I've got my well worn The Fellowship Of The Ring film soundtrack playing in the background as I write (even now the distinctive theme of the Shire is conjuring up pictures of Gandalf and Bilbo sat looking over Hobbiton, smoking fine pipe weed) and my talking Gollum model is sat on his rock just waiting to bemoan the loss of his Precious (they stole it from us, tricksy, false hobbitses) so I'm all set to write the review of The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, the game of the film that recreates the action in an epic way, the quality of which has rarely been seen in movie conversions.

I love The Lord Of The Rings. I love the book and now I love the films. I've got the extended DVD editions of the first two films, I've revisited Middle Earth time and time again and I love the wonderful, epic score that accompanies every scene of the films as much as the incredible sights, spectacular battles and Oscar-worthy performances. The Two Towers does what every LOTR fan dreams of - it gives you a chance to be there and take part in the epic battles that shaped the fate of Middle Earth and steered it into a new age.

Loading up the game there are few options and so it's straight into the action. The game starts off like the first film, with the immortal elf Galadriel telling the tale of Sauron and the forging of the One Ring, into which was bound the power and will to dominate all life. The jaw-dropping scene of the final confrontation with Sauron at the foot of Mount Doom unfolds straight out of the film, then without warning the film turns to graphics and you are thrown into the action. This is such a spectacular start to the game that it will blow you away when you see it and the way most levels link straight in with footage of the films is supremely stylish. As Isildur, an ancient warrior and son of the King of Gondor three thousand years in the past, you battle alongside the elven lord Elrond, despatching goblins and orcs aplenty. This level serves as a brief but effective tutorial as you use the three main moves to smite your foes' ruins upon the ground. You can parry, which is a defensive move to block an enemy attack, speed attack, which is a quick but not so powerful strike and fierce attack, which is enough to knock enemies to the ground and destroy any shields they are carrying. You can also knock back your enemies and finish them off when they're down with a vicious thrust of your sword and there's a number of combo moves to earn, but more on this later.

After a few brief clips from the film we arrive at Helm's Deep, where Aragorn (son of Arathorn, descendent of Isildur and heir to the throne of Gondor - but you may just know him as Strider!) recounts his journey to Aeowyn, niece of the King of Rohan whose people you are helping to defend. We then begin a level where you play as Aragorn and must defeat the Ring Wraiths, the riders in black who are trying to kill Frodo and steal the Ring. This ring wraiths are as scary and unpleasant in the game as they are in the film and they squeal and shriek, attempting to stab you with their Morgul blades as you repeatedly club them with a burning torch (my album is playing the music from this very scene as I write, funnily enough). Most levels feature a few cut scenes as you progress and although these are rendered with the game's graphics engine they are directed as stylishly as if Peter Jackson himself was behind the virtual camera. In this level after you defeat a couple of wraiths, Frodo (who has put on the Ring and is invisible) is cornered and stabbed before you see off the remaining wraiths and finish the level.

At the end of each level you get to see how many enemies you killed and the style with which you killed them, leading to an overall rating for the level. There are four categories for each kill - Fair, Good, Excellent and Perfect. Energy builds up around a meter at the bottom of the screen as you use special attacks to kill enemies whilst avoiding taking any hits, until the meter is full and for a few seconds your attacks are super powerful and you get a Perfect rating for every kill, whether you take hits or not. This is a nice simple system that encourages you to fight with style and evade or parry the advances of the enemy, rewarding you for fighting with the skill and passion of the on-screen heroes you're controlling.

You get awarded experience points, which you then use to buy upgrades as you take your character through a series of ten skill levels. New upgrades become available as you rise through the levels, opening up a range of combination moves to buy. These are powerful attacks that can knock over several enemies at once, knock one to the ground and finish him or smash shields, to name a few and pulling off these combo moves is hugely satisfying. You can also build up a powerful charge attack, where you stand still and your weapon glows until you release it, slicing all nearby enemies. You have ranged weapons too, which auto target your enemies and the longer you hold the button the more powerful the shot will be. You can buy extra health and more powerful range weapons as well as the combo moves.

The next level takes us into the land of Moria and to the first full level where you progress by finding a route through and killing every enemy that crosses your path. From this point on you have the choice of three characters - Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. As an elf, Legolas is a very nimble fighter whose power is in his arrows and he can fire one arrow after another with incredible speed, meaning you can take out a lot of foes before they reach you. However, Legolas is not quite so hot in hand to hand combat and his attacks having less range and power than those of the other characters, making him the hardest character to play as. Gimli is basically a walking tank who charges around swiping at all and sundry with his mighty axe (dwarves are very dangerous over short distances) and using throwing axes to take out enemies from afar. Aragorn is a blend of Legolas and Gimli, combining powerful hand-to-hand attacks with excellent bow skills and as the most well rounded of the three you'll be best off playing through the game as him first.

