The Lord of the Rings: Conquest Preview

A several years ago, Lord of the Rings was huge, with a resurgence of interest in the timeless book series by J.R.R. Tolkien thanks to a hugely successful film franchise. Also during that period, EA was also releasing a few successful games set within the films’ universe. Now a few years later, EA is trying their hand yet again on the series with their latest, Lord of the Rings: Conquest.

Developed by Pandemic Studios, the dev behind the Star Wars: Battlefront games, Conquest is an action game with heavy emphasis on large scale battles and huge numbers of enemies on the screen at once. Not surprisingly, the game played a lot like Battlefront, but the preview build showcased a lot of nuances from the films and books, and there was seldom a shortage of intensity.

Lord of the Rings: Conquest has you playing through a variety of different battles from the Lord of the Rings universe, including large-scaled battles from the movies, like the Battle of Helms Deep, as well as some only featured in the books. The game also gives you a choice of several different classes as you fight, including mages, scouts, warriors and archers. Each one has their own strengths and weaknesses, and each allows for a different way to play, meaning that gamers with unique play styles can find their own niche and go through the game as they feel most comfortable.

The game will allow you to play through both a heroic and an evil campaign, which is unlocked when you complete the heroic campaign. The gameplay is easy to grasp, and feels a bit like a more fleshed out version of Dynasty Warriors at parts, albeit with deeper objectives.

Graphically, the game is pretty sharp. While there are a few technical hitches thus far like framerate issues and some boggy animations, the overall look is very epic in scope and features a great attention to detail.

Conquest is looking to transport gamers to Middle Earth like no other title before it, and should provide for some great battles and fun gameplay for fans of Tolkien’s world. Look for it to release this fall.