The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

General

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the first adaptation of the movie trilogy published by Electronic Arts. This beat 'em up style game covers the events from the first two movies in the Lord of the Rings trilogy despite its' name. It boasts containing the original score from the movies as well as the actors doing the voice overs for their respective roles. The game was released on PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube and Game Boy Advance. It became one of the best selling titles of 2002 and 2003, and went on to achieve Greatest Hits on PlayStation 2, Platinum Hits on Xbox, and Player's Choice on Gamecube. It is often considered one of the best movie-to-game adaptations.

Game Boy Advance

This version of the game was met with less fanfare and as such received much less attention. In this version of the game the player may choose between playing as Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo, Legolas, or Arwen. With these characters the player must follow along with the story and fight Saruman's hoards. Although it featured full motion video cut-scenes from the movie the actual game was far too simple to become a major seller.

Plot

In this game the story is told through cut-scenes that play between missions. These cut-scenes, taken out of the movie, quickly sum up the events that take place between the various battle scenes in the movies and then seamlessly transitions into game play. The game does not follow Frodo and Sam 's separate journey but instead focuses on the rest of the fellowship. Each mission in the game helps move the story along.

Mission 1: Prologue

Fight as Isildur in the Battle of the Last Alliance in Mordor.

Mission 2: Weathertop

The Nazgûl have come to take the ring from Frodo. Fight off the Nazgûl with fire and protect Frodo.

Mission 3: Gates Of Moria

The path to Moria is too dangerous for the fellowship to travel. Clear the path to Moria so the fellowship may move safely. Defeat The Watcher.

Mission 4: Balin's Tomb

Survive the onslaught of goblins and orcs. Kill the cave troll.

Mission 5: Amon Hen

Kill a certain amount of Uruk-Hai before they find Frodo. Kill their leader Lurtz.

Mission 6: Fangorn Forest

Search for Merry and Pippin.

Mission 7: Plains of Rohan

Fight through town and save the villagers from the Uruk-Hai.

Mission 8: The Westfold

Help kill the Uruk-Hai and destroy the explosives.

Mission 9: Gap of Rohan

Kill the Warg soldiers to protect the citizens of Rohan. Kill the Warg captain.

Mission 10: Helm's Deep 1: The Deeping Wall

Defend the wall by killing enemies and knocking down their ladders.

Mission 11: Helm's Deep 2: Breached Wall

Protect the door to the Deep from Saruman's forces who are charging through the broken wall. Destroy the catapult.

Mission 12: Helm's Deep 3: Hornburg Courtyard

Protect the door to the Keep from the enemies who have broken through the barrier.

Secret Mission: Tower of Orthanc

Fight hordes of enemies in 20 circular rooms.

Enemies

There are three main types of enemies in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, each then have variations of their own.

Goblins

These are the easiest to kill.

Normal Goblin - wields a short sword and are only dangerous in groups.

Shielded Goblin - wields a club as well as a shield.

Goblin Archer - wields a bow and shoots arrows tipped with fire.

Orcs

These are harder to kill than Goblins as they are bigger and stronger.

Axe-wielding Orc - wields two axes and spins to slash the player.

Shielded Orc - wields a spear and a shield.

Orc Archer - wields a bow as well as fire tipped arrows and arrows that explode on contact.

Uruk-Hai

These are the hardest, but do not carry any shields.

Normal Uruk-Hai - wields a very large sword.

Soldier Uruk-Hai - wears a helmet and wields a large sword.

Berserker - wields a very long sword and defends all basic and intermediate attacks.

Exploding Uruk-Hai - carry explosives on their back and explode when they get close to their target or die.

Uruk-Hai Archer - wields a bow and carry fire bombs that set the ground on fire.

Other

Cave Troll - very big, and very strong, carry a big spiked club.

Oloh-Hai - easier trolls that also carry a pouch of logs to throw.

Warg Riders - wield a bow but can also command their wargs to bite the player.

Playable Characters

There are three playable characters for most of the game, and one unlockable character at the end. Every character can perform both ranged and close combat.

Aragorn - Aragorn wields a single long-sword and a bow. He is the most well-rounded and best at attacking at close range.

Legolas - Legolas wields duel short-swords and a bow. He is the quickest character and excels at ranged attacks.

Gimli - Gimli wields an axe and small throwing axes. He is the slowest, but most powerful character.

Isildur (Unlocked) - Isildur wields a single long sword and bow and arrows. He is the same as Aragorn in all regards.

Each playable character has their own unique moves, though execution of said moves is the same across all characters. Additional moves and upgrades can be bought as the player gains experience points, with the exception of Isildur who shares his move set with Aragorn. In fact, the only difference between Isildur and Aragorn is that Isildur has more health.

Experience

Experience points are gained when a player kills an enemy. The more enemies that are killed consecutively or with combos the more experience points the player gains. Each attack is graded with a Fair, Good, Excellent or Perfect and the grade directly influences the amount of points received. After the player totals a certain number of experience points they gain a level and open up more moves and upgrades to purchase.

Unlockables

By beating certain missions or achieving certain levels with certain characters many extras are unlocked.

Interview with Peter Jackson and Barrie Osborne

Interview with Elijah Wood

Interview with Ian McKellen

Making of "The Two Towers" video game

Concept Art

The Fellowship of the Ring production photos

Fangorn Forest and Orthanc production photos

Rohan and Helm's Deep production photos

Interview with John Rhys-Davies

Interview with Orlando Bloom

Interview with Viggo Mortensen

Secret Mission - Aragorn

Secret Mission - Legolas

Secret Mission - Gimli

Secret Character

Secret Mission - Secret character

Cheats

Cheats

The following Cheats are for the PS2 version of the game.

Restore health

Pause game play, then hold L1 L2 R1 R2 and press Triangle, Down, X, Up.

Restore ammunition

Pause game play, then hold L1 L2 R1 R2 and press X, Down, Triangle, Up.

Add 1,000 experience points

Pause game play, then hold L1 L2 R1 R2 and press X, Down, Down, Down.

Level 2 skills

Pause game play, then hold L1 L2 R1 R2 and press Circle, Right, Circle, Right.

Level 4 skills

Pause game play, then hold L1 L2 R1 R2 and press Triangle, Up, Triangle, Up.

Level 6 skills

Pause game play, then hold L1 L2 R1 R2 and press Square, Left, Square, Left.

Level 8 skills

Pause game play, then hold L1 L2 R1 R2 and press X, X, Down, Down.