Lord of the Rings: Conquest debut trailer depicts battles, oliphant violence
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Jun 21st 2008 at 8:30PM }
Pandemic just released the first trailer for their Star Wars: Battlefront-esque take on Tolkien's beloved fantasy world, Lord of the Rings: Conquest, and despite a few framerate issues, we're as pleased as Miruvor-flavored punch. Though past titles have tried to capture the grand scale of Middle Earth's climactic battles through various methods of interactivity, we've never really felt the exhilaration associated with cutting through swathes of Orcborn adversaries with our trusty Andúril. The familiar Battlefront gameplay formula looks to be just what the doctor ordered -- though PETA might have a few unkind words to say about the Proboscidean homocide apparently featured in the title.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
time @ Jun 21st 2008 8:37PM
awesome!
Xoviet chiK @ Jun 21st 2008 8:42PM
Looking very choppy, and unorganized right now. Hope it turns out well. I've been getting my LotR film fix this last week watching them all in succession with my boyfriend and visiting family while pouring over news of the Hobbit adaptation. Cast commentary on Fellowship Extended is totally worth listening too :)
Anyways, hope it turns out well, heh. The first three games EA produced were very lackluster, but I did enjoy the two Battlefront games /expansions. ...I just hope this turns out well :P
Xoviet chiK @ Jun 21st 2008 9:29PM
Whoops, meant Batt for Middle Earth games, not Battlefront.
Battlefront II was good stuff though :)
DemonGSides @ Jun 21st 2008 9:45PM
The EA games were awesome, don't know what you are talking about. Except for the first game, the Fellowship one, though I don't know if that was an EA game or not.
jcd @ Jun 21st 2008 9:04PM
the name is actually oliphaunt /nerd
DemonGSides @ Jun 21st 2008 9:44PM
Call it a Mumakil, more people like that term anyways.
Jakka @ Jun 22nd 2008 12:03PM
Mumakil - Mammoth-Kill!?
Puns ftl.
snarfoogle @ Jun 22nd 2008 1:48PM
I highly doubt Tolkien intended that "pun" which is a great stretch of the imagination anyway.
Jakka @ Jun 22nd 2008 2:11PM
I thought that Tolkien named them Oliphants? And honestly I wouldn't be suprised if Hollywood used this terrible pun.
Tyrannius @ Jun 22nd 2008 9:23PM
No Jakka, Oliphaunt was what hobbits called them. Mumakil was the more official word, at least that is the word Tolkien used when talking about the Mumak when Sam sees one and during the Battle of Pelennor Fields.
tank @ Jun 21st 2008 9:18PM
aww yea, been dreamin about this for years
Arttemis @ Jun 21st 2008 9:51PM
If they can clean up the animations, textures, and framerate, this will definitely be something worth trying out.
8v8 multiplayer amidst a fantasy battlefield has such an awesome vibe.
Young_Nastyman @ Jun 21st 2008 11:34PM
*still holding on to the dream of a non-PSP Star Wars Battlefront 3*
Charlie_Six @ Jun 21st 2008 11:41PM
Graphics look last-gen but still looks fun.
Negativecool @ Jun 22nd 2008 12:16AM
I feel bad that I'm actually impressed with this, given the above posts of criticism.
#28 @ Jun 22nd 2008 1:03AM
Battlefront was how I got into gaming. Damned if battlefront one wasn't fun like team fortress 2 is; everything FEELS right.
Alex @ Jun 22nd 2008 1:07PM
Team Fortress 2 ISN'T fun. It's just irritation.
They should have not put TF2 on the disc and either made more Portal levels or a Portal Online mode.
/Opinion.
#28 @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:05AM
Um, the huge number of players online disagree with you, as do I. Portal was basically a side game anyway, and I don't see a really compelling possiblity for an online mode. As amazingly intricately awesome as Portal was, it was also good for how much it held back and built up slowly. They could have made more levels too.
Unfortunately, I never got to hear the commentary I love so much out of Valve games. Portal wouldn't work on my orange box copy, so I had to pirate it. I felt entitled, since I own the game.
Fokwok @ Jun 22nd 2008 7:57AM
i will be buying this!
Eggy @ Jun 22nd 2008 7:05AM
Sorry but the epic is missing. Way too few npcs. These were massive battles with tens of thousands of troops. This looks like a really poor reflection of those battles.
Alex @ Jun 22nd 2008 1:08PM
They should use the Dead Rising 'swarm' technology.
Jakka @ Jun 22nd 2008 7:58AM
Another goddamn movie adaptation?For fuck's sake, stop it! We all know what happened in the movies and some of us even know what happened in the book.When will EA start using their LotR license to develop something original?
Obie @ Jun 22nd 2008 10:25AM
They can't, they only own the movie rights, so expect them to keep milking it in pure EA form.
Jakka @ Jun 22nd 2008 12:01PM
That's how it used to be back in the times of Battle for Middle-earth,but they had the licence by the time BfMe2 and Rise of the Witch King came out.0
There are no excuses.
PS:Then again if you think about it,this game is directed at console tards and I doubt any of them read or even heard of J.R.R. and his books let alone be interested in Middle-Earth Lore.
finnith @ Jun 22nd 2008 11:51PM
I own both a 360 and have read many of Tolkien's LoTR fiction. I don't see why both can't be true of someone.
#28 @ Jun 23rd 2008 1:10AM
I really hate the term console tards. Yes, I prefer mouse aiming, but does that mean I go around calling people retarded because they prefer something else? Most gamers, by far, play on consoles.
And some games play just as well with dual joysticks anyway, like gears of war or battlefront or whatever.
Jakka @ Jun 23rd 2008 10:01AM
Console Tard isn't a slur for all console owners.Hey, I own a console too.
I'm talking about the non-gamer people and eight-year-olds who's libraries consist mostly of Madden 06,Madden 07,Madden 08,Fifa 06,Fifa 07,Halo,CoD4 etc.
t_m @ Jun 22nd 2008 8:03AM
No idea if the game will be good, but boy that music is freakin awesome. First 3 bars and I was already excited!
Obie @ Jun 22nd 2008 10:22AM
Battlefront was fun, this game shows potential...once they fix the framerate.
j.howlett @ Jun 22nd 2008 10:57AM
i don't think peta minds homocide, its the probocidicide that could tick them off.
finnith @ Jun 22nd 2008 1:20PM
Do you think I can hijack a worg or will I just be able to kill it by violently beheading it.
pavs @ Jun 22nd 2008 5:04PM
I used to LOVE LOTR movie games, until Lord of the Rings Online came out and blew them all away.
Sure it does not have the movie soundtrack, but you can play that in the back ground of your PC if you want to. The story is done top-notch, staying true to the written word, with some inspiration from the films and a little of its own creativty.
Anyone who has a slightest interest in this or any other Lotr game would themselves a favor by checking out LOTRONLINE.
I know this sounded like a commercial, but I just want to let other tolkien fans out there know how great LOTRO is, even if you're not into MMOs, you'll still find plenty of cool things to do, and the community is amazing.
WAP @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:11PM
Proboscidean: belonging or pertaining to mammals characterized by a flexible trunk.
Homicide: the killing of one human being by another.
Maybe instead of using the thesaurus to show how clever you are, you should just stick to the bad puns.