The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 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 by Stormfront Studios and published by Electronic Arts for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. 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.
The game 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 (including 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 & 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
The first level sets the player in the battle of the Siege of Barad-dûr. You do battle with many Orcs and after the level is completed you defeat Sauron (though he does not truly perish). This is really a training level.
Allies: Men of Gondor
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
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 Orcs 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: Orcs, Orc archers
Boss: The Watcher in the Water
How to fail: You die.
- Balin's Tomb
The Fellowship arrives to the halls of Moria, however instead of a warm welcome it was nothing but a tomb of dead dwarves and orcs.They eventually find the coffin of Balin, Gimli's cousin, but soon meet hordes of goblins and a cave troll. The Fellowship does manage to fend off the troll and goblins.
How To Play: The player will start with swarms of enemies closing inside the room. The player would have to fight for several minutes until the cave troll arrives. The cave troll fight is twofold: first use fierce attack on the troll's back to do damage, then once its health is half-way gone, the player will be forced to climb on the ledge area to shoot at the troll instead. Avoid the troll’s attack by taking cover behind the pillars. Continue the process of shooting and dodging the troll until it is dead.
Allies: The entire Fellowship
Enemies: Orcs
Boss: 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, 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 , 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 wizard. At first they believe it to be Saruman before realising that it is Gandalf, who they thought was lost 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: 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, 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 orcs are using to climb up the walls and slaying as many of them as possible as 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 Orcs on the wall.
Allies: Elves, the other two playable characters
Enemies: Orcs
Boss: none
How to fail: You die, or the wall is overrun.
- The Breached Wall
After the wall is breached, hundreds of Orcs flood inside the walls of the fortress. After sending several defenders 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 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 Orcs. 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
Boss: 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 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
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: Orcs
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.
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 game.)
- Triangle, Circle, Triangle, Circle
- Devastating Power (Available after beating the game.)
- Square, Square, Circle, Circle
- Boost Experience Points (Available after beating the game.)
- X, Down, Down, Down
- Full Missiles (Arrows and Axes) (Available after beating the game.)
- X, Down, Triangle, Up
- Invulnerable (Available after beating the game)
- Triangle, Square, X, Circle
- Refill Health (Available after beating the game.)
- Triangle, Down, X, Up
- Slow Motion (Available after beating the game.)
- Triangle, Circle, X, Square
- Small Enemies (Available after beating the game.)
Differences with Book and Films[]
Here are listed the differences between the video game and the books and films.
| Level | Book | Film | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Original to Film | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting |
| Weathertop | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting |
| Gates of Moria | The Fellowship passes quietly to the West-Gate. The Watcher in the Water attacks and closes off the West-Door, trapping the Fellowship. | Same as Book | Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli scout ahead and kill many orcs The watcher is killed before Gandalf can open the door. |
| Fangorn Forest | Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli travel a short distance into the forest together, before discovering Gandalf. | Same as Book | The trio separates, killing off several trolls and orcs, before meeting up and discovering Gandalf. |
| Plains of Rohan | Original to Game | Original to Game | Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf rescue a village under attack while journeying to Edoras. |
| Westfold | Original to Game | Original to Game | Aragorn and a garrison of Rohirrim stop a convoy of explosives from Isengard en route to Helm's Deep. |
| Gap of Rohan | Original to Film | Civilians en route to Helm's Deep are attacked by Warg riders and fought by Aragorn's company and Rohirrim. | Aragorn fights off several Warg riders in a village yard. |
| Helm's Deep: The Deeping Wall | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting |
| Helm's Deep: The Breached Wall | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting |
| Helm's Deep: Hornburg Courtyard | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting | Non-Conflicting |