Review: Lord of the Rings Conquest

Our review for today will be on Pandemic's latest title, Lord Of the Rings Conquest. 

Making a game based on one of the world's best selling fantasy novels is hard enough, making it good is another thing. Pandemic's earlier titles like Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2 were amazingly entertaining especially in the multiplayer modes, both online and off. Adapting similar gameplay to Lord Of The Rings however, is a whole different ball game. 

The fan base for Tolkien's books is huge and to take up the challenge of developing a game to match the standards that the fans would be hoping for is a gargantuan task. Pandemic had success with Star Wars so I suppose Lord Of The Rings wouldn't sounds as daunting as it really was. It was quite surprising to learn that they were coming up with a Battlefront styled game based on LotR. Battles in the book were pretty much all melee with the exception of the bows and arrows. It would be interesting to see how an LotR game would fit into a template of what was essentially meant to be for a shooter.  

Campaigns in Middle Earth

The single player campaign starts off with a tutorial round set during the battle of the Last Alliance. Just like in the Two Towers game by EA, this level familiarizes the player with the controls and the abilities of each of the four classes. As the level progresses, players are prompted to switch between each class to get past a certain obstacle or type of enemy. Archers for example, are required to take out the enemies that are out of reach of the warrior, before the way is cleared. After scrolling through each class and getting somewhat competent with them, you get to choose if you'd like to play as a hero. For this level, it's Isildur who is basically a more powerful version of the warrior. After sending a surprisingly tough Sauron packing with the help of Narsil's blade, that's where the real campaign begins. The timeline of the game switches to "modern day" middle earth where Aragorn and friends are on their quest to save the world. The first map is none other than the siege of Helm's Deep and the journey takes us all the way to the battle at the Black Gate. There are some noted deviations from the original plotline however like the retaking of Minas Morgul which never really happened in the book but still proves to be a nice alternative to what we're familiar with. Speaking of alternatives, once middle earth is safe from Sauron's reign and everyone's all happy and fuzzy inside, it's time for you to show your evil streak. After completing the War of the Ring campaign as the good guys, the Rise of Sauron campaign will be available. It's basically what would've happened if Frodo and company faltered and a look into the tragic events that would ensue. You'll be able to pick off the main characters one by one. This is especially good for players who have untold hatred for a certain character (like Legolas for me) or a certain species of Tolkienfolk. Pandemic did a good job in that sense, allowing two separate paths depending on player preference. I know I had a good time doing away with the hobbits in the Shire (There's even a trophy for slaying 300 of them). Now I know what you're thinking, with all this killing it has to be gory and won't be good for my children and all that jazz but to be honest there is close to no gore whatsoever. The campaign modes are fairly entertaining and comes with a nice little cooperative mode where you can follow the tale of the fellowship together with a pal.

The Fellowship of the Ring

The classes available seem to fit into the backdrop of LotR quite well. That is if the staunch fans can overlook the fact that mages were almost unheard of in the books besides the great wizards. 

 Cutting through the fat, or in this case, the Orc.

The warrior is the epitome of hack and slash action. If you're the kind of guy/girl who likes to get down to the nitty gritty and slash your way through the enemies with a flaming sword, this is the class for you. The warrior class has the ability to execute seemingly endless strings of melee attacks that are deadly if you can get close enough to your enemies and also serve as excellent beast killers. For example, warriors and scouts have the ability to mount siege beasts like Trolls, Ents and Oliphaunts and take them out with a carefully aimed stab. 

Scouts are another melee class with the ability to cloak themselves from enemy view. A handy tool for getting past an approaching horde. In the cloaked mode the scout can kill an enemy in one stab using the sneak attack command prompt. They are also expert escapists that can use combos to escape the grasp of enemies that are too tough. 

Good guys shoot blue lightning and bad guys shoot red lightning. Classic.

Mages serve as support characters that can heal allies and shield them from ranged attacks as well. Don't let the weak facade fool you though, mages can throw fireballs, shoot bolts of lightning that link between enemies and also have combos that end in an explosive "You shall not pass!" maneuver, that levels the battlefield. Archer's aren't just a generic ranged attack class either. They have a wide range of enchanted arrows like the poison arrow that slows down enemies and smites them with a DOT effect. Fire arrows can also be extremely destructive, knocking down foes easily and last but not least, the multiple shot that is a lifesaver if you ever find yourself confronted in close combat with more than a few enemies. 

