Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (GBA)

Electronic Arts are certainly on a roll at the moment. They have multiple releases, all jostling for positions at the top of the charts, Tiger Woods 2003 is the best example of its genre yet, and film licenses have been of an extremely high standard.

It's now the turn for Gryptonite's Advanced title to take a stab, and a bloody good job it does too. Gamers hoping for a side scrolling beat-em-up ala Final Fight, or indeed the Playstation 2 version may be initially disappointed. While the Advanced version features the same style of play as its 128-bit counterpart, its approach is very differentÂ… What we have here, is a handheld version of the PC classic Diablo that features masses of enemies to slay, plenty of abilities to gain and a huge expansive adventure to fulfill. Pretty impressive for a Playstation 2 title, let alone a 32-bit handheld. Taking control of 1 of 5 characters, Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn, Eowyn and Frodo. You must fight Sauron's formidable forces and save Helms Deep from ruin.

Every inch of screen must be fought for, with Goblins, Orks, Uruk-Hai and even the mighty Ring Wraiths just waiting for a chance to return the one true ring to its rightful owner. Fortunately however, every character is more than capable of looking after themselves, via some nifty abilities. Take Legolas for example. The plucky Elf is not only a master of the bow, but also able to meditate, quicken his pace and even summon Gimli the Dwarf to help out in tight situations. You gain experience by defeating enemies, and each level allows you to improve various stats and abilities, the end result being one kick ass character. Every character has their own strengths and weaknesses - Frodo can turn invisible for example - and the game will follow it's own story path depending on which hero was initially chosen.

Once you start playing, you're immediately in the thick of it. Orcs and Goblins attack you relentlessly and it takes a lot of effort (not to mention button bashing) just to get to the Mines of Moria, let alone Helms Deep. Fallen enemies will sometimes leave behind jewels or items, which can either be worn, or sold off at the various shrines found throughout the sprawling levels. Food can also be found throughout your quest and regular topping up of your health is essential if you wish to see the later levels of the game. The best aspect of this particular version though, is that you are no longer limited to a single player. That's right, the Advance manages 2-player action and the end result is superb fun. The addition of an extra player makes for a much easier (as well as competitive) experience. You are now able to flank enemies, offer each other cover and fight over goodies, great stuff.

Just like Aragorn's weapons, the visuals in The Two Towers are a bit of a double-edged sword. Whilst characters are extremely well animated and easy to recognise, the levels they inhabit are rather drab and uninspired. While Nintendo's 32-bit handheld does a reasonable job of recreating the visual style of each location, all the design effort seems to have been placed on the characters. The end result looks a little rushed and many of the actual locations are extremely sparse and rather soulless. Sound again is also rather disappointing. The Advance's tinny speaker does an admirable job at recreating the rousing scores of the movie, unfortunately, however the end results are rather average.

Ingame effects consist of the expected howls, roars and clashing of weapons and though they fit in rather well, add little to the overall experience. One to play with the sound down low me thinks. Overall, The Two Towers is another decent (though not exceptional) title from a company that really seems to have pulled its socks up recently. It features a huge amount of wanton fun, a massive sprawling challenge and plenty of items to collect and skills to improve. The only downside to the game is that once you've played for a few hours it all starts to get a little stale. Still, at least there's always that fantastic 2-player game. Now where's my axe?

Rating: 6 / 10

Words by Darran Jones