The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

aka: Der Herr der Ringe: Die zwei TĂŒrme, El Señor de los anillos: Las dos torres, Fusion, Il signore degli anelli: Le due torri, LOTR2, Le Seigneur des Anneaux: Les deux tours, O Senhor dos AnĂ©is: As Duas Torres, Ringenes Herre: To TĂ„rn, Sagan om de TvĂ„ Tornen: HĂ€rskarringen, Yosemite
Moby ID: 7716
PlayStation 2 Specs
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Description official descriptions

Electronic Arts' first game based on the Lord of the Rings movies is an action game with classic beat'em up-style gameplay. Despite the title, it covers events from both the first and the second film in the trilogy.

Players, choosing to control Aragorn, Legolas or Gimli, must battle the evil forces of the Dark Lord Sauron in order to protect the Ring of Power and restore peace to Middle-earth.

The player character moves through the levels, fighting hordes of Orcs, Goblins and other creatures with various attack and parrying moves. The more varied the attacks are and the less the player is hit, the more points are awarded for each kill. At the end of each level, kill points are accumulated and can be used to gain new abilities. Most of these are new attack moves, unleashed through various button combinations. Others increase health or upgrade the strength or speed of existing attacks. Each of the three characters has unique upgrades and moves.

Several levels feature boss battles with the likes of the Watcher of Moria or Lurtz, leader of the Uruk-hai. Each boss requires a unique strategy to defeat.

Most combat scenes from the movies have been turned into levels for the game: from the confrontation with the Ringwraiths at the Weathertop and the battle in the Mines of Moria from the first film to fights with Warg-riders and other enemies on the plains of Rohan from the second film. The game culminates in the defense of Helm's Deep, even though the depiction of the battle in the game differs considerably from that in the film.

Between the levels, cutscenes tell the story. These scenes combine actual film footage with footage rendered with the game engine.

The game offers lots of bonus content, some of which must be unlocked by completing missions or reaching certain levels with the characters. Featured are interviews with the filmmakers and actors (who also provide voices for the game) as well as various making-of features.

Spellings

  • ăƒ­ăƒŒăƒ‰ăƒ»ă‚Șăƒ–ăƒ»ă‚¶ăƒ»ăƒȘング: äșŒă€ăźćĄ” - Japanese spelling

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

397 People (286 developers, 111 thanks) · View all

Executive Producer
Senior Producer
Development Director
Producers
Director of Game Development
Lead Designer
Software Engineers
Level Designer
Associate Art Director
In-Game Cinematics
Graphic Design (U.I.)
Associate Producer
Localization Associate Producer
Assistant Localization Producer
Assistant Producers
Senior Animator
Animator
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 38 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 74 ratings with 4 reviews)

Great for film fans, with a slightly rushed production feel

The Good
Graphics were superb -- Stormfront did an excellent job here. From lighting and environments to animations, everything looked and felt faithful to the film(s). Gameplay is solid -- for beat-em-up fans, there's always plenty of enemies to fight, and plenty of combat moves to use.
Production value is high -- Clever blending of film clips and in-game cinematics really emphasized the feeling of re-living the film(s). Most of the film actors were recorded for voice-over work...no silly "sound-alike" actors here.

The Bad
Parts of the game felt rushed. Example: The level with the orcs on wolves is very short compared to the other levels, and these enemies never come back in any other level. Example 2: While most of the film-related unlockables are neat, the unlockable extra character and extra level were slightly disappointing (you'll have to see for yourself what I mean by this). Example 3: The difficulty level of the game is unbalanced -- the last couple levels are significantly harder than the earlier levels (which, IMHO, are too easy). Minor nitpick -- you can't skip/cancel the in-game cinematics.

The Bottom Line
For fans of the film: A great beat-em-up video game staring your favorite characters in settings that will feel like they're straight out of the film. Plus some great unlockable "making-of" videos and actor interviews will be a real treat.
For those who didn't really like the films: A somewhat rushed-to-the-shelf beat-em-up with nice graphics.

PlayStation 2 · by Daniel Yu (111) · 2003

Nothing out does LOTR

The Good
The best thing about this game is that they switch from the video game to actual scenes from The Fellowship of The Ring and The Two Towers. The vast territory and continent you have to travel is immense. But, the best thing about the game is the variety of weapons/upgrades you have to choose from.

The Bad
I didn't like the lack of characters you could select from, it makes the game more predictible. Plus, I know the movies are super long, but does the game have to be that way to? I am a SERIOUS gamer and I don't like a extremely long game.

The Bottom Line
All LOTR fans will buy this game, or if just into movie tie-in games buy this too.

PlayStation 2 · by Exodia85 (2145) · 2003

A graphical tour de force, and an amusing diversion. For a while.

