The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels have long been favorites of sci-fi/fantasy geeks the world over. They have been hailed as some of the greatest literary pieces ever written. The movie franchise based on these books, directed by Peter Jackson, has also received more than a little praise. Electronic Arts took it upon itself to make a video game based on the first two movies - The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Two Towers - for Gamecube, Playstation 2, and Xbox; and despite humongous expectations, it has succeeded spectacularly.

The Two Towers is an episodic action-RPG that puts the player in the shoes of Aragorn the Ranger, Gimli the Dwarf, or Legolas the Elf in a series of missions - each of which is based on a scene in one of the movies, and each of which involves battling hordes of orcs, goblins, trolls, and uruk-hai to the death; those epic battle scenes written by Tolkien and directed by Jackson are now in the hands of Joe Gamer.

The Lord of the Rings itself has a splendid story, one that cannot be accurately described in short (except to praise it). The movies also do a wonderful job of retaining the story, despite a handful of changes for the sake of cinematics. The game, however, possesses little story; it essentially assumes that the player knows the plot, then thrusts him into select situations from it. If you're playing the game in order to see the story of the first two Lord of the Rings installments, then you've come to the wrong place; however, if you're playing it with prior knowledge of the storyline, the game will serve to enhance many beloved moments.

The Two Towers is an action RPG, but not in quite the same manner as Diablo and its kin. TTT could more accurately be compared to Gauntlet Legends, but this still does not quite serve to portray it. There are twelve missions in the game, and three characters to play as. In the first two missions, play is restricted to a single character for each, for the integrity of the storyline; but in the following missions, the player chooses one of three characters (Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli) and plays it out. The missions are either taken directly from the movies, as in Balin's Tomb and Amon Hen, or adapted from them using some literary freedom, as in the villages of Rohan. Each mission pits the player against large enemy forces, sometimes with the help of other characters (who are computer-controlled, but have abilities based on how the player has built those characters up - more on this later).

Each character has both a melee weapon and a projectile weapon. Aragorn has his longsword and a bow; Legolas, elven blades and his bow; and Gimli, an axe and smaller throwing axes. Melee battles are controlled by different buttons (one for a quick attack, one for a slower but more powerful attack, one for kicking an enemy away, one for parrying enemy blows, one for finishing off an enemy on the ground, and one for a quick jump back). Long range weapons are brought out by holding a button, aimed with the control stick, and fired with another button. Combo moves can also be executed by pressing a certain sequence of buttons, resulting in a powerful attack. These different attacks will come in handy when the game throws out more powerful - and more varied - enemies as things move on. These combos, as well as other upgrades (like more life and more powerful weapons), can be purchased with skill points attained at the end of a mission - a player earns skill points for every kill made in a mission, with more points given based on how well he does.

Each character has his own specialties. Gimli is slow, and his projectile weapons are not very impressive; but his axe has great might, and his upgrades will net him a very large amount of life. Legolas can have troubles holding his own in melee combat, but he is fast, and his arrows are powerful (becoming even more powerful with upgrades). Aragorn is somewhat of a blend of the two, possessing medium strength, medium speed, and balanced melee and projectile abilities.

The graphics of The Two Towers are a mixed bag. They can be separated into three categories: gameplay graphics, computer-generated cinematics, and actual film footage. The film footage, obviously, looks very nice; the CG cinemas are respectable; and while the gameplay graphics look quite good at a distance, when they are used for cinematics, they appear somewhat flawed. In short, though at times cinematic graphics will appear bland, graphics while playing the game are impressive. The game's soundtrack is taken directly from the movies, and sounds magnificent, scaling well depending upon the battle situations; and sound effects, from exploding barrels to clanking weapons, are all excellent. One particular audial point is that all of the characters' sound bytes - from spoken speech to battle grunts - were recorded directly from the movies' actors.

Missions can be played and completed with multiple characters, characters can be upgraded, there are three difficulty levels, there is a bonus mission, and there is a bonus character. Ordinarily, this might seem like more than enough replay value; except that the missions go by quickly, and by the time you're done, your characters are already almost fully upgraded. However, there is a saving grace: unlockables. Several things are unlocked from progress in the game, including conceptual art, movie screenshots, and interviews with people who developed and voiced for the game. There are interviews with Ian McKellan (Gandalf), Elijah Wood (Frodo), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli), and they range from informative to humorous. Ian McKellan regrets to admit that he doesn't have the necessary skills to play a game that most people "under the age of six" seem to possess. Elijah Wood talks about his love for video games, professing his own game-geekdom. John Rhys-Davies calls the game his "new addiction," though he claims that he could never get to the required level to unlock his own interview. The interviews are themselves perhaps replay enough, a very apt reward for playing the game, and a joy to watch and re-watch over again.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, despite the hurdles of delivering well upon an established and beloved franchise, has managed to do so. It boasts great gameplay features and executes them well. Perhaps its only failing is that it isn't exceptionally long as a game. Its sequel, though, hopes to correct that.

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