The Lord of the Rings: Conquest Review

[Teeem3000]

I haven't played the online part, so my words are only for the single player aspect, but I think the game is purely a half assed attempt to get fans of LOTR (myself included) to play the game and tell everyone it's fun, even though it's not. Most people who love the source material will very generously forgive developers, and more importantly producers for fuxking up our games because they deal with something we love and cherish. But I won't. I was weened on LOTR, and I won't be apologetic to EA and Pandemic or even Peter Jackson for the way he treated the Two Towers. They all suck. Thankfully Petey Baby redeemed himself with the ROTK, and TFOTR was just pure goodness.

EAs rep has about hit rock bottom, and they're the biggest producer in the business. Pandemic had a chance to make a game based off the second highest grossing movie in the of al time, and one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the 21 century, and they both screwed it up. Of course I'm talking about The Dark Knight. Man, I'm disappointed.

I hope that the people how buy this game like it and enjoy playing it, but I couldn't. When I think EPIC BATTLE, I think Pelennor Fields. But when did Pelennor Fields consisted of only a catapult and three oliphaunts? There's no charge of Rohan, no Rohirrim on horseback, and when you finally rally to Theoden (devs were to lazy to make a Theoden model, or show his death), two seconds later you're fighting the Witch-King, and it was liked Theoden never existed.

50 Rohirrim on horseback crashing into a few hundred orcs and Haradrim would have been great, then maybe some Oliphaunt killing. An actual battlefield to move around on would have been nice too, instead of dying if you wander 10 feet off of the map. Novice South Koreans working with an Xbox for the first time (Kingdom of Fire) made a more epic war game then a seasoned developer and the largest publishing company in the world. There is no excuse at all for this game. 4 out of 10 might be more appropriate.

 

[sm0ku12]

I've spent few hours playing multiplayer on xbox demo and I had mixed feelings about this product.

I loved playing it because we lack cool multiplayer, non fps games nowadays, but sadly game is very simple and doesn't offer any kind of ranking, leveling and obtainable items.

I am still thinking of buying the full version, not because the game is so awesome, but just because there isn't anything better on the market which is really sad.

 

[Teeem3000]

Never thought of that. That is sad.

 

[Teeem3000]

Never thought of that. That is sad.

 

[IndiansFan4824]

Conquest was a half hearted attempt at something that could have been really good. I have the game and have wanted to snap my disk in half on more than one occasion. But then I saw the trash can and realized my conquest disk had found a new home

 

[legacyAccount]

LMAO haha... oh goshhh

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http://www.taleworlds.com/

 

[thotishouldmakeone]

This is a fun game and all but there are some problems with it. The biggest one is that in 3 and 4 player splitscreen the last player's screen is too dark to see anything while all the other screens are fine. This is really dissapointing because it's like the makers of the game didnt even bother fixing it cuz they thot everyone would use Live...well i like playing with friends and now its better for one person to just sit out. It's just such an obvious glitch, how could it not be noticed while making it?

Also, instant action battles could be better if they were 10v10 and not just 8v8. Theres a lot of good action going on still but the battles could be bigger. The campaign missions are great so far with many enemies and objectives to do.

Finally, this game doesnt have to have a lot of customization or classes and what is there now is good. Maybe being able to choose what faction you want to be in instant action would be good though and possibly a couple new maps.

So what im saying is don't worry about adding things as much as fixing what is already there. If you can patch up whats kinda bad in the game, it will be excellent!

 

[olbaiD4283]

I thought this game was pretty entertaining. But a mediocre game. If you could level up your person that would just be awesome and more replay value woohoo more bang for your buck.

