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Review : Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers for PS2
Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers for PS2 is a fun game.
My rhymes are hotter than the cracks of doom.
The orcs got bass, but we got boom.
Me and Dil be rockin rooms
From the Misty Mountains to the Gulf of Lhun.
I'm the King Ad Hoc!
I will be sire.
I was born Aragorn,
But you can call me Strider.
Electronic Arts has once again probably invested an obscene amount of money into obtaining the permission to develop a game based on the Lord of the Rings movies.
First of all I just wanted to say that this game is not related what so ever to the piece of orc dropping that was Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring by Vivindi Games. That was done based with the rights from the books. It was typical as to what rushed licensed games are like.
Luckily Electronic Arts knew that that was not the right path to take so they really put a lot of effort and money into Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers for PS2. The game is also out of Gamecube and Xbox but the PS2 game was the original.
Since the first days of the Sega CD and the CD-ROM for the Super Nintendo there has been talk about the fusion and synergy between Hollywood and video games to create an unsurpassed interactive multimedia experienced. I have never really seen it pulled off correctly in the US until this game. Japanese Anime has translated wonderfully into video games with greater ease than most Hollywood movies but that is an entirely different post.
The team at EA had access to all the art and design of the movies and set out to interweave the sights and sounds of the first two movies into the game. There is quick cuts and fading from DVD footage from the movies into the interactive video game worlds. Rather than making three games EA combined the action scenes from the first two movies into The Two Towers and they are hard at work on a game for The Return of the King.
The voice acting, design and music is pure movie magic and the digital actors are the real actors in polygonal form. Instead of spending all the polygon budget on some uber-high resolution models the models are well textured and animated mid level designed. But there can be over twenty orcs and heroes on screen fighting at once. The AI is wonderful and you are rarely alone and have a member of the fellowship fighting next to you. I was reminded of the side scrolling action games of the 16-bit era where you have a small group of bad ass heroes taking down hundred of dumb fighters.
If you want a in depth slow intricate fantasy world look some where else. This is not an intricate slow journey into the lands of Middle Earth. It is a quick paced action backed fighting game. This game is all about laying the smote down on massive quantities of orc ass.
Well I'm a hobbit warrior short and stout
I got the forkin beats that will turn you out.
I'll light you up like Longbottom leaf.
cause the orcs smoke the shwag, but we got the kief.
Dope ass lyrics are provided by Lords of the Rhymes
Jake at July 22, 2003 
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Comments
ok, i wouldn't get this one, but i had to comment cuz i loved the lyrics ;)
Posted by: lilly at July 22, 2003 6:04 AM
I can't say I'm a big Tolkien fan, though I agree that this game was very well made. It is thusfar the closest thing to a sucessfully done 3D Golden Axe or Knights of the Round.
That Lords of the Rhymes site is dorky goodness.
Posted by: Trapp at July 22, 2003 6:29 AM
This is a pretty good game, if a bit short. The production (sound, cutscenes, etc) is very well done. I would have liked some more variety in the special moves and reward items, just to give me the illusion that I was making some choices other than mashing buttons.
A cooperative mode also would have been a good addition. Fighting with (player controlled) Legolas and Gimli side by side is a missed opportunity.
Posted by: kegz at July 22, 2003 7:39 AM
Yeah it really is a button mashing game. Well multiplayer would have ruined the smart camera work I guess.
Posted by: Jake at July 22, 2003 8:55 AM
GOLDEN AXE!!!! YEEEEEHAWWWW! loved that one.
Posted by: pete at July 22, 2003 10:06 AM
Golden Axe was toight... like a toiger. lol
Posted by: pellinore at July 22, 2003 11:06 AM
Golden Axe was toight... like a toiger. lol
Posted by: pellinore at July 22, 2003 11:06 AM
It looks nice, plays nice but doesn't look like New Zealand scenery. :p
Posted by: Matt at July 22, 2003 2:07 PM
