Game #1195: The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers

 One licensed game to rule them all.

 I've always felt like The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was something truly special when it came to movie tie-in games. I remember when the game first came out, it felt like actually playing the whole movie, I mean, sure, it only follows the Argorn/Legolas/Gimli trio, but still! It made excellent use of movie clips and the gameplay was fairly solid. The sequel is even better, but let's start off with this one.

 

 While it's a tie-in to the Two Towers, this game actually covers the first two movies, albeit only the side of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. It makes sense, as they were the ones who saw more blade-on-blade action, so their side of the adventure makes more sense for a hack-and-slash game. The game is made up of about 12 stages as well as a bonus stage, and 10 of those stages can be played as any of the aforementioned characters, and Isildur, once you unlock him. He is just an Aragorn reskin, mind you.

 One of the things I love the most about the game is how it uses brief movie clips that brilliantly transition into in-game cutscenes. There's not as much movie footage as it felt like when I was younger, but it's still a very smart use of the licensed content. All things considered, the game is not a substitute for the movie, as neat as the cutscenes are, you are still missing the hobbits' side of things, plus, the game glosses over a ton of stuff. Why does Frodo break away from the fellowship? No way to know, as you are never shown Boromir succumbing to the ring, and while in the stage in which Frodo goes his own way, while you hear Boromir's horn, you don't really know why he is sounding it. You definitely won't get much enjoyment out of the plot unless you've seen the movies, or read the books.

 The game plays fast and loose, you get a quick slash, a strong slash, a kick, a parry move you can spam as well as access to a projectile attack. R2 is used to slay fallen enemies, and it's SO satisfying. The game isn't overly deep, parry incoming attacks, defeat enemies with your attacks, if they have a shield hit'em with strong attacks until they break, etc, but it feels very arcadey and fast paced, which is quite enjoyable. As you defeat enemies without getting hit your score multiplier goes up, which means more XP, but you also fill a gauge, which, once full, powers you up for a short while, making you stronger and granting you more XP per kill. XP can then be used to purchase new combos or boost the strength of your attacks. Most combos are shared between characters, but they have different speeds and animations, so they are not completely identical.

 I'm happy that this game has aged so well. While it's not the best movie adaptation out there, the game plays very well and makes great use of the license.

 8.5