The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (XBox)

IT HAS BEEN ON ORIGIANL RELEASE FOR QUITE A WHILE NOW AND IT WAS SO POPULAR THE XBOX PEOPLE DECIDED TO RE-RELEASE IT IN THE CLASSIC RANGE. IT WAS POPULAR BECAUSE OF THE FILMS, I THINK ANYWAY, BUT WHEN THE XBOX OWNERS GOT HOME THEY DIDN'T JUST GET A LOUSEY PIECE OF HYPED UP TRASH (*COUGH* ENTER THE MATRIX *COUGH*) THEY GOT A GAME THAT WAS HIGHER THAN AVERAGE ON THE GRAPHICS SIDE, SCORED AVERAGE ON GAMEPLAY BUT SCORED LOADS FOR BEING A GREAT ADAPTION OF THE FILMS.

YOU BATTLE WITH THE HELP OF ARA-BOB, GIM-BOB AND LEGA-BOB. THEY ALL HAVE DIFFERENT ATTRIBUTES WHICH ADDS VARIETY, WHICH IS NEEDED AS YOU TEND TO BUUTON-BASH YOUR WAY THROUGH ON EASY MODE.

THE CREATURES THAT ALL HAD SMALL PARTS IN THE MOVIE, HAVE BIG PARTS IN THE GAME AS YOU HIT THEM, STRIKE THEM AND NAIL 'EM TO THE GROUND, THEN MOVE ONTO ANOTHER ONE WHO SEEMS TO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHERE HE IS, WHY HE IS THERE AND WHETHER HE SHOULD WALK INTO A TREE OR NOT. I AM TALKING ABOUT THE GAMES AI. IT LEAVES ALOT TO BE DESIRED BUT WHERE THE GAME AVERAGES IN AI IT DUN 'ALF MAKE UP FOR IN THE GRAPHICS. THEY MAY NOT BE AS CRISP AS SAY GRAND TURISMO 3 BUT THE PLACES AND SURROUNDINGS ARE BEAUTIFULLY TEXTURED SO THAT YOU KNOW WHAT IS A TREE AND WHAT IS A WALL. YOU REALLY DO THINK THAT YOU'RE THERE; IN THE THICK OF IT AS YOU REMEMBER HOW ARA-BOB THREW WOOD CHIPPINGS AT THE 1000'S OF URAK-HAI AS THEY CHRAGED AT HELMS DEEP, IN THE FILM. THE GAME HELPS YOU REMEMBER THESE THINGS AND IT COULD ONLY DO THAT BY MAKING YOU SEE A WELL REPRESENTED MIDDLE EARTH AND THAT IS WHAT EA HAVE DONE.

SO LET'S ROUND THIS THING OFF WITH A CONCLUSION. THE GAME IS WORTH BUYING IF YOU LOVED THE FILMS BECAUSE YOU WILL INSTANTLY RECOGNISE MIDDLE EARTH AND THEREFORE ENJOY IT LIKE 'ECK. FOR YOU WHO BELIEVE VERY GOOD FILMS ARE RUBBISH OR ARE AN ARTY-FARTY, INDEPENDENT FILM, TYPE WHO HAS A GRUDGE AGAINST BIG, S.EFFECTS, HOL'WOOD FILMS AND HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILMS THEN I STILL BELIEVE YOU WOULD ENJOY THE GAME.

JUST REMEMBER THAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NOT ALWAYS INTELLIGENT AND CAN LOOK VERY ARTIFICIAL!

Story

What is there to say its Lord of the Rings. The only problem is you would have no clue of the story if you had not read the books, but it does not matter to the gameplay at all.

Gameplay

Yes, it is a hack and slash game. But not only is it the best slasher to ever hit a console, it actually requires skill to beat. There's no beating around the bushes, this game is short. Despite this issue, the game has given me the most fun out of any video game this year. The beauty of the game is the combat system and how your character evolves. Basically you'll need to really learn the combo system because button mashing WILL NOT get you anywhere in this game. You have to have keen timing and a good idea of what combo to use and when. After you beat a stage, you'll earn points depending on how well you know you're combo system. You'll really need to learn how to use every move and button in this game to score some perfect kills. Any game designed to force the player to improve his skills is a great game in my book.

Graphics

Some of the best you're TV has ever seen IMO. There is just so much going on here. It's really hard not to get distracted by the background where hundreds of enemies can be seen. The level of detail on the models and stages are unbelievable.
What's also most impressive is the way EA has somehow been able to brilliantly combine and merge cut scenes from the movie with the in-game graphics. It never really looks fake and cut scenes merge absolutely wonderfully into the game to hand you control of the action. This really goes to show how great the graphics are.
There's a debate going on that the colors of this version are a ad darker than the PS2 version. I agree. They are. But the graphics are crisp and clear and can still be made out to enjoy. I also have to mention that the game runs at a fluid 60 fps and controls and moves wonderfully. Even better is that this game is well suitable to the Xbox in terms of control and the only real complaint I can give is that aiming is sometimes awkward.

Sound

Howard Shore's musical score for the films has been nothing short of a masterpiece and translates wonderfully into the game. At times the music is heroic, scary, tense and really puts you into Middle Earth. The voice acting is great and it's wonderful that the actors came back to do some original work specifically for the game.

Replay

As mentioned earlier, the game is short. But wow is there a lot of extras here to keep you going. For starters, you have three character's to beat the game with. Aiming for a perfect score in all the stages suits for a well needed challenge to those of you who are perfectionists. There are tons of video clips with interviews from the actors and filmmakers talking about the game. There are photo's as well. On top of that, there are 4 secret stages and a secret character to be found. And the biggest replay of all, is that this game is just too fun to put down.

Overall

You cannot go wrong with this game I have absolutely nothing bad to say about it. It's skillful, fun, beautiful to look at and listen to, and captures everything that the movies do with nothing short of sheer excellence. The only reason this did not get 5 out of 5 was of because how long the game was and a two-op would have made this even better. But that's what sequels are for. And our King will return next year...Buy it.