The Good
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers actually starts at the beginning of the LOTR film trilogy. Faithfully reproducing the opening battle scenes of The Fellowship of the Ring (aided by actual footage pilfered from the movie), you briefly take on the role of Ilsidur in a sort of "prologue" chapter where players are familiarized with the controls and game mechanics.

After this quick introduction you'll commit to play out the remainder of the game as Gimli the dwarf, Legolas the elf or Aragorn the regular guy. Having arbitrarily choosen an avatar (it makes no difference as far as gameplay is concerned), you're set out into Middle Earth. This particular version of Middle Earth is visually astonishing. The game looks nothing short of spectacular, putting the graphics of any other PS2 title (and most of what's on XBox, for that matter) to shame. With Two Towers, EA's conducted a clinic in the field of video game art design. The sound is of similar quality, including voices that may or may not have also been lifted from the film tracks. If you like the movie score, you won't have any complaints about the music, either. Of note is the way footage from both films blends almost seamlessly into the in-game engine during cutscenes, before suddenly reverting to your control. The overall atmosphere creates a real sense of being "in the movie"--or at least the action segments.

Once you've taken over, emphasis is planted firmly on close-quarters combat. The faster you deal damage to enemies, the stronger your character becomes, a device that rewards only one style of play. Luckily, maintaining a constant barrage of blows is easy enough. Our heros can knock opponents into one another, smash through shields, unleash many simple combo strings, strike fallen enemies on the ground and set them aflame.

Sometimes the screen is so clogged up with enemies one can simply swing away at will and be guaranteed to hit something without bothering with any directional controls. It becomes a perpetual state in the game's final acts, beneath a rain of flaming arrows. These chaotic battle royales are the game's main attraction, and are executed without a skip in the framerate.

This havoc is all promiscously strung together by what exists of the game's "plot", loosely following the first two films of the trilogy, with the cinematic scenes spliced in between. EA (and New Line Cinema) clearly milked the license for everything it was worth with all these minutes of then-unpublicized movie sequences (the game preceded the big screen release by a couple months), targetting the game squarely at the countless legions of LOTR fans. The disc even includes some interviews with selected movie cast and crew members.

The Bad
Beneath its gilded exterior, Two Towers is pretty thin, being a generic hack-and-slash experience that (ab)uses its franchise name almost exclusively in name alone. It just is what it is, completely discarding all of the rich story and character elements that made LOTR so popular to begin with. Every character beside the three playable ones is largely ignored or simply AWOL, a certain few such as Gandalf and various hobbits making brief cameos now and again.

The levels are a linear series of missions that must be completed in order, one at a time. Gameplay features include bows and blocking and assorted powerups, but Two Towers is all about mĂȘlĂ©e combat. This boils down to furious button mashing. The differences between the playable characters are strictly cosmetic, providing little incentive to play through the game with each. (There's some bonus material only available after completing the game with all the characters, but what precious little of it there is ends up being only more of what you drudged through to access it, and doesn't bring any extra longevity to the game.)

Between levels you can purchase "upgrades" in the form of new attack combos, more powerful weapons (that all look alike) and other miscellany. These upgrades are essentially the same for each character except in name, and don't do much to keep combat from quickly becoming mind-numbingly rote. And although you'll rarely face the infinite onrushing hordes of foes as in, say, Dynasty Warriors, those times when you do are scattered among many less frantic periods that involve a lot of hustling along each level's usually inflexible route, encountering a sporadic stream of enemies individually or in small groups. Either way, it's just a matter of hammering buttons until everything's dead, "everything" meaning lots of the same: There can't be more than a half-dozen variants of goblins/orcs/trolls, not including the occasional unique "boss" creature (invariably Super Mario-ish pattern-attacking affairs).

Then there's the cutscenes, which are sometimes quite long and can never be skipped. They're fine the first time, but not the ninth or twelfth or twentieth. After dying for the umpteenth time on one of the more challenging scenerios you don't get another crack at it until the preceding cutscene has run its course again. Eventually you may find yourself changing the channel between mission attempts.

The Bottom Line
Two Towers is a one-trick pony, sort of like a Faberge egg with a plastic kazoo inside: it's nice to look at, but the novelty wears off right quick once you get into it. Die-hard fans lured by the bonus interviews are better off waiting until they eventually appear on a DVD.

It's limited replayability might not make it worth the investment, but it lasts long enough to warrant a rental.

PlayStation 2 · by Gerauchertes (8) · 2003

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Trivia

Cancelled PC version

A PC version of Two Towers was in development. However, for some unknown reasons it was canceled.

Awards

  • Golden Joystick Awards
    • 2003 - MTV Film Adaptation of the Year

Information also contributed by piltdown_man

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by POMAH.

GameCube added by Kartanym. Xbox added by Entorphane.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, John Chaser, tbuteler, Kabushi, Xoleras, Freeman, DreinIX, federicocrane, Patrick Bregger, firefang9212, Hipolito Pichardo.

Game added November 9, 2002. Last modified March 19, 2024.