The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (video game)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) is a video game based on Peter Jackson's New Line Cinema film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The title was one of the top selling console titles of 2002 and 2003, and was widely praised for its seamless transitions from actual movie footage to interactive game play.

The game was developed for PlayStation 2 and Xbox by Stormfront Studios and published by Electronic Arts. EA also published a version of the game for Nintendo GameCube. It included nine minutes of film footage from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers that was not present in any movie trailer or PR release, and since the game was available a few weeks prior to the film debut playing the game was the only way for fans to see those clips early.

LotR allows players to portray Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli (or Isildur as a bonus character) in a series of missions, many taken directly from either The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (such as Weathertop) or The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Amon Hen, Helm's Deep). Other missions, such as Fangorn Forest, are original pieces within the movies' setting.

Stormfront and EA won the 2003 Academy of Interactive Arts &amp; Sciences Award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering for The Two Towers.

It was later followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.

Synopsis

 * Slopes of Mt. Doom as Isildur

The first level sets the player in the final battle of the Siege of Barad-dûr. Isildur does battle with many orcs and after the level is completed he defeats Sauron (though he does not truly perish) and takes the One Ring. Isildur is influenced by the Ring and refuses to destroy it when he has the chance. This is really a training level.

Allies: Elrond, Noldor, Númenóreans (Dúnedain)

Enemies: Sauron, Orc

How To Play: the player must fight off enemies until the end of the level.

Boss: Sauron (Note: This is only in a cutscene, the player does not fight Sauron directly)


 * Weathertop as Aragorn

Aragorn and the hobbits approach Weathertop, a hill about midway between the Shire and Rivendell. They camp on the hill, but are attacked in the night by the Ringwraiths. Aragorn successfully drives them off, but not before Frodo is stabbed with a Morgul-blade.

How To Play: The player must run to the fire in the center of the scene, to light the brand in his hand. He must then attack the Nazgul and keep them away from Frodo. The torch must be lit at all times, because only a lit torch will damage the Nazgul.

Allies: Frodo Baggins

Enemies/Bosses: Ringwraiths

How to fail: You die - OR - Frodo dies.


 * Gates of Moria

After reluctantly agreeing to detour through Moria to continue the Quest of the Ring, the Fellowship travel to the Gates of Moria. Travelling through snow, rocky terrains and eventually marshy grounds, the companions make it to the Doors of Durin, but are soon attacked by the Watcher. After slaying the creature they continue into Moria.

How To Play: the player must fight goblins and archers until he reaches the Watcher in the Water. To slay the creature, the player must block its attacks and then cut off one of the beast's tentacles and then it will emerge, and then the player must fire an arrow. To kill the beast, the player must repeat the process until the watcher dies.

Allies: Gimli/Aragorn

Enemies: Goblins, goblin archers

Boss: The Watcher in the Water

How to fail: You die.


 * Balin's Tomb

In a chamber in Moria, the Fellowship finds Balin's tomb. Soon after entering Orcs can be heard rallying towards the room. After holding their ground and slaying many orcs, a Cave-troll comes in but the collective efforts of the team defeat it; Frodo is speared in the chest by the troll, but he is saved by his mithril coat. The nine companions manage to get to the exit, but on their way to the Bridge of Khazad-dûm they are confronted by Durin's Bane, and Gandalf sacrifices himself to allow the others to get out of Moria.

How To Play: The player must fight orcs until the cave troll comes. The player must slash and fire arrows until there is a scene in which the troll breaks his mace mistakenly on a pillar, causing it to pick up a chain. The player then runs for cover behind the pillars, and then the game resumes. To to kill the cave troll, the player must keep cover and fire arrows until the troll dies.

Allies: Majority of Fellowship

Enemies: Goblins

Boss: The Cave Troll

How to fail: You die.


 * Amon Hen

The Company of the Ring pass by Amon Hen and are ambushed by a large group of Uruk-hai&mdash;a stronger, faster breed of orcs that can travel in sunlight. The Fellowship is broken up during this battle, with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli slaying as many of the enemy as they can, and Boromir being left alone to defend the hobbits. Sam and Frodo escape, Merry and Pippin being captured by the Uruk-hai, and Boromir is slain by Lurtz before Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli can reach him. After avenging their comrade's death, the three set out to find Merry and Pippin.

