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The Lord of the Rings: Conquest Hands-On

By Kevin VanOrd, GameSpotPosted Aug 21, 2008 12:01 am PT

In Pandemic's upcoming action game, it is not your fate to sit in peace, even in the fair house of Elrond.

Towering oliphants loom over the battlefield, raging toward the Rohirrim. Orcs swarm around, brandishing rusty blades and thirsting for blood. Yes indeed, developer Pandemic Studios seems to be taking great pains to create a hack-and-slash game that stays true to its source material. Expect to see these sights and many others in The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Two famed settings, Pelennor Fields and Minas Tirith, are home to some levels that we recently explored, and we're here to report on the experience.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

First, we should mention that in each of the campaign missions that we played, we could choose from four total character classes, both at the outset and within the missions: scout, warrior, archer, and mage. The warrior's broadsword may be the most obviously authoritative, but the other three classes have obvious advantages. Scouts wield daggers and are swift to attack, so if you like quick, stylish moves, you'll gravitate to this class. Archers, of course, are equipped with a bow and arrows, and you may find their triple-shot and poison-arrow skills particularly handy. Or if you're a fan of Gandalf, perhaps you'd rather test out the mage class, which uses lightning bolts as its main attack.

The first mission that we tackled was Pelennor Fields. The initial goal was to destroy some siege towers. There were a few ways of doing so, but we took the sneaky route: sabotaging them by setting them on fire. However, even as a warrior, we found that slicing our way through the hordes to get to the towers was harder than it looked. The field was simply swarming with angry orcs, and we were able to dispatch a good number of them with our sword, using both standard attacks and a variety of violent-looking combo moves. Trolls, on the other hand, were a much greater threat, and just getting near one could mean instant death. The best solution was simply to avoid the fight altogether, leaving plenty of elbow room for the hulking trolls. Eventually we were able to maneuver into position and set the towers aflame, though in each case, we had to lure a nearby troll away from our destination. The sequence was challenging and surprisingly strategic.

The next portion of the level involved getting close to enough to some oliphants to climb them and take them down. Getting into position was a bit of challenge, considering that the stomping heel of a pillaging pachyderm generally means instant death in almost any scenario. Once we were in the right spot, a flip of the trigger initiated a short climbing sequence that was vaguely reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus, and once we'd climbed far enough, a God of War-style button-mashing sequence felled the behemoth once and for all.

The Minas Tirith level that we checked out was more straightforward, and we got to see multiple classes in action. Here, the main goal was simply to fend off a stream of invading enemies as they spilled into the stronghold. Seeing the mage in action was probably the most interesting sequence. Flashes of lightning and fire filled the screen, and orcs and trolls alike fell at the power of such commanding magic. Playing a scout during this section was rather fun too, given that the steady rush of foes was complemented by the quick dagger play. The controls seemed fluid, so it was easy to pull off impressive-looking combos and slice up familiar, menacing meanies in the process.

Ringwraiths will figure prominently in one of the more interesting online modes.

We didn't get to take part in any multiplayer action, though the game will include two-player cooperative play. More intriguingly, the game will support online 16-player adversarial modes. The most familiar of these modes is Conquest, a mode that fans of Pandemic's own Star Wars: Battlefront games will recognize. Here, teams will attempt to capture control points across the map while defending their own. However, you won't be stuck roaming around with just your teammates; battles will remain large in scale, and non-player combatants will join you in the fray. You will also be able to mount a horse (and even better, a warg!) to aid you in your travels. Two other modes sound equally interesting. In Ringbearer mode, one player will begin the match as Frodo, who must deliver the ring. Other players will join the match as ringwraiths, fighting each other as they search for the diminutive hobbit. Should a wraith capture Frodo, that player will turn into Frodo and take over. The other mode that we heard about was Stronghold mode, which is a Risk-style strategic mode in which teams fight one another on various maps to take over the various territories of Middle-Earth.

If you like the setting and look forward to getting your own hands on The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, you won't need to wait too long: It is due to be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in 2008 during the holiday season. If you prefer your action to be more portable, you will be glad to hear that a Nintendo DS version is also in the works, though we have no details to share at this point. We will bring you more information on The Lord of the Rings: Conquest as it becomes available.