The Moria level sees you and a companion charging through the rocky wastelands of Moria to kill all the goblins that lie ahead so that Frodo and the rest of the fellowship can pass safely through. Goblins climb up from the cliffs below, burst out of hidden caves and jump down from above and there are goblin archers to take care of too, giving more of a range of enemies to deal with. This level is fairly tough and the difficulty of the game generally is pitched quite high, giving a real challenge but one that can be overcome with a bit of care and perseverance. As you wade through waist high water goblins emerge from the depths (although some are pulled back down by tentacles) and you finally reach a shore where you encounter the octopus type monster from the film. This thing killed me a couple of times before I figured out what to do - you must parry the attacks from its tentacles then chop them off and shoot the creature in the head with your ranged weapon when it emerges from the water. All of the boss encounters require you employ a range of strategies to win although some are more interesting to defeat than others.

Next up we're into the Mines of Moria and at the grand fight in the Tomb of Balin (a dwarven cousin of Gimli's). The game engine cut scene reproduction of the moment when all the orcs pour through the barricaded doors and into the tomb is spot on and the music is taken straight from the film in every level (just as I've reached the build up to the orcs' grand entrance on the soundtrack!) As the orcs pour in, the exciting music pounds and you work your way through the hordes, fighting alongside Gandalf, Frodo and Boromir as well as the others, you really do feel like you're in the film. The graphics are simply spectacular and highly detailed in every respect. The scenery of each location from the film is painstakingly reproduced to the smallest detail, completely recreating the feel of the movie. Every enemy is highly detailed and beautifully animated, as are the three characters you play and your companions. Every swipe of your sword, kick, punch, parry and thrust is fluid and natural and many of the special moves, where you can kill an orc in one fell swoop, look simply awesome.

In the next level at Amon Hen, where Frodo flees from the orcs and breaks away from the fellowship whilst Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli slay the hordes of Uruk Hai (Saruman's foul orc-goblin crossbreeds) whilst trying to reach Boromir, you are immersed in the feeling of the movie even more, as Uruk Hai run through the trees all around you, their armour and weapons recreated in every detail. The horn of Gondor sounds and it's all so frenetic and exciting that it totally pulls you into the rich atmosphere. The sound effects are all straight from the film too, so every clank of sword on armour sounds real whilst the grunts of allies and enemies as they fight and die are totally authentic. The rousing soundtrack, again lifted from the appropriate scene of the films, completes the experience perfectly.

As you continue your quest you work your way across the Plains of Rohan (we're now into the territory of the second film) and eventually to a grand finale across three big levels at Helm's Deep. The Rohan levels feature stuff we didn't see in the film, such as a level where you must work your way through a village and slay all the orcs whilst saving as many people as you can, clearing the way so they can flee to safety. We also get to explore Fangorn forest and fight the orcs, goblins and cave trolls lurking within - the cave troll is a recurring boss that appears in several levels and it looks so much like its big screen counterpart that you won't believe your eyes. These levels add a lot to the experience, as anyone who has read the book knows that the film is forced to skirt over a lot of the more minor battles and adventures that our heroes go through.

The combat system is the only area of the game that is perhaps a slight letdown. Although there are a range of combo moves to pull off, the controls can feel a touch unresponsive at times and there is so much happening on screen that you sometimes lose track of your character altogether! It can be tough to time parries and execute combos without being hit (which cancels combo moves in mid execution) and in the end you'll probably use the same couple of moves over and over to defeat your opponents. There is enough variety and sophistication to keep your interest but when compared to a game like Dynasty Warriors 4 the combat system isn't quite as smooth and polished as it could be.

Although I'd like to be able to say that The Two Towers is a true classic, it's also let down a little by its length. There are only 12 levels (plus a secret level and a secret character to unlock) and although there is definite replay value in completing the whole game as all three characters even this should be accomplished in under 20 hours. The addition of behind the scenes extras and interviews (all of the characters are voiced by the film actors, even down to the grunts and cries for help) is a very worthwhile one but not enough to hide the lack of longevity in the game. Like the cinematic releases of the films it's over all too soon. And whilst it does recreate the atmosphere of the film like no other game I've played, there was a lot of room for innovation that hasn't been fulfilled. A level where you play Treebeard the Ent and get to help trash Isengard would have been fantastic, as would a level where you must stealthily sneak through a level as Gollum. Still, these are missed opportunities rather than glaring omissions.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers perfectly recreates all the action, adventure and excitement of the first two films with stunning graphics, gorgeous animation and painstaking attention to detail in every respect, with all the voices, sounds and music from the film completing the experience. With three characters to play as, each with a range of special moves and combinations to unlock, you'll be able to relive your favourite scenes from the films. However, slightly clumsy combat and the game's short length prevent it from being a classic. The Two Towers is still a must have for big fans of the films and well worth picking up at a budget price but the bigger and better The Return Of The King should take priority over this one.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).