much detail, but overall the controls are solid. One of the things I didn't like is when battling numerous enemies, it can be difficult to execute some of your more lethal attacks, as you'll often be taking damage from behind, which will negate your attack sequence. Aiming with your bow (ranged attack) can also be a bit tricky, and its pretty easy to get off target, fortunately arrows are plentiful. As in Gauntlet, you can break open barrels and chests to find health and arrows, they will also appear as you eliminate enemies. As you play you'll definitely figure what attacks and strategies are required to best take out the variety of enemies, this is very important for leveling up your character!

The camera is decent overall, though there are times it can be intrusive. It uses a fixed camera at times, and is very reminiscent of Devil May Cry (DMC) to me. This means occasionally you'll get caught fighting enemies at a camera transition, which means the screen will keep bouncing back and forth, which is annoying. There are also times when a large character (like a Cave Troll) will get between the camera's vantage-point and your character, and you can't see anything. When in doubt, hack away! The last gripe is you can get damaged by off screen enemies, and this can be a pain as well. The camera doesn't really destroy gameplay, and it is better than Resident Evil and even the previously mentioned DMC, but it could have been better.

LEVELING

As you battle and destroy enemies, you'll receive grades for each kill (fair, good, excellent, perfect). At the end of each level you will receive points based on the accumulation of each of these ratings. These do two things. They give you points, which can be used to purchase weapons and better combos, and they also allow you to level up your character overall. You have two gauges onscreen, one for health, and one for experience. As you progress the experience gauge will fill up, when it tops off you gain a level. The better you fight, the more experience and points you'll accumulate, the faster you can gain more lethal attacks, very simple. At all of the even numbered levels (2,4,6, etc) the options for weapons and attacks improve as well. Some improvements will require you to have all previous upgrades in the same category (like health). At the end of each mission, you also get an overall rating, which also reminds me of DMC.

GRAPHICS (9)

This is definitely one of the better looking PS2 games, bar none. The character models are very strong overall, but the real impressive part are the environments. Lighting is also quite good, though some of the levels are somewhat dull, which I think offers more to the atmosphere. Water effects are very impressive, about the best I've seen on the PS2. Fire reproduction is a bit weak, but its not a major issue. Most importantly, the game runs fast, and even with a lot of onscreen mayhem, very rarely slows down. Outstanding!

SOUND (8)

The game's sound is very true to the movies, and that's all you can ask for. You are also given three sound options (mono, stereo, and surround). The battle effects are good overall, with a lot of metal clanging in order. The best part is the music, as it uses the score from the movies, and it's great! In addition to the DVD scenes from the movie, the actual actors were brought in the do voice-overs for some of the FMV parts, and it is essential in keeping the authenticity of the game intact. Well done!

EXTRAS

The game is loaded with extras. You have numerous interviews with the director, actors, and producers from the movie. They discuss the movies and the tie in with the game. You also have a lot of stills from the movies, along with artistic renderings. Though there are several extras available at the beginning, many of which need to be unlocked by completing certain missions, reaching a certain level with said character, or both. At the end of the main game, there is also the option to play a secret mission, unlock a secret character, and then you can progress to the final area and get game codes. Seeing that the game is quite short with one character, unlocking all of the extras will basically require you to play the game through with all of the characters, essentially tripling the game time.

OVERALL (8)

On the plus side, the game looks and sounds great, and has a solid control/gameplay setup. On the downside, it's very short, and doesn't offer any multiplayer options. This game could have been great in a two player co-op mode, like Gauntlet or Baldur's Gate. I'm guessing my first time through (with Aragorn) took about 5-6 hours (and that's with multiple attempts on some missions). Obviously playing with all three characters, and the secret mission/character will multiply this, but in the end it's the same game. The first half of the game is very easy and you'll blow right through, later things do get much more difficult. You have three difficulty settings (easy, normal, expert) and I played through in normal mode. If you like the movies, and enjoy this style of gameplay, I recommend a purchase, otherwise it's an awesome rental!