Perfect Stu
09-27-2002, 02:28 PM
IGN's new impressions of LOTR: The Two Towers (EA Games) (http://ps2.ign.com/articles/372/372299p1.html)
September 26, 2002 - After seeing and playing Electronic Arts' Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers today at the company's new Redwood Shores offices, two things have become quite clear. Developers are now finally, verifiably capable of making great videogames based on movies on a moderately consistent basis, and EA's game based on the movie is a highly, highly desirable action game.
We have reported several times on EA's J.R.R. Tolkien-based game, and in this report, I finally got the chance to play the Cave Troll (in the level Balin's Tomb) and fight against the boss The Watcher of the Water (in the level The Gates of Moria).
The Two Towers bridges the gap between the Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers, and offers players the ability to select Aragorn (Strider), Gimli, Legolas and later on a secret fourth character. Actually, the game starts with players fighting as Isildur right before he kills Sauron. Players can progress through the game as any of the three characters, and in a nice touch, Developer Stormfront enables players to play through any of the previous played levels as anyone of the other characters right away. So, players wont have to play through the entire game and then start over with another one. Instead, they can play through each of the 13 levels (this total includes the secret level) with all three characters one right after another, before progressing to the next level.
The 13 levels in the game include: Prologue, Weathertop, Gates of Moria, Balin's Tomb, Amen Hen, Fangorn Forest, Plains of Rohan, The West Fold, Gap of Rohan, The Deeping Wall, Breached Wall, Hornburg Courtyard and the secret level (which we can't tell you about...because it's secret). After players clear Fangorn Forest, they next set of six levels are part of two sub-series. Meaning that Plains of Rohan, The West Fold, Gap of Rohan are all part of the Rohan section of the game; and The Deeping Wall, Breached Wall, Hornburg Courtyard are all part of Helm's Deep, the last section of the game.
Besides the obvious hack-and-slash qualities, which make this a very visceral, high-octane kind of actioner, the other aspects of the The Two Towers most intriguing are the upgrade capabilities, and the extras. Players are rated on their combo skills (Excellent, good, fair, poor), and are rewarded with points for each set skillfully pulled off combinations. Using simple three and four button connectors (such as X, Square, Triangle, or Circle, Circle, R2), players can outsmart the increasingly difficult orcs and Uruk-Hai. After each level, their points are tallied and with them players can buy various special skills, such as specialty kills, various new combinations used especially for fighting particular enemies (such as the Uruk-Hai), and things like strength, speed, etc. Players also level up throughout the game, enabling them to buy more expensive items, and of course, increasing their strength and powers.
The extras come in a very DVD-style format. Players can unlock all sorts of stuff, including exclusive interviews with actors and actresses from the movies, including Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, John Rys-Davies, and more. What's more, these interviews are about the movie, they're focused on the game. And when you see the level of movie-related production in this game, you're going to faint. In all there is about 40 minutes worth of stuff, from scenes from both movies Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (which are perfectly edited into the beginning and endings of each level), production shots, interviews, behind the scenes footage, and more.
And on a side note, the game take about 10-13 hours to play though with one character, but since it's far more fun to play through it with all three characters in turn, it'll take more like 20-25 hours to beat the game with all three characters. Not bad for an action game.
Also, I'll have you know, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is coming out early. EA confirmed with IGN today that the game has moved up from the original relase date of November 5 to October 22. Yep. The week before Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Those folks from EA, always thinking. Away, if you have your head on straight, you'll want this game, it's going to be a whole lot of orc-hunting goodness.
Screens:
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/lotrttt_092602_4.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/lotrttt_092602_3.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/lotrttt_092602_2.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/lotrttt_092602_1.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/towers_0828_8.jpg
Sounds awesome. I can't wait to take this game for a spin...
September 26, 2002 - After seeing and playing Electronic Arts' Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers today at the company's new Redwood Shores offices, two things have become quite clear. Developers are now finally, verifiably capable of making great videogames based on movies on a moderately consistent basis, and EA's game based on the movie is a highly, highly desirable action game.
We have reported several times on EA's J.R.R. Tolkien-based game, and in this report, I finally got the chance to play the Cave Troll (in the level Balin's Tomb) and fight against the boss The Watcher of the Water (in the level The Gates of Moria).
The Two Towers bridges the gap between the Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers, and offers players the ability to select Aragorn (Strider), Gimli, Legolas and later on a secret fourth character. Actually, the game starts with players fighting as Isildur right before he kills Sauron. Players can progress through the game as any of the three characters, and in a nice touch, Developer Stormfront enables players to play through any of the previous played levels as anyone of the other characters right away. So, players wont have to play through the entire game and then start over with another one. Instead, they can play through each of the 13 levels (this total includes the secret level) with all three characters one right after another, before progressing to the next level.
The 13 levels in the game include: Prologue, Weathertop, Gates of Moria, Balin's Tomb, Amen Hen, Fangorn Forest, Plains of Rohan, The West Fold, Gap of Rohan, The Deeping Wall, Breached Wall, Hornburg Courtyard and the secret level (which we can't tell you about...because it's secret). After players clear Fangorn Forest, they next set of six levels are part of two sub-series. Meaning that Plains of Rohan, The West Fold, Gap of Rohan are all part of the Rohan section of the game; and The Deeping Wall, Breached Wall, Hornburg Courtyard are all part of Helm's Deep, the last section of the game.
Besides the obvious hack-and-slash qualities, which make this a very visceral, high-octane kind of actioner, the other aspects of the The Two Towers most intriguing are the upgrade capabilities, and the extras. Players are rated on their combo skills (Excellent, good, fair, poor), and are rewarded with points for each set skillfully pulled off combinations. Using simple three and four button connectors (such as X, Square, Triangle, or Circle, Circle, R2), players can outsmart the increasingly difficult orcs and Uruk-Hai. After each level, their points are tallied and with them players can buy various special skills, such as specialty kills, various new combinations used especially for fighting particular enemies (such as the Uruk-Hai), and things like strength, speed, etc. Players also level up throughout the game, enabling them to buy more expensive items, and of course, increasing their strength and powers.
The extras come in a very DVD-style format. Players can unlock all sorts of stuff, including exclusive interviews with actors and actresses from the movies, including Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, John Rys-Davies, and more. What's more, these interviews are about the movie, they're focused on the game. And when you see the level of movie-related production in this game, you're going to faint. In all there is about 40 minutes worth of stuff, from scenes from both movies Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (which are perfectly edited into the beginning and endings of each level), production shots, interviews, behind the scenes footage, and more.
And on a side note, the game take about 10-13 hours to play though with one character, but since it's far more fun to play through it with all three characters in turn, it'll take more like 20-25 hours to beat the game with all three characters. Not bad for an action game.
Also, I'll have you know, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is coming out early. EA confirmed with IGN today that the game has moved up from the original relase date of November 5 to October 22. Yep. The week before Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Those folks from EA, always thinking. Away, if you have your head on straight, you'll want this game, it's going to be a whole lot of orc-hunting goodness.
Screens:
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/lotrttt_092602_4.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/lotrttt_092602_3.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/lotrttt_092602_2.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/lotrttt_092602_1.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/towers_0828_8.jpg
Sounds awesome. I can't wait to take this game for a spin...