Electronic Arts The Lord of the Rings: The Two (Game Boy Advance)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.5 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Frank Provo
• Reviewed on: 12/11/2002
• Released on: 11/11/2002
• Originally published on GameSpot: Electronic Arts The Lord of the Rings: The Two (Game Boy Advance) Review

Although the Game Boy Advance game The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers is based on the upcoming motion picture by New Line Cinema, it's mainly a Diablo or Gauntlet clone with story elements from the movie sprinkled throughout. With that in mind, it's surprisingly fun to roam throughout the lands of Middle-earth, slaying orcs and goblins, leveling up a character, and snagging all of the loot you can before the game ends. You'll still experience most of the major events from the movie, just not necessarily from the same perspective or in the order that you're familiar with.

Electronic Arts may be open to criticism for finagling with the finer points of the film, but the game is more interesting because of it. First, some of the story elements and levels change depending on the character you choose. There are five unique characters: Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo, Legolas, and Eowyn. If you select Frodo, you'll generally see everything you'd see in the theater, whereas the plotlines for Gandalf and Aragorn will detach from the main story at appropriate points and take you through events that Frodo or the other characters didn't experience. As such, when you play through with a new character, you're not just seeing the same things over and over again.

Another nice twist is that all of the characters are unique--not just in terms of looks, but in their abilities as well. Frodo can use the One Ring to turn invisible, and he's really good at backstabbing opponents. Aragorn has a skill that lets him wield two swords at once, and he can develop a charisma technique that stuns opponents for significant amounts of time. Each character has anywhere from 10 to 20 various magic and attack skills, which you can improve throughout the game with the points you earn by gaining experience. Some skills are passive and take effect without your input, so it's not like you have to spend an interminable amount of time mashing the L button just to do something like recharge your spirit level.

Regardless of the variety that it offers in the way of story and character development, The Two Towers is shamelessly straightforward when it comes to actual hands-on playing. Just like in games such as Diablo and Gauntlet, all you're doing much of the time is swatting the same carbon-copy creatures with your weapons and gathering the items their carcasses leave behind. It's not as boring as it sounds, however. The orcs and goblins you defeat will give you experience points that you can use to improve traits such as health, strength, and courage, and they'll drop weapons and clothing that you can equip your character with. The overall selection of clothing, items, and weapons is rather large, so you could potentially invest a bit of time searching for rare items with which to outfit your character. If you want to linger, you can linger. If not, all you need to do is slay creatures until you've gained a satisfactory number of levels to move on to the next area.

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