 

[ColossusReaver]

damnit when is someone going to make a really good true to story LOTR game/series?!?!?!?!?!?
it's totally possible and would definitely work, please stop milking it because it's a franchise!!!!
but seriously, all the people who've developed their LOTR or Hobbit games should get together and make full epic rpg action adventure crazy-ass awesome 30 hour versions on each volume, it would sell and it would make one of my deepest held gaming fantasies true

 

[dponeil]

It's not bad because it's "redundant" as the reviewer says, it's bad becaue the controls are terrible. They are "clunky" (as he also said) and non-responsive, non-intuitive, and completely over-complicated. I shouldn't have to hold down a bumper button AND press a sequence of face buttons, just to swing a sword, but that's exactly what you have to do. The other classes (only 3? c'mon!) have similarly frustrating controls.
Having only 8vs8 in this generation of gaming is inexcusable. This is supposed to be a BATTLE-field, not a small-skirmish-field. As it is, the fighting DOES feel somewhat frantic sometimes, even with the fewer numbers of players, but that's mostly due to those "clunky" controls and how frustrating it is just to kill a few players guarding a control point. Maybe it was a lot to wish for, but I was hoping for a game that controlled more like Oblivion (one trigger blocks, one trigger attacks) where each confrontation would feel more like an authentic sword fight instead of hoping your random button mashing beats your opponent's random button mashing.

 

[LoneFox777]

It's not bad because it's "redundant" as the reviewer says, it's bad becaue the controls are terrible. They are "clunky" (as he also said) and non-responsive, non-intuitive, and completely over-complicated. I shouldn't have to hold down a bumper button AND press a sequence of face buttons, just to swing a sword, but that's exactly what you have to do. The other classes (only 3? c'mon!) have similarly frustrating controls.
Having only 8vs8 in this generation of gaming is inexcusable. This is supposed to be a BATTLE-field, not a small-skirmish-field. As it is, the fighting DOES feel somewhat frantic sometimes, even with the fewer numbers of players, but that's mostly due to those "clunky" controls and how frustrating it is just to kill a few players guarding a control point. Maybe it was a lot to wish for, but I was hoping for a game that controlled more like Oblivion (one trigger blocks, one trigger attacks) where each confrontation would feel more like an authentic sword fight instead of hoping your random button mashing beats your opponent's random button mashing.

Button mashing? rofl. That's why you're getting your arse handed to you. LotR CQ definitely takes skill to be effective. I've been rocking out the scout and picking off you "button mashing" tards one by one. Hilarious really.

 

[Neospawn81]

Please don't believe the low ratings that this game has been getting. True it does have a few issues (and what games dont), but the controls work really well, the graphics look really good, and (most importantly) it is incredibly fun to play. Believe me, i play a LOT of video games and know what i'm talking about. Definitely worth a purchase if you are into the Battlefield/Battlefront style of games. Worth every bit of an 8.0

 

[KingdomOfFear]

Why did it take so long for IGN PC to get what looks like a virtual carbon copy of the console review for this game?

 

[outerabiz]

bah, as the fanboy i am i wish they would just stick to the "white counsel"game instead of making battlefront clones.

We demand immersive gameplay!

 

[ThrobbingAbnormality]

I bought this game hoping it would at least keep me entertained for a few hours. I found myself turning it off after about 15 minutes every time I played it. The controls are unresponsive and primitive. The gameplay feels like you are being dragged through the game by your ear going only down one path. Game could have been much better. There could have been many more campaigns(elf, dwarve, rohan, gondor, isengaurd, mordor) and the game could have been improved by allowing you to upgrade skills and equipment. All in all it was boring, I couldn't even stand to finish the good campaign before trading it in.

 

[SAHauptmann]

Killing hobbits is the only redeeming thing in this game unfortunately

 

[Sampson712]

The game can be frustrating, but you've got to be stupid to throw your game away. Keep it or sell it, why the hell would you throw it away? And what the hell is up with people complaining about nonresponsive controls? You people are just downright RETARDED.

Throbbing, get educated. Isengard is a place. Mordor is a place. You want them to make a whole campaign out of one place? NO. Go away.

 

[dponeil]

Lonefox777 - so I see the solution to non-responsive controls and frustrating combos is to play the class that only requires 2 buttons. That doesn't redeem this game at all. Further, by "button mashing" I meant what I said - randomly pressing buttons, hoping you luck out and your oppenent doesn't. There is no 'strategy' to a broken game, only luck. That, or do what you suggest and try nothing but backstabbing people. I'm pretty sure you to play this worthless game.

 

[gratefulkevin]

i just love the way that no matter how good this is, i cant let my son play it, coz no online thanks EA

 

[MrSilver-Z-]

There are 3 types of games that can be played:

1. Team Death Match – first team to 50 kills wins
2. Conquest Hold points on a map (Like AB in WoW)
3. Capture the Ring (Capture the flag).