How to Play: The player must fight Uruk-hai scouts and crossbowmen until a scene were Lurtz slays Boromir and then the game resumes. Lurtz picks up a bow and fires three arrows quickly and then pauses - giving the player time to fire one arrow back - before he repeats it, the player must repeat this until a scene in which Lurtz discards his bow. The game resumes and Lurtz chases the player who must avoid contact with him until he runs toward one of the ten statues in the area. The player must dodge Lurtz's blow which should get stuck in the statue, giving the player a chance to slash at Lurtz until he dislodges his sword and the statue breaks. The player must repeat the process with other statues until Lurtz dies.

Allies: Other two playable characters (besides Isildur) whom you have not chosen.

Enemies: Uruk-hai,crossbowmen

Boss: Lurtz

How to fail: You die - OR - Frodo dies -OR - Boromir dies before you get to Lurtz


 * Fangorn Forest

Aragorn uses his skills of tracking to trace the Uruk-hai that captured Merry and Pippin to Fangorn Forest. Deep in the forest they encounter a white wizard. At first they believe it to be Saruman before realising that it is Gandalf, who they thought had been killed in Moria.

How to play: The player must battle forest trolls and orcs, advancing through the forest, until the level is completed.

Allies: None

Enemies: Goblins, Orcs, Two Uruk-hai Berserkers

Sub-Bosses: Forest Trolls

Boss: none

How to fail: You die.


 * Plains of Rohan 

Saruman's legions of Uruk-hai ravage the countryside of Rohan, burning and killing. Villagers flee from the vicious hordes, but some are captured. Aragorn and his comrades must rescue and keep the innocent villagers safe.

How to play: The player must battle Uruk-Hai swordsmen, berserkers and crossbowmen until the level is complete.

Allies: Gandalf, Rohirrim

Enemies: Uruk-hai

Boss: none

How to fail: You die - OR - the village falls - OR - the people in the burning house die.


 * The Westfold

Saruman has provided his evil forces with an explosive mixture, which, when lighted, causes massive damage. Uruk-hai with this concoction strapped on their backs join the army rushing through Rohan, destroying towns and villages. Aragorn and the Rohirrim must stop this destruction and save the villages of the Westfold.

How to Play: The player must destroy as many explosives as possible, until the end, where the Uruk-Hai have gathered all the explosive wagons. The player must get past the Uruk-Hai suicide bombers, swordsmen and crossbomen to destroy one of the wagons. The explosion will ignite the other wagons, thus, the level will be complete. This level introduces the player to the suicide bombers, which he will later face at the Breached Wall level.

Allies: Rohirrim, Theoden

Enemies: Uruk-hai, Orcs

Boss: none

How to fail: You die.


 * Gap of Rohan

The deceptive wizard Saruman sends more enemies against Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf. This time, the armies include bloodthirsty wargs. Along with their riders, wargs are extremely deadly. Rohan must be saved from the wargs.

How to Play: The player must kill Wargs by dodging them and their charges as they pass, until Sharku comes this time; the player must dodge his first attack. Then Sharku calls another warg, and the player must kill it in the same way the others were killed. Sharku charges again and the player must dodge him, at which point Sharku's warg rears up and the player must slash at it. The whole process will repeat until Sharku is killed.

Allies: Other two playable characters that you have not chosen (for a short time only)

Enemies: Warg-Riders

Boss: Sharku

How to fail: You die.


 * The Deeping Wall

Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf join the forces at Helm's Deep for the Battle of the Hornburg. By kicking down ladders the Uruk-hai and other orcs are using to climb up the walls and slaying as many of them as possible, the outnumbered forces manage to hold their own. However, the enemies make a wide hole in the wall using an explosive device invented by Saruman, a "blasting-fire".

How to play: The player must knock down ladders (using the O button) while killing the enemies that make it onto the wall. Periodically, an explosive arrow volley (or bombs later in the game) will be fired on the wall, possibly damaging the player, allies, and enemies alike. To win, the player must prevent the overrun bar from filling by killing the orcs until Elven reinforcements arrive and kill the Uruk-hai on the wall.

Allies: Elves, the other two playable characters

Enemies: Shielded Goblins, then Orcs, then Uruk-hai

Boss: none

How to fail: You die - OR - the wall is overrun.


 * The Breached Wall

After the wall is breached, hundreds of Uruk-hai and other orcs flood inside the walls of the fortress. After sending the women and children deeper inside, the three main heroes are tasked with defending the door to the inside. Defeating many enemies and even disabling a catapult, they succeed in defending that door &mdash; but another door, the door to the Great Hall, is being assaulted.

How to play: The player must kill all of the enemies that make their way through the breach, including several Uruk-hai Sappers, common Orcs, and a troll. At the end, they must destroy the three panels on a catapult. They must do all this while protecting the door leading to the inside of the Hornberg.

