LOTR: Conquest (DEMO) - zabu_san impressions

Okay, first things first, I have no experience with The Star Wars Battlefront franchise or its developer Pandemic. Although, I am aware that the Battlefront was a big seller and a rather well received series by critics, I have never played the games. So when I heard about "Lord of the Rings: Conquest" (LOTR: Conquest) and its premise, I was reluctant to play it until I remember the LOTR licensed games, "LOTR: The Two Towers" and "LOTR: The Return of the King" that were released in time with the movies a few years ago. They were surprisingly solid games and supremely well done. Developed by EA with incredibly high production values and with use of the movie license, EA created an extremely, well put together movie tie-in game, a very rare feat in this industry.

So with all this in mind, I fire up the demo of LOTR: Conquest expecting the same greatness the last-gen games brought me. At the main title screen we have 2 options, Single Player (Campaign) and Multiplayer (split screen/online). Neat, online multiplayer in a demo, not the first time I have seen this available in a demo but cool nonetheless. More on this mode later though. So I click single player and see a few modes available: Training, War of the Ring, Rise of Sauron, and Instant Action. Only having access to the Training mode at this time, I proceed to enter and begin my play test.

What welcomed me was a rather bland introduction sequence introducing the back story of Sauron and the one ring. The scene is taken straight from the first movie. Then we are thrust into the world and told to choose a class. So I rotate the analog stick and press the dpad to find only one class is available at this moment, The Warrior, a rather uninspired name for the swordsman of the game. With special abilities ranging from axe throwing to a whirlwind sweep with his sword, he seems to be able to hang with the best of them right?

Well, yes and no. As the first waves of enemies are introduced, our hero is bombarded with tips from the tutorial on how to slay the beasts. After wiping those enemies out, you are given your first combo sequence, which you must complete repeatedly for the tutorial; I mean “training” to continue. Now you are given the ability to use your axe as a long range weapon. Next we reach a capture point. What lies in wait here? Oh, after gaining the control point, you’re given the option to choose a new class: Archer! I loved Legolas in the films so let’s see how this class plays.

Now as I aim for the first orc archer arrows are flying with great speed and the orcs are dropping faster than you can say, “power off.” We are treated with a slew of different arrows for the archer to play around with, fire, multi, and poison. After a short time with him we control another capture point and a new class is unlocked, a scout. Wait, a scout? Were they in the films?

Okay so I choose the scout and notice the option for “cloak”. I envelop with a mist and as the enemies draw close, they pass by and I backstab them to take them down in one hit, like it really matters. The melee combat with the scout is surprisingly quick and fun. Next you are in the middle of a huge battle between the two warring factions. As you fight to gain control a new capture point you soon find a new class, the mage.

Yes, Gandalf is in the game, so to speak. After briefly controlling the mage, I was unimpressed by the game play of the mage. He seemed incredibly overpowered and I wanted to go back to playing the scout. As you rally back to the capture point, you are greeted by none other than Sauron himself. Here you are given the option to play as a hero from the book and film, Isildur who plays like a warrior but more powerful. Once Sauron is defeated, the demo ends and you are treated to an in-game cut scene of different playgrounds and enemies you will face in the main game coming this month.

SO what was my experience with LOTR: Conquest, not very good Pandemic. I expected way better for number of reasons. This was just an absolute stinker of a video game. The graphics were sub-par, the voice were atrocious, the game play was awful (no lock on option?), and the fighting itself was weak.

With light, medium, and heavy attacks mapped to the square, triangle and circle buttons respectively, you soon come to find out, you really only need to hit with square because the enemies will die in ONE HIT!! And that’s not all; the enemies will die by one hit with ANYTHING!! What’s this, one hit with your axe kills an orc? Now I understand if they took a hit in the head, which results in a “Critical Hit” they could die in one hit, but in the leg, arm, abdomen? Unacceptable! As I started with the archer I thought to myself, surely one arrow in the leg won’t kill him, WRONG! He drops like a ton of bricks, as do the several orcs that follow. The combos are unnecessary and the projectiles as the scout or warrior are unnecessary due the one hit statue set by their power. Why are the enemies so weak?

In conclusion, this demo/game sucks; it is the second worst demo I have played following Sonic Unleashed which I will not even honor with an impression topic. Why Pandemic decided to work on this rather than a next-gen Battlefront 3, is beyond me, probably money and contractually obligated, to, not sure, either way, they should have put the manpower and money towards a better franchise and game! As for the "more on this mode later mentioned above," I refuse to play this game any further; it was at my great behest I played it 3 times for this impression...sorry I will let BHT or Jaws provide their impression.