The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Game

With Pandemic behind the reins, will The Lord of the Rings: Conquest just be Star Wars: Battlefront with different uniforms?
5/27/2008 7:29 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Having already told the entire tale in videogame form, EA is now looking at new ways of retelling the epic saga that was Peter Jackson's masterful movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." Thankfully, the software giant has opted not to make an arcade-style kart-racing game, but has instead charged Pandemic Studios -- makers of the Battlefield-esque Star Wars: Battlefront series -- with the task of making The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, a similarly massive multiplayer game out of the fantasy film. Though according to Sean Soucy, the game's lead designer, Conquest won't just be Battlefront with Elves instead of Ewoks.

Crispy Gamer: Let's start with the basics: What kind of game is this going to be? Because at this point the only genres that haven't been given the "Lord of the Rings" treatment are dance game, flight sim and Guitar Hero rip-off.

Sean Soucy: Conquest is a third-person fantasy action game set in the Lord of the Rings universe. It's an open-battlefield game in the vein of the Star Wars: Battlefront series. Gamers have certainly seen Lord of the Rings action games before, but nothing on this scale or with the variety that we offer. Anything you'd want to do in a Lord of the Rings game, you can do in Conquest. You've got the basic classes with melee, ranged and magic combat; you've got horses, wargs, trolls, ents, catapults, siege towers, heroes -- everything from the epic battles you've seen in the films -- and players actually get to control all these units.

Crispy Gamer: Whose idea was this?

Soucy: Well, after Battlefront II, we started to explore other properties that would fit the style of gameplay we had developed with the series. The more we thought and talked about it, The Lord of the Rings was one that made a great fit. It's got the epic battles and unique hero characters. It's also not a shooter setting, which appealed to us. It's a fantasy setting, and that alone has allowed us to really put a new twist on the Battlefront gameplay style.

Crispy Gamer: Will it use a first- or third-person perspective?

Soucy: Third-person perspective. The melee element and the control of the various creatures and siege machines in the game are much better served in a third-person perspective. The third-person perspective gives players a much better view of all the cool things their characters can do in the game.

Crispy Gamer: Do the battles cover all three films, or will there be other battles that were alluded to in the films or books as well?

Soucy: We've got all the big battles from the films. You'll fight at Helm's Deep, Minas Tirith, Isengard, Osgiliath, Pelennor Fields, the Battle of the Last Alliance, the Black Gate -- all the epic battles you'd expect to see. But we also have some battles in both the Good and Evil campaigns that are hinted at in the books: the razing of the Shire in the evil campaign, for example. In the films, when Frodo looks into Galadriel's Pool, Frodo sees what will happen to the Shire if he fails. We let the player live that out.

Crispy Gamer: Will you be playing as just regular soldiers in the battle, or will you be playing as specific characters from the film?