The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a movie game published by Electronic Arts based on the movie of the same name. It is a standard Hack & slash game with very light RPG elements. You progress linearly through 12 levels (Many of which are short or limited to a smalle area but difficult), buying new moves and weapons as you go on.

Moves and weapon upgrades are bought from shop screens that only appear after you have beaten a level. Each character has different moves to buy in the shop, but they all have the same functions. The animations are different, but the effect of the attack and the buttons pressed to execute them remain the same no matter who you use. You can level up your characters, but all a higher level does is open up another shop screen with new moves & upgrades. The maximum level is 10.

The sequel to the movie also came out with an EA published hack & slash: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Characters
You can only play as 3 characters (1 unlockable), and only control one per level.


 * Aragorn - Aragorn is a human who uses a sword and is the most balanced character. He uses a bow and arrow for ranged attacks.
 * Gimli - Gimli is a dwarf who uses an axe. His swings are slow, but powerful.  For his ranged attack, he will throw hatchets.  These hatchets are slow to take out, and slow to reload, compared to Aragorn & Legolas.
 * Legolas - Legolas is an elf who uses two long knives. He has the fastest melee attacks, but they are also the weakest.  His ranged attack uses a bow.  He is the best ranger of the three and features more ranged upgrades, such as the ability to shoot arrows through multiple enemies.
 * Isildur - Isildur is an ancestor of Aragorn who is unlocked by beating the game. His moves are exactly like Aragorns, but stronger.

Gameplay
A lot of the game involves your character, and sometimes your allies, being surrounded by many, many, Orcs. In these all too common situations, you have the option of parrying (A quick weapon block that you must press the moment you are attacked), using a quick strike (Can be pressed repeatedly for a 3-4 hit combo), a fierce strike (Can be pressed twice for a 2 hit combo, can also break shields) a kick (Knocks down unshielded & light enemies), a downward killing stab (Instantly kills any enemy that is lying on the ground) or whipping out your ranged attack. Various combinations of the parry, quick attack, the fierce attack, kick and killing stab will execute any of the combos you buy in the shops.

The enemies come in a handful of different flavors. There are the weak, unshielded goblins that can be defeated by kicking and then doing a killing a stab. There are tougher shielded goblins that require a fierce attack to break their shield. Then there are different types of Orc & Uruk-hai, both of which the kick is nearly useless with. Rarely, you'll fight a big ol' Cave Troll, which cannot be parried.

As you level up and unlock more moves to buy, you can buy "reversal" moves that will instantly kill a certain species of enemy in a flashy, cinematic way. These moves must first start with a parry, and then hit the killing strike button instantly. While your character is doing whatever fancy twirls to kill the goblin/orc/uruk-hai, everyone else will freeze and watch.

Levels

 * Slopes of Mount Doom
 * Weathertop
 * Gates of Moria
 * Balin's Tomb
 * Amon Hen
 * Fanghorn Forest
 * Plains of Rohan
 * The Westfold
 * Gap of Rohan
 * Helms Deep: The Deeping Wall
 * Helms Deep: The Breached Wall
 * Helms Deep: The Hornburg Courtyard

Unlockable Gauntlet Level:
 * Tower of Orthanc

Game Boy Advance Version
The GBA version is basically a Diablo II clone without all the clicking. You control your characters as you dungeon crawl and slash your way through enemies, picking up randomized loot. The game is in a 2D isometric view.