Allies: None

Enemies: Orcs, Uruk-hai, Troll

Boss: Uruk-Hai Catapult

How to fail: You die - OR - the door is destroyed.


 * Hornburg Courtyard

The enemy throws all they have at the heroes as they try and break down the door that leads to the Great Hall. After battling Uruk-hai warriors and common orc warriors and archers, two cave trolls are sent in to destroy the door once and for all.

How to play: The player must defend the barricade protecting the Great Hall by slaying all the enemies around the barricade, preventing them from hitting it. There will also be times when they must protect another character from dying and kill archers shooting fire arrows at the barricade. The player wins when the two trolls sent to smash the barricade apart are killed.

Allies: Rohirrim, other two playable characters

Enemies: Orcs, Shielded Goblins, Uruk-hai,beserkers

Sub-Bosses: Two Trolls

Boss: none

How to fail: You die - OR - the barricade is destroyed - OR - Legolas (Aragorn if you are playing as Legolas) dies.


 * Tower of Orthanc

This is a bonus level, not relevant to the story, in which Saruman gathers all the forces that remains under his command and unleashes them upon the player as they climb the 20 levels of Orthanc. After the player fights through lots of enemies and confronts Saruman, the rogue wizard uses his magic to teleport away and leaves the player stranded at the top of Orthanc.

How to play: Defeat all the enemies on all 20 levels.

enemies: every enemy in the game except sappers,naz'gul,and wargs

Allies: None

Boss: Saruman (Note: This is only in a cutscene like with Sauron, the player does not fight Saruman directly)

How to fail: You die.

The Secret Level (Tower of Orthanc)
Upon reaching the end of the game, certain codes are now available to be used and the player has the option of getting on of their characters to level ten (10) to reach the secret mission. Although it is good to have Legolas and Gimli at level ten, the better to do is to have Aragorn II at level ten. The secret mission is the Tower of Orthanc and consists of fighting numerous Uruk-Hai, Cave-troll, and archers. There are a few cutscenes in which Saruman says evil things, but overall, the player is just there to fight.

After beating the twenty (20) levels with Aragorn II, the secret character Isildur is unlocked and is almost available to play as... The only thing that the player must do is beat the Tower of Orthanc again, but as Isildur this time. Once that is done, the player can be Isildur for any of the missions of the game.

It should be noted that after the completion of the secret level, several things occur: the ring located at the far right of the mission selection screen becomes lit and the player can now view cheat codes for the game; the player can now play through all of the missions that a character has previously completed; and upgrades do not need to be purchased for Isildur, as he is already at the maximum level with all of the upgrades.

Cheat Codes (Playstation 2)
In order to perform all codes, at the start of a mission, press Start and hold down the L1, L2, R1, and R2 buttons. Then press the buttons for that code. Upon entering a code, the sound of the unsheathing of a sword will be heard, signifying that the code is in effect.

After the name of the code is the information pertaining to when the code is able to be used by the player. All codes with "Available after beating the secret level with Isildur" can also be found when selecting the ring on the right-hand side of the mission selection screen (when the ring is lit).
 * All Level Two Upgrades (Available after beating the game.)
 * Circle, Right, Circle, Right


 * All Level Four Upgrades (Available after beating the game.)
 * Triangle, Up, Triangle, Up


 * All Level Six Upgrades (Available after beating the game.)
 * Square, Left, Square, Left


 * All Level Eight Upgrades (Available after beating the game.)
 * X, X, Down, Down


 * All Upgrades (Available after beating the secret level with Isildur.)
 * Triangle, Circle, Triangle, Circle


 * Always Devastate (Available after beating the secret level with Isildur.)
 * Square, Square, Circle, Circle


 * Boost Experience Points by One Thousand (1000)(Available after beating the game.)
 * X, Down, Down, Down


 * Full Missiles (Arrows and Axes) (Available after beating the game.)
 * X, Down, Triangle, Up


 * Infinite Missiles (Arrows and Axes) (Available after beating the secret level with Isildur.)
 * Square, Circle, X, Triangle


 * Invulnerable (Available after beating the secret level with Isildur.)
 * Triangle, Square, X, Circle


 * Refill Health to One Hundred Percent (100%) (Available after beating the game.)
 * Triangle, Down, X, Up


 * Slow Motion (Available after beating the secret level with Isildur.)
 * Triangle, Circle, X, Square


 * Small Enemies (Available after beating the secret level with Isildur.)

Differences with Book and Films
Here are listed the differences between the video game and the books and films.