The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Well, I assume everybody knows the story already, so there’s no real need to go into detail with that. This game combines the first two chapters of the series into one super fun game. Just like the movies (and books) the story and characters are simply great! A lot of the story is relayed through clips straight from the movie, which really make you feel like you’re taking part in some of the movie’s epic battles. My only complaint about the story is that it jumps around a lot, and the result is the story doesn’t come together particularly well. You get pretty good descriptions of what’s going on as you play, and you’re allowed to skip through some of the slower parts to the series, but you never really find out what happens in between stages. In the end, if you haven’t read the books or seen the movie (then you should do both) the story isn’t going to make a lot of sense. But, this is still an action game at it’s best, and the best movie-based game I’ve ever played.

Each of your characters can perform several basic moves, such as a block, a fierce attack (which will break through shields), a fast attack (which is weaker), a kick (which knocks enemies back), or a step back (which helps you dodge). The Two Towers borrowed a lot of RPG elements, and it has an upgrade system a lot like the Bouncer. Fortunately, this game is in EVERY way better than the Bouncer. While in combat you receive grades for your performance. These grades are determined by variations in attack patterns and use of combos. The better the grades you get the more style points you get, which, at the end of a stage, can be exchanged for new skills. These skills include new moves, increased strength and stronger weapons. After you beat up enough orcs you can level your character up, which unlocks a new set of skills for that level (although each character can only go up to level 10). Your health, level and number of arrows are indicated on the screen, along with the health of any boss you may be fighting, or anything that you need to protect.

The graphics are great in nearly every way. The background environments are beautiful and really set the mood of the story, and the characters move fluidly in combat and are exceptionally detailed. The movie clips are crisp and clear, and when they end they merge in with the gameplay. This is beautifully done and looks much better than simply changing back and forth. Unfortunately the areas were often very closed off, so one is unable to fully appreciate the amazing detail of the game. The battles always feature huge amounts of combatants, but are often set in tiny little areas. Despite the tiny combat area there are some camera problems. Simply backing away from an oncoming cave troll can cause you to fully lose sight of the beast. It becomes difficult to tell where the masses of bad guys are, and hitting them with your arrows can be difficult. But, the fast pace of the game and the overall exceptional graphics will probably cause you to overlook the minor annoyances.