Ever
wondered who would be the victor in a fight
between an Ent and Balrog? Now you can find out!
Using Gandalf is cool, but being evil is too much fun
Large
scale battles are frequent in Lord
of the Rings:
Conquest, but you can always go toe-to-toe
if you don't like controlling huge beasts of war
Lord of the Rings: Conquest
is a solid release from Pandemic Studios and EA that will delight fans
of the novels and films as well as gamers who crave lots of action and
options in their games.
The game allows players to decide
to play for the path of good or evil and once that decision is reached,
then the real fun begins.
If you chose the path of good,
then you will follow Frodo on his mission to destroy the ring.
Should you decide to ally with
evil, then the game shows a world where the ring was not destroyed and
allows you lay waste to the land.
Using the Star Wars Battlefront
style of gameplay, gamers are able to play in first and third person
perspectives and control various players during battles.
Should a player wish to play as
Gandalf or an Ent it is up to them.
The game offers four classes such
as Scout and Warrior who are great at close range battles, or if ranged
attacks are your thing, then an Archer or Mage is available for
you.
I also enjoyed the ability to ride
various mounts and beasts in the game which allow players to
make strategic charges and retreats when called for, and also utilise more powerful attacks.
As much fun as the solo portion of
the game is, the true joy for me was found in the multiplay portion of
the game.
Modes ranging from Conquest,
Capture the Flag, and Hero Deathmatch are contained within.
I remember an early online game
where I was still trying to master my skills where the battle was not
going in my favor.
In order to remedy my lack of experience, I manned a
mounted ballista and gave my side some cover fire which allowed the
more skilled players to advance and kept the enemy on the
defensive.
It was nice to have a game that I
could contribute to even when playing more advanced players and be
something more than a distraction for the enemy.
The graphics in the game are solid
and the authentic sound effects also add a nice sense of being there:
the clangs of forged weapons at close quarters are sure to get the
blood pumping for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien.
The game has come along nicely
from when I first played it at PAX as it was an impressive and fun game
in its development stages.
But now it is a complete Lord of the Rings
Experience not to be missed.
There's some colossal battles in the game, many of which are from the movies.
You can charge into battle with your swords swinging and perform special moves to dispatch enemies with more efficiency.
Everything about the game is
closely linked to the movie trilogy.
All the characters are authentic to the books/movies as are the
levels, such as the Shire, Mias Tirith and the Mines of Moria. Even
Hugo Weaving delivers the narration.
My only real regret was that the
solo portions of the game are a bit short with not enough missions, and
once completed the only real replay value of the game is online -
unless you are one of those people who must keep at a game until you
earn every possible trophy/achievement.
That being said, Lord of the Rings: Conquest
brings all of the joy of the Star
Wars: Battlefront series to the Lord of the Rings universe.
Game: Lord of the Rings: Conquest System: PS3
Players: 1-multi Online: Yes Developer: Pandemic
Studios
Distributor: EA