There are a ton of different maps that the three games can be played on, and the strategies vary depending on each map. Certain maps have mounts, and also give you the option to play as a giant tree or troll, or to ride one of the huge battle elephants. There are also giant stationary crossbows that you can control that shoot exploding arrows. The lag is not bad at all, and I rarely notice it even with multiple players on the screen at the same time. The most that can be in any one game is 16 (8 on 8).

You can choose to play on heroic mode with named characters who have epic special moves, or you can play on normal mode with no named characters that all have the same powers (i.e., the warriors on good/evil have exact same abilities so there is no racial advantage to playing good or evil). The map you play on will determine what race (just a different skin) of nondescript character you may choose from, and in each game you can either play as good or evil, and may change your class at any time during the fight, so, for example, if the other team has 5 archers, you can change your class to counter. You may also switch sides during the fight if there is an unbalanced side to fill up the weaker side. You can’t add to the side with more players though. The only dwarf in the game is Gimli (warrior), and the only hobbit is Frodo (rogue).

The game is completely skill based because there is no gear, and for the most part the classes of each race play the same way. I have played against some people who are just off the hook proficient with a particular class which make them god-like. If you suck, you get owned no matter what class you play.

Bottom line: Great game for people like me that used to play fantasy MMOs, and like that genre, but don't have the time to grind for gear, or to have to build a character just to fight.

 

[PhattJZX]

This game is the worst game i've played in a while. The controls suck, the combos are crap and it doesn't have that "epic" feel of the other LOTR games on the PS2. It's like some crappy hack & slash with LOTR lining just to exploit it for some cash.

Thanks again EA.

 

[AmonAmarth222]

I know most of you reading this hated this game. I can honestly say I am dissapointed with how it was handled, and now I can say I don't trust pandemic to make games anymore. However, I love the LotR series so much that it saved this game for me. It is a great game in my opinion, but it lacked in a few things that, for want of more offensive language, 'angered me'.

The absolute largest draw to the game is that when you're offline, AI doesn't use the Trolls or Ents in instant action at all. The combo system does suck, but still, that didn't make it unenjoyable at all. Also, there was the occasional glitch in any one campaign level that rendered the level unfinishable. In my time playing the game (about one full week and a half) I only encountered this twice.

What made the game enjoyable was playing instant action. I love the Helm's Deep level because it is intricateley carved out into the quarry, with not a single missing detail from the movies. The battles could have been bigger though. There are only four classes but each one's specialization spans a larger variety than the classes from Battlefront 2 so it's forgiveable.

The one thing that I adamantly disagree with most of you on is the graphics. Have you taken a close up look at the character's faces? Each character is modeled brilliantly with each scale on a Rohirrim's armor gleaming brilliantly in the light right down to the Elvish embroiderment on each Elf Mage's cloak. The water (What little there is of it) is done fantastically. Overall, the graphics live up to the 360's standards. Most people just don't bother to take a look at the small details, and others just don't realise the nice eye-candy because this is a third person game and everything appears smaller because it doesn't place you up front into the action at the character's level.

Overall- 8.0 (Good)
Graphics- 9.0 (Excellent)
Entertainment Value- 7.0-8.0 (Decent to Good)
(I'm still playing this game after 1 and 1/2 a week.)

 

[mrmode101]

If you love the lord of the rings you will love this game.It is a good spin on a way to play the game,It looks great it never laggs with all thats going on.Playing as the heros is awsome they dont have a ton more health than the regular pawns but their skills make up for it. Online is great fun,you got ctf team death and capture points.The only bad thing about this game is the campaine is a little to short,you get about eight or nine hours out of it but the replay value is very high. I had my doubts about getting this game at first after reading reviews,but it all comes down to what you like.If you wanna live the movies battles out like a dream than this game is for you. FLETCHMODE

 

