Although The Two Towers would probably sell extremely well regardless of its quality, EA has gone the extra mile and made it a genuinely good game. It’s not the type of experience that true gamers will go nuts over, but for casual players who mainly want to relive the books (or more likely, the movies), this is a more than adequate effort.

Foremost in any discussion of The Two Towers has to be its presentation. The game is extremely cinematic, and of course, that style fits perfectly with the license. Tons of movie clips, computer-generated FMV, and real-time cut scenes are packed onto the disc. Compression of the former is less than perfect, but quite acceptable. Both the FMV and real-time scenes are produced very well, and they feature brand new voice-acting from the real movie actors. One of the most unusually detailed aspects of the game is the “failure” cut scene, which is totally different for each mission and lessens the blow just a bit.

The game’s visuals have clearly not been altered much, if at all, from the original PS2 version. The character models are generally well done, with the exception of Gimli’s face, which doesn’t look at all like his movie counterpart. The real stars are the environments, which look fantastic in pretty much every level. Most are quite constrictive, and there is no camera control with which to admire them freely, but they do their job very, very well. The game engine flows nicely with no major slowdown, despite often displaying well over a dozen characters onscreen at once.

Sound plays an important role in any licensed game, but The Two Towers uses its source material particularly well. Several pieces of the film’s score have been recorded at high quality, and although they are not dynamic relative to the gameplay, these songs do an excellent job of setting the stage for the game’s intense battles. Voice-acting takes a prominent role, with snippets from both heroes and villains playing during the missions and longer lines spoken in-between. All of the actual movie stars provided new dialogue for the game, and most of it sounds very faithful to the film scripts. Having only seen The Two Towers once in the theaters so far, I was usually unable to distinguish the original movie dialogue from the new material.

The gameplay is reminiscent of Gauntlet Legends, i.e. fairly basic combat against endless oncoming enemies. However, The Two Towers is a strictly one-player affair, which is a shame considering how much a cooperative mode would have added to the game. On the upside, combat is much more interesting and strategic than in most games of this type, and there is actually some considerable skill in learning when and how to attack the various kinds of enemies. You are rewarded for defeating foes quickly and without taking damage yourself, so a certain amount of fighting style and speed is also helpful.

The other distinguishing gameplay feature is experience points, which accumulate to provide level-ups and the chance to buy new moves and attributes. Each of the three playable characters (Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) has his own set of moves to buy, and by the end of the game, the differences between the three become even more pronounced. Because there are far more moves to buy than you can afford during a normal trip through the game, the feature also means that each player will create a move set, and thus a fighting style, unique to his own preferences. The customization is a great touch that adds variety and depth to what would otherwise be a straightforward action game.

As mentioned above, any of the three main characters can be selected for each mission, and each mission can be played three times, once with each hero. Gimli is slow but hardy and very strong, while Legolas is weaker but fast and handy with the bow, and Aragorn is right in the middle of those two extremes. Aragorn is probably the easiest character to use, but with so many unique moves for each character, there is plenty of reason to go back later and play through with the other two. Many missions involve you teaming up with one or both of the other characters, and the teammate AI is surprisingly good. What a relief it is to walk over to your computer-controlled buddy and see that he is actually killing enemies!

With only a dozen or so missions, you easily can blow through this game with one character within a few days. Increasing the longevity are the other playable characters and quite a few unlockable bonus items. These range from production photos and concept art to video interviews with the actors. There is also a fairly cool secret mission and a disappointing, lame secret character. Perhaps the greatest reason to keep playing is to relive those frantic battles over and over, and some of them are truly memorable.

Overall, The Two Towers is not a game that will likely impress most dedicated gamers, except in the capacity that it is a movie-licensed game that doesn’t suck. But for anyone who wants to interact with the movie or just hack up some Uruk-hai, this game is actually of far greater quality than it needs to be. Kudos to EA for combining an impressive combination of great (though limited) gameplay with very high production values. As far as licensed action games go, this is a major step up from the norm.