145 Comments

  • Shadowdude1234

    Posted Mar 20, 2009 1:24 pm PT

    Well, to be honest i'm an LOTR freak, (book freak that is) and this game is what i would expect for a game. Pretty decent and it can be addictive for people who like this genre, otherwise it's another shoot 'em up, (except with swords and arrows etc.) The only things that annoy me in the game are the mages. Gondor and Rohan shouldn't have them (I know it wouldnt then be fair) and there are too many on the field. MORE WARRIORS AND ARCHERS!!!! Otherwise, the armour for the warriors is close to book descriptions and drawings, the storyline flows well. although it doesn't go out of the movie storyline like some other games do (Battle for middle earth has some references to the books) The campaign could be larger and some maps such as Minas Morgul and Moria are ridiculas (maps to be included could be the plains of rohan. And maybe more maps for instant action. Otherwise pretty good (on PS3 anyway)

  • masteryoung

    Posted Jan 14, 2009 12:51 pm PT

    I was expecting this to be awsome but after playing the demo I was disappointed, the graphics were average, the gameplay not that great and character identically on both sides, but the worst thing fo me is that its only sixteen player having 8vs8, battles just doesn't quite live up to the epic movie battles! as for non-player combatants making up the numbers, there are NONE! hope final version is a bit better but without long till release I doubt it.

  • goodiesam

    Posted Jan 14, 2009 5:58 am PT

    What version is the best? Xbox 360 or pc? I have a silver accaunt so i can't play online but still split-screen. And on pc the otherwise: play online and not split-screen. tnx

  • pakcikkantin

    Posted Jan 13, 2009 7:37 pm PT

    I've tried the demo version today, and seemed addict.
    But still waiting for other player responses

  • Outer_Raven

    Posted Jan 13, 2009 2:55 pm PT

    @Oz Pvt Parts
    Elves that shoot lightning? What are you talking about? Mages shoot lightning, not elves

  • justinday15

    Posted Jan 12, 2009 11:39 pm PT

    Is the onlilne multiplayer very fun?

  • ttam01

    Posted Jan 12, 2009 11:55 am PT

    maybe but i don't think so

  • Oz_Pvt_Parts

    Posted Jan 11, 2009 9:04 pm PT

    Elves that shoot lightning? Oh God, what have Pandemic done?

  • macejowsk1

    Posted Jan 11, 2009 8:37 am PT

    I've played the ps3 demo for about 8 hours now and honestly I'm not impressed. A demo is suposed to showcase a titles biggest, best (insert any adjective applicable here) features, so having said that, the two maps (the Shire and Minas Tirith) were smaller than Endor from SWBF2. Units had about the same variety of actions they could perform on previous generation consoles. Where's the beef? this was Pandemics "Next Gen. Battlefront" unfortunately I think it is fun as I'm a fan of the genre, but in my humble opinion this game lacks anything oter the the LOTR license to set it apart from other games. Without the license this might be a rent!

  • patriotbrewer1 posted Jan 9, 2009 4:06 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    patriotbrewer1

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 4:06 pm PT (hide)

    Pandemic is garbage, dont believe me?, go play mercenaries 2. Do us all a favor and go bankrupt already.

  • Scooter_6_7

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 6:54 am PT

    Sounds great, can't wait for it to come out.
    I love TLOTR especially the moves so I can't wait for a game like this to come out since it looks like it's shaping up to be a good game.

  • StJimmy15

    Posted Jan 8, 2009 4:56 am PT

    at first i was siked for a LOTR battlefront. but, lets just say they may as well have ported the xbox graphics over to this game... and as far as fluid controls, ive only played online, but i have an perfect connection, and the controls were kinda slow and clunky... try it out, demos on XBL.

  • datniccah187

    Posted Jan 7, 2009 7:36 pm PT

    definately going to try the demo, actually i'm downloading it right now

  • ace244

    Posted Jan 7, 2009 10:42 am PT

    sweet i can play this online for free on my ps3

  • ahhhh

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 9:51 pm PT

    the demo was awesome, a few balance issues and the occasional lag, and a lot more fast paced than i expected, but i wish it was atleast 12v12, cant wait to get this!

  • IIFoxmanII

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 6:56 pm PT

    i downloaded the demo today, and Conquest seems like a very good game. anyone who enjoyed battlefront on the original xbox will feel welcome playing this game.

  • patrushton

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 1:31 pm PT

    hmmm same makers as battlefront sign me up!

  • Boozer11

    Posted Jan 4, 2009 8:06 pm PT

    Looks like a good concept but just like the battlefront games it will have some annoying flaws im sure

  • malkeyor40

    Posted Jan 4, 2009 5:00 am PT

    I just played the game on xbox 360 its great but... I found that after a players found tones of kinks in the game such as lines of players standing behind trolls to climb up the back and causing instant death there were many problems like this the worst being that and the fact there was no class cap in the game which makes it the worst game ever when there's a team of 8 scouts backstabbing one after another other then that highly enjoyable occasional giant lag problems (what do you expect from ea) 7/10

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