[hsnow]

i have to say i absolutley hate this game, i mean it starts off strong and entertaining but then quickly disolves into a clusterf*ck of absolutle bull. The level where you have to fight the mouth of seron is a prime example, for no reason whatsoever they take away the check points for the whole level ergo, if you fail...you have to wade through the bull all over again. They also gave the mouth of seron the benefit of health regeneration, the gift of being able to run through areas that your character cant (this being a problem because you cannot just pin him to the ground and whale on him until hes dead), and he also can summon the ever so annoying ork scouts that have the magical ability to take what would normallt be a massive, and devistating hit as if you just flicked the little buggar in the nose. then when you manage to capture the camp, the trolls who normally pick you up if youre unlucky enough and take you into a like half second cut scene type thing...well the troll cut scene after they pick you up takes about 1 or two seconds giving the enemy just enough time to overwhelm you and defeat you... then you have to go through the ENTIRE level over again. this game is not worth the 60 dollars youd spend on it....hell, its bareley even worth the 8 dollars you would spend to rent it at movie gallery....


i would give this game a 1.5 out of 5 stars...

 

[KiwiPride]

Review makes it seem crap, comments make it seem crap, but still, i will buy it based on the fact i loved the battlefront games and the lord of the rings series.
I also once said to my mate, imagine if there were a game where you could play as one of the soldiers in a big ass battle.
But i dont understand, battlefront 2 for me was so great even though repititve after finishing the game and the galactic conquests, so how can a next gen lord of the rings version with easier access online play be worse?
Worth a hire?

 

[ThePS2killer]

@KiwiPride

I say go for it. I have the game and I think it's great. No, it's not perfect, and I can see that it could've used alittle more "polish". But I've played it alot already, especially the 2 player co-op mode. I've even beaten the entire game a couple times already and stuck around 4-5 hrs online. It's not perfect, but I always have alot of fun while playing it.

 

[legacyAccount]

I don't seek perfection in games, because non are perfect. I also believe that a game scored at 7.0 isn't that bad either, especially if you're a fan of it. Im a big fan of Tolkien Fantasy, and I play LOTRO regularly. I used to play action games a lot, and this is my avenue back to that, finally!

 

[legacyAccount]

I'm sorry. I'm a LOTR fanboy, but I played the demo, and it told me to stay the hell away from this game. They are right. The combo system is horrible, and it's not even a decent hack & slash game.

I'm a LOTR fanboy too. And I believe a score of 7.0 is a acceptional score for a "true fan" of LOTR.

I play LOTR Online regularly, soI might prefer that style of gameplay more.

But Conquest, even if combat isnt perfect, allows a different style of combat Im looking for.

I enjoyed Star Wars Battlefront also. That game want 100% either. But just because it has a few issues doesnt mean its not fun.
I think reviewers expect to much these days. But Im not the type of fanboy, to defend a game, and say its way better than it was reviews. I just dont care about that.

 

[drobb2646]

wow i just had to comment when I saw this game got a 7 ...i mean i think ign is too harsh sometimes but this game blows...how did it get higher than a 5? I am an avid player of LOTRO and I have really enjoyed pretty much every lotr game released aside from this crappy game. Everything from the graphics, gameplay, controls ect are all pretty bad. I tried the xbox demo and even the pc version multiple times really hoping I would get "into it" after some time but that was a futile attempt. Too bad too since I really had high hopes for the game and the concept seemed really fun...stay away...this game is anything but fun and a horrible action game imho!

 

[legacyAccount]

I on the other disagree with this massive overflowing of bad press reviews. A bunch of reviewers who I doubt spent enough time with the game. They all stink. The truth is, this game diserves an 8.0, not a 7.0. I wouldnt go as far to say 9.0 or 10.0. But Lord of The Rings Conqueat is at least a lot of fun, for people like me who have played a bit longer, and know how it works. or, just plain being a fan of the LOTR Lore. So, to me all the press reviews below 8.0 are crap.

I dont own any consoles, but I would go as far to say that the PC version is probably better in controls and possibly even graphics. What I do know is that you can react much quicker with a mouse and keyboard then with a gamepad. Its really not as bad as people are making it sound. There are minor frustrations, but not unlike some other games with better reviews.

And to be completely honest, there are 2 main things that I dislike the most about the game. Oliphants that can be hard to climb sometimes, at risk of being crushed. Trolls that grab you, at the slightest wrong move, and crush you. I have experienced a couple frustrating enemy encounters, but with a little practice, its not as frustrating in the end.

