Follow The Fellowship Road. Review

Follow The Fellowship Road.

There are a few well-known don’ts when it comes to game design. Don’t use technology

that is older than your mom. Don’t claim that your game is more addictive than

Tetris. Don’t name your mascot after a famous Nazi (though who wouldn’t

want to jump around as a talking pie named Himmler?).

And of course, don’t make a game based on a movie.

Despite

our efforts to make it clear to game designers, this last rule is broken more

often than jaywalking. Almost every movie-to-game translation has sucked, such

as this,

this,

this,

this,

and this.

Call it the Curse Of The 2-Hour Screenplay.

So we’re rarely excited when we hear that a game based on a movie is under

construction… except when we saw The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

at the E3 video game convention last May. The terrific presentation had us pulling

180 degrees on our instincts. It looked like the Curse was destined to

be broken.

After spending some time with the final version of the game, though, I think

maybe we should have listened a little more closely to our gamer guts. Any self-respecting

hobbit will tell you that looks aren’t everything; and while the game is prettier

than an Elven queen, the beat ’em up button pressing of this all too short journey

through Middle Earth is only about as notable as a sunny day in The Shire.

LOTR: Two Towers is based very specifically on the Peter Jackson movies

rather than the J.R.R. Tolkien books. The second movie has yet to be released,

but that didn’t stop EA from putting their version out nearly two months in

advance. Seems strange to me that they didn’t tie this in with the movie’s release,

as they’d probably triple their sales and not have to compete quite as directly

with the Balrog-sized monster that is GTA: Vice City.

Release date issues notwithstanding, LOTR: Two Towers follows the action-packed

exploits of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli through the first two movies (happily,

you don’t have to play as stupid Frodo.) You can choose to play as any of the

three across 12 levels representing memorable scenes, including Balin’s Tomb,

the plains of Rohan and Helm’s Deep.

And represent they do, thanks to the outstanding graphics and sound. Each

level features live-action snippets from the movies, which blend into in-engine

cut scenes (or vice versa). The modeling and movement of the characters coupled

with the simply beautiful scenery create a game that’s exploding with atmosphere.

Orcs, Cave Trolls and Uruk-Hai enemies looks spot-on, flame effects are terrific

and the game’s framerate is rock solid.

But perhaps the most impressive aspect of the game’s delivery is the sound, which is some of the best ever. In addition to the rousing film score, you’ll get plenty of dialogue from the actual actors from the movies – no fake doubles here. You’ll also get sound effects that ring true, capturing every clang and clank of steel on steel. Most impressive of all is the moody music that matches the action. As things get crazy, the music swells; as things mellow out, the music does as well.

It’s a little hard to believe, but LOTR: Two Towers does justice to

the film’s terrific look and at times makes you feel like you’re playing through

the picture. Kudos to EA for nailing the presentation.

However, those kudos do not extend to the dated gameplay, which is older than Sauron himself.

The game reminds me a bit of Baldur’s

Gate: Dark Alliance, but it’s not nearly as interesting. You can play as

three different characters but do not get different stories – it’s the same

game regardless of whom you choose. And unlike BG: DA, this game will

take only a single night to complete.

Each character has a bunch of unlockable moves, which are bought with experience

points gained by completing levels. It’s a nice try to add some depth, taking

the game a step beyond its Streets of Rage/Final Fight forbears.

Unfortunately, many of the moves are done the same way; the button combinations

tend to be repeated from character to character. This really stifles the desire

to play through as each guy.

The three do play differently. Gimli is the brute, high on damage and low on speed. Legolas plays the archer to a tee with quick movement and low strength. Aragorn is the ubiquitous all-around hero. I found Gimli to be the easiest as his bullish moves coupled nicely with the constant melee action, while Legolas is probably the toughest.

And when I say melee, I mean it. There is very little subtlety in this game.

You go from battle to battle just beating the crap out of whatever bad guys

they throw in your way, with the occasional boss fight to break up the flow.

The boss battles, unfortunately, look much better than they play, requiring

simple repetition rather than creative solutions.

Still, there’s some fun to be had the first time through. The levels are well

directed and the action can get very chaotic. Taking on a gang of orcs looks

and plays like it should – scary and intense, thanks again to the sound and

graphics. A few camera issues get in the way, but that’s fairly common in this

kind of action game.

Yet I find it saddening that the game is the same regardless of the characters.

The levels are brutally linear – you cannot stray from the path at all – and

though some missions make you deal with a couple secondary objectives like saving

villagers or protecting a gate, they don’t really keep you guessing. Why not

have three separate adventures rather than making us play through the same levels

over and over again with different guys? Enemies even appear in the same spots.

It severely limits the replay value.

At least there’s stuff to unlock, like photos from the film and interviews

with the actors, the developers and Peter Jackson himself. Most of this, though,

will only really interest the biggest LOTR geeks out there. For the record,

I think that Ian McKellan is a fantastic Gandalf, but I don’t really care what

he thinks about video games. He knows as much about gaming as I know about feminine

hygiene products.

LOTR: Two Towers just barely manages to beat the Curse of the Movie

License. It’s a great rental, but even hardcore fans of the movie will probably

tire of the gameplay after a few sittings. The extras, while plentiful, really

only exist to hold you over until the movie and/or DVD come out. It looks like

the film and feels like the film, but it does not rule them all.