Review by That1Person

"LOTR - Conquest, Coming With a Storm!"

So you start out on the walls of Helms Deep, surrounded on all sides. The only way out is to fight! The campaign puts you right into the action, and online is amazing with the epic battles and fights. You start as 1 of 4 classes too. The mage, warrior, scout, or archer. This game really comes with a hit, but is it really worth it?


The controls feel nice and smooth. The layout is very easy to learn. And the maneuvering is a breeze. The campaign is pretty fun. You get loads of objectives to complete, and most of them are very different from each other. Giving you variety and a good amount of excitement while playing. There are 3 difficulty settings. The easiest is pretty easy, and you can speed run through the game almost. But the hardest is actually pretty hard, you get hit for good damage and when you have to defend a point you better be prepared. This brings strategy and skill to the battlefield, so you better know your class.



Basically you start out as "the good guys." Playing as a soldier in the army of Helms Deep. You can be a mage, archer, scout, or warrior. The mage can heal, create shockwaves, throw fireballs, and cast lightning. The archer shoots arrows in the sort of fire and poison, you can also shoot a multi-shot shooting multiple arrows in one draw. The scout melee's quickly and throws bombs, but be careful because as they can cloak, they can backstab you for a 1 hit kill in the back. Lastly, the warrior is all melee with special sword (on fire) attacks and combos, he also has loads of health.

You have to complete various objectives and once you get to a spot you will become a hero. A hero like Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, etc. The hero is basically a upgraded class with a few new abilities, but they bring destruction if used properly. Complete the story and you unlock the bad side of the campaign. Bringing the story to a whole new perspective. Throughout the campaign you will also find cut scenes from the movies and stats about each map you play on.


Graphics/ Sound

The graphics are not the best, but it gets the job done. The variety of character are great, with every class on almost every other map differing in size, color, and what they wear. The hero's also look just like you would find in the movies so you can distinctly tell what's coming your way. The sound is also pretty decent too, but not the greatest. The special hits sounds and sounds that happen when you strike somebody are great, but the narrator can get annoying, quickly. He shouts nearly everything you do on the battlefield in an obnoxious voice and some of the hero's voices sound like they grabbed somebody off the streets and told them to say a few lines. While they aren't close to perfect, they're not terrible.


Playtime/ Replayability

The campaign mode can be completed in about 4-6 hours total speed running through the entire thing, so that will not hold up to gamers who like to go back and get everything. There are no collectibles either. The campaign is pretty fun though, the first play through is a blast but it gets boring after a couple of play-throughs. Online is where everything gets awesome though. You can choose from a variety of online game modes to compete in and earn your title. They are all completely different and any gamer can find one they truly enjoy to play. The classes and maps are all very balanced, with a counter for everything that plays through, and it's just a blast to play with friends. Private matches and Instant Action mode also come into hand with replayability. Get some friends together or have somebody over and this game turns into a party!


I recommend this to any Lord of the Rings fan, and anybody who enjoyed the Star Wars: Battlefront games. Pandemic really did a good job with this game and plans to release DLC in the future to make it even greater. I would suggest watching a few videos or reading a little about this game before picking it up though if you're not quite sure about it. You could even rent it and see how it plays through. So far this game has yet to amaze me or let me down. So go out, and hopefully I'll see you on the playing field some day!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 01/20/09

Game Release: The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (US, 01/13/09)


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