Apart from the regular four classes, you can also choose to ride on the back of a horse or warg or even take control of battle trolls, Ents and the massive Oliphaunts. Each with their own move sets of course. I must say however that controlling the large beasts and giants will get a bit frustrating due to their slow, clumsy movements. You might find yourself losing a life after inadvertently moving your Oliphaunt out of the battlefield for too long.

As big as it may be, that still only counts as one!

Now that you know the generic characters, it's time to take a look at the heroes. Much like the Jedis in Star Wars Battlefront, after racking up some points from capturing command posts or killing a certain number of enemies, you'd be greeted by a screen that asks very nicely if you would like to play as a hero. Who would say no to that? The heroes are much more powerful versions of a certain class. 

Aragorn for example is a warrior with the power to summon the dead army much to his enemy's dismay, Frodo is a scout that can sneak kill even without being cloaked and the Saruman is a mage that unloads much greater damage than his non hero brethren. A good change however from the Battlefront series is that heroes don't die after a certain time (i.e when the lightsaber meter runs out) but can be used until they are defeated naturally. As fun as it may be to control the mighty Balrog to destroy the shire, a dip in the Brandywine river could cost you your life. A little thing that Pandemic should have fixed was that EVERY character dies almost instantly upon falling into water, whether you're a hero or a hobbit. From the creeks in the shire to the shallows waters surrounding Osgiliath. One would think that Sauron or Gandalf would be able to withstand getting a little wet. As long as you take care to avoid the deathtrap that is the water, play should go smoothly though. 

How The Palantir Rolls

The gameplay of LotR Conquest is a carbon copy of Pandemic's earlier titles. There's the team deathmatch, capture the ring, conquest and hero team deathmatch. Campaigns however are usually completed by achieving certain goals or meeting a certain criteria like defending Minas Tirith for a set amount of time. Instant action allows you to play whichever map you wish and whatever style you want it to be in. Nothing too new for those who know how it works. There is also an online multiplayer mode available if you'd like to test your middle-earthen survival skills on the real battlefield. The cooperative and head to head modes also make it a potentially good party game for when you have friends over. 

As engaging as the game may be on its first play through, the single player game modes get quite dull after you've completed it. There are trophies to be acquired but they barely spur the player on to go through another campaign. There are only so many times you can siege Mordor while still feeling the thrill. That being said, LotR Conquest is going to be one of the games that you won't want to play alone after completing it once. The maps are not particularly outstanding either. They aren't bad but there's alot that could have been done to make them better. The Minas Tirith map at times feels as if it's just a big stairwell and the Pelennor Fields map looks like it's no bigger than a football field or two. This kills the setting a little and leaves the player wishing for something more. The online multiplayer mode also has its flaws. One of the main reasons for gripes is that online play is very unbalanced. The mage and archer can easily hold off the melee classes. Although warriors and scouts are equipped with ranged attacks, they barely work well enough to subdue the mages or archers from a distance. It is incredibly hard for them to get close enough to deal any real damage to the ranged classes. All archers need are poison arrows to slow the approaching melee classes down and even if mages get damaged, all they need to do is run away and heal up. The mage and archer are pretty much all you need. A few rounds online might turn you off especially if you're more used to playing the warrior or scout class. Graphically, LotR conquest isn't spectacular. In fact, it looks like it could have been a game for the PS2 instead. The character and map designs are comparable to the ones from the EA series so it isn't anything too new or revolutionary. There will definitely be some frustrations that this game will cause you be it in the single player or multiplayer mode. The soundtrack of the game however is still amazing. If you had appreciated the composition of Howard Shore from the movies, you'll definitely love the BGM in-game.  

The Road Goes Ever On...

So as a whole, LotR conquest is not an entirely bad game but its also not going be the game that comes to mind when you think of the series either. It will disappoint some but still make the grade if you're willing to overlook the flaws. There is still a lot of room for improvement. Perhaps Pandemic will try its luck again with LotR Conquest 2. I wouldn't mind as long as they tune it up a bit. I did have fun playing the game and would still play it with my pals if I ever want a bit of a Tolkien gamer's booster shot. New updates are coming out as well like the maps of Amon Hen and the last alliance and also new heroes including Boromir. Well, well, with the new Amon Hen map, one can now recreate the death of Gondor's captain just for the heck of it. 

  

My rating for Lord of the Rings Conquest: 6/10

9-10: GYEAHHH!

7-8: Pretty good

5-6: Should've been better

3-4: Good for a laugh

1-2: Waste of a Blu-Ray disc

0: What has gaming come to?