14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts really knows a thing or two about milking a franchise until it's dry and unusable. And, after it told the whole Ring saga through videogames, the fact that it has announced a new game called The Lord of the Rings: Conquest might disappoint a lot of gamers. If it's any consolation, the developers at Pandemic studio have sent in their best man, lead designer Sean Soucy, to explain why the game will be relevant.
Soucy sat down and talked to the guys over at Crispy Gamer and showed what Conquest is all about. He says that the game is a "third-person fantasy action game" that is set in the Lord of the Rings universe. The most likely comparison candidate is Star Wars: Battlefront, a game also made by Pandemic. But, unlike that game, the focus will be on officers that are leading the troops and on the heroes from the games, which will be only playable in certain stages of the game.
The basic elements of melee, ranged and magic combat will be in the game, along with a lot of mount options, like horses, wargs, trolls and ents. There are also siege engines like catapults and siege towers that players will be able to control on the battlefield.
Soucy says that all the big battles from the novels and from the films will make it into the game. The player gets to fight the last stand at Helm's Deep, the epic defense of Minas Tirith, while also doing battle around Isengard, Osgiliath, Pelennor Fields and at the Black Gate. Apparently, the Evil campaign will take this one step further, giving the Evil player a chance to go to the Shire and conquer it, and also to desecrate other significant landmarks where evil never got in the movies and books - all on the assumption that Frodo does not get to destroy the ring and Sauron somehow gets it back.
The game is in development on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, the PC and the Nintendo DS. It's still not clear how it will play out on the handheld, but the other versions will be available sometime during fall.