 

[Firefly131]

Excellent Book, Great Films, Alright games (Two Towers and Return of The King on PS2) Then what's that coming out in shinning glory that's right it's LOTR Conquest....you may have guessed my sarcasm...if you haven't then your not too bright.

IGN seriously where do you get your reviewers 7...i'd give it a 3 at best, the last thing EA did right was Army of Two and that was alright...

And to others gloryfying this peace of crap, do you think 50 cent's bulletproof defined shooters as we know it?????

You're all wrong..end

 

[NickPhoenix]

Truly, the last great LotR game EA did was Battle for Middle-Earth 2/Rise of the Witch-King...
I hope LotR doesn't become shovelware like Star Wars is slipping into...

 

[legacyAccount]

I don't know how anyone in their right, sober, mind could have given this game a 7/10. Now I'm willing to accept that maybe my "mental" scale is different from IGN's scale, but I see a score of 7 as being decent. And this game is not decent.

In my opinion this game deserves no more then a 5 (and that to me is generous). Now the video review mentioned a few "prerequisites" for enjoying the game.

1) To enjoy the game you have to have liked Star Wars Battlefront

2) To enjoy the game you have to like Lord of the Rings.

Well I loved Star Wars Battlefront, and I'm just coming off watching the trilogy for the uptenth billionth time and playing Lord of the Rings Online, so I am a Lord of the Rings fan, one might even call me fanatic.

Well this game is absolutely horrible. The fighting, as the video review mentions, is lame. The combos available are limited, and get tedious. The controls on the PC are so sloppy that at times just hitting a simple 3 button combo is difficult as the game refuses to register my attacks. Now it's interesting the reviewer says that the combat is basically crap, and yet justifies a score of 7. The game is based on combat, it basically a hack and slash game, and if the hacking is tedious and the slashing is mundane; well you don't have much to go on.

Graphics are sluggish, obviously a console port with unoptimized engine, and they don't even look good enough to warrant the frame rate hits you often get.

I just don't even know what else to say. I played the game for about 30 min before just quitting and never going back. Now accuse of "not getting the full experience", but if in the first 30 min you've made me quit the game thinking "this is a flaming pile of feces" well then the game is a failure.

I never once felt "immersed" (I hate the word, but feel compelled to throw it down here). The combat took me right out of it, struggling to hit the simplest combos while trying to keep your player beside the enemy that's running around at random, takes you out of the experience fairly quickly. The animation look horrible enough that you can't even enjoy the world.

And as a Lord of the Rings fan, for any future games based of Lord of the Rings, the books offer much more interesting scenarios and settings and simple rehashing the movie's fighting scenes over and over again just get's dull and boring.

If I was made to review this game, I don't even know how I could have brought myself to finish it. Maybe the reason why the game got a 7/10 is that this dude is the only one at IGN that managed to finish the game, because I couldn't do it...

To be fair I feel sorry for anyone who is here saying that this game is "awesome". There are so many better games of this genre, and so many better Lord of the Ring games. This is a poor example of both.

 

[bjrover]

This game is cool! Sure there are a few faults and you do sometimes have to click buttons repeatedly but if you stick to the routine stuff it's great! It deserves 8/10 at least. Especially if you look around- I only had to pay £17.91 not £50 RRP.
The only criticsm I have is that of the way the camera angles can SOMETIMES be a bit dodgy but this game is still great!
If you take games very seriously then this game may not be for you but like most of us, for a bit of a jam every now and then it's simply great!
WELL DONE PANDEMIC AND IGN SORT OUT YOUR RATING!!!
8.5/10.0

 

[bjrover]

This game is cool! Sure there are a few faults and you do sometimes have to click buttons repeatedly but if you stick to the routine stuff it's great! It deserves 8/10 at least. Especially if you look around- I only had to pay £17.91 not £50 RRP.
The only criticsm I have is that of the way the camera angles can SOMETIMES be a bit dodgy but this game is still great!
If you take games very seriously then this game may not be for you but like most of us, for a bit of a jam every now and then it's simply great!
WELL DONE PANDEMIC AND IGN SORT OUT YOUR RATING!!!
8.5/10.0

 

[john0001Pozer]

Yeah i picked this game up for £17.50 and am happy with it, would be dissapointed if i had to pay the full amount though. The one problem with online i find is that if your a warrior class you may as well give up as its hard to hit anything, you need to be either mage or scout to survive

 

[BrokeNL]

This game is a 5, at best.
Not only is it repetitive but it's annoyingly, frustratingly difficult, even on the medium setting a couple of combo's from an enemy and you're on your back dead. The only saving grace is the likeness to the films, and frankly it's not nearly enough to warrant a 7 score.

And how is a cheap price a warrant for a crap game? I bought this for £15 and I still regret it, £15 down the drain.

 

[FeartheFwoosh]

Quite honestly, It's a love/hate relationship with this game and me. It's fun but it could be so much better, kinda like all the battlefront games. I knew it would suck when I heard it was a rescreening of battlefront with a lord of the Rings skin. With a game like this, you have to start on a clean slate with fresh new thinking. Your gonna take a game with mostly ranged combat and a game with mostly close combat and try and make them the same way? Plus, the battles are way to small scale for LOTR and not epic in any sense of the word. Seriously, what were these guys smoking.

 

[FeartheFwoosh]

Ya know what they could have done, This game should have been like LOTR The Return of the King game for PS2 Look and Combat-Wise. Minus the flaming swords. I mean Maybe make it look better, throw in some cavalry and larger more free maps with larger battles, more epic battles, better voice work. Ya know, what they could've done. But nope, they took the easy way out.

 

[Blitzking]

I love this game and i think they did a great job!!! If they had made larger maps there would be more spread out battle which would suck. But I agree about the crappy voiceover it wasn't even the movie people!

 

[tyleri]

This game isn't great but a real interim save would've added to it. There are cut scenes after mission completes so why not a save point to go along with it? Other than that its about what I expected from this game, even better than expected due to the previous LOTR game titles. Still though, 5 at best and i'd love a real RPG out of series, is that too much to ask considering the majority of fans probably like RPG's anyways? Who are they trying to sell this too? Street fighter fans?

 

[FransBiscuit]

This game is unbalanced for online play it takes like what 5-8 hits for a warrior to drop anyone and you swing extremely slow so if you miss once then your screwed. Sometimes when you do hit the guys as a warrior they don't flinch so then they run away from your combo and shoot you in the face. Same goes for the scout to except with stealth he is kind of better but still cant rack as many kills as an archer or a mage. They made the game just like battlefront where range owns unless your a jedi but warriors and scouts dont hit as hard as jedi so range still dominates the game. Unless your playing the story offline cause the scout can 1 shot bosses which is actually kind of funny. I completely agree with what FeatheFwoosh said about everything else aswell 8 on 8 online battles with no additional AI characters, the battlefield looks pretty empty most of the time. Just a couple other things that were messed up about the game, I am just going to bullet point them cause I can go all day about LOTR Conquest, Health system, special moves for normal troops, sprint system (there really is none just run foward which gets you killed), Separate the mage from being a healer and just make a 5th class, the 8 on 8 online is way to empty either beef up the number to like 16 or 32 on 32 or just add a load of AI into the game, change mage spell fireball to an actual fireball that destroys peoples health if they get hit by it but does nothing if they miss, and you run I think either the same speed or very close to the same speed when you go backwards, etc. if another LOTR does come out please just take some of these ideas into consideration.

 

[TheSackofJohnMadden]

Killing hobbits is the only redeeming thing in this game unfortunately

You murderous bastard!

 

[legacyAccount]

[image=http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/masquerade_red/Broken-bonds/attenuatingtheappetence.jpg]

 

[Raentyr]

So I basically bought this game cause I played it on my friend's 360 beforehand, I liked it enough, being a big Lord of the Rings junkie and a Battlefront fan. I really like this game, bringing back the old days of my PS2, yet I do think they could have embellished it a bit. Just my opinion.

 

[C44_29199]

wish this game had a ranking system.but still liked cause i loved battlefront

 

[x--MiKeY--x]

A horrible game.

 

[sertyla]

Id give it a 7.5

 

[ChicoTutor]

best game ever i love battlefront. i would give it a 10.