The Lord of the Rings: Conquest – 360 – Review

Oh, beware the
evil eye of Sauron that is always open and fixed on bringing destruction to the
world around him. Many a noble man and woman have fallen victim to the One Ring
that drains the life of anyone foolish enough to be sucked in by its allure.
Alas, the forces of good have put up a brave fight but The Lord of the Rings:
Conquest for the Xbox 360 just isn’t able to be that fun game that will have
you glad to be riding into the Pelennor Fields with Aragon and Legolas. Yes, it
must be the work of that evil Sauron.

One ring to
rule them all …

Then again,
there are a number of other reasons that keep Conquest from being that
straight-up action game that takes most of the elements from Star Wars:
Battlefront but adds The Lord of the Rings’ director Peter Jackson’s vision
into the mix. With a few scenes from the films, the trilogy’s wonderful art
design as well as the likeness of the actors, Conquest allows gamers to
participate in a number of memorable battles across all three movies. You’ll
even get to play as familiar heroes as well when the option comes up during a
battle.

Like Star Wars:
Battlefront, the game contains a Quick Play mode with a few game match types you
can add to any of the available maps. There are also different classes to pick
such as an archer, a mage, a warrior and even a backstabbing scout. The good
news is that there’s not only one campaign mode but actually two that allow you
to play as the heroes (War of the Ring) and the other – Rise of Sauron – as the
evil side.

War of the Ring
goes through a rather lengthy campaign that puts you in the role of those brave
warriors that fought to save Middle-earth from the forces of Sauron. It is here
that we experience memorable battles such as battle for Helm’s Deep, the assault
on Saruman’s tower in Isengard as well as the massive battle of Pelennor Fields.
You’ll fight through the orc and troll hordes in the Mines of Moria as well as
fight onwards towards the Black Gates. To top it all off, you just won’t be
taking up the role of no-name warriors but also heroes such as Gandalf, Gimli
and Elrond just to name a few of heroes. There are even moments when you can
become a Tree Ent.

I would have
followed you to the ends of Mordor

While War of
the Ring is fun, it’s also great to be on the side of evil and that’s exactly
what you get to do in Rise of Sauron. Played as a “what if” scenario, you see
the battle through the eyes of evil orcs or the Balrog itself as you attempt to
destroy the forces of good in the name of Sauron. What if Frodo had kept the
ring instead of destroying it? Well, we get to see this scenario played out in
an attack on the Shire itself just like in Frodo’s vision of what might happen
if they were to fail in their task. It’s good stuff.

Unfortunately,
the game is riddled with a number of annoying and oftentimes game crippling
issues. One glaring annoyance comes in the form of the controls that are often
unresponsive and sometimes there’s even a delay. This is seen more when you play
as a warrior, which is why I prefer taking up the role of archer. Then again,
there are moments when a warrior is needed and the fact that warriors are so
clunky you will find yourself dying often or suffering a defeat. In the game
mode Capture the One Ring, I accidentally dropped to my death, which led to
allies and enemies jumping to their deaths to get a ring that fell in the bottom
of a river of lava. I had to restart the match or just select Quit in the main
menu.

Speaking of
allies and enemies, the AI is another of the game’s flawed features. Your allies
are hardly helpful or willing to defend you when you carry an important item to
its destination. Even your enemies are prone to falling to their deaths on
bridge when they overcrowd it and for some reason they all seem to target only
you even when you don’t have anything important with you. Then there are the
instant deaths that will have you restarting from the very beginning.

Run, fools.

Thanks to the
awful controls, it’s hard to really enjoy the more interesting battles and
decently designed maps that also include wargs and horses you can ride. Quick
Play also has some great modes such as Conquest, Capture the One Ring (which
plays like a typical Capture the Flag match), Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch
modes. Up to 16 players can take each another on via Xbox Live and there is also
a co-op mode that allows you and a friend to take on computer-controlled
enemies.

On the visual
front, Conquest features some murky textures and clunky-looking characters that
would feel right at home if this were an original Xbox game. Some of the maps,
such as the Mines of Moria, look horrible while maps such as the Black Gates or
Isengard are not bad at all seeing as they use the trilogy’s set design. At
least the visual effects are nice and the heroes look just like the actors that
portray them in the film.

At least the
game’s sound fairs a lot better than the unimpressive graphics. It’s great to
hear actor Hugo Weaving (who plays Elrond in the movies) narrating the campaign
mode’s story. Even better, there’s also the trilogy’s Howard Shore score that
plays throughout the game. The overall voice acting isn’t bad at all and the
sound effects are plentiful and good.

In the end,
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest just doesn’t quite capture the fun and
grandeur of the epic trilogy. Yes, it does have all the right essentials and yes
it’s great to see a Rings game that’s almost identical to Star Wars:
Battlefront, but there’s just too much working against this game. This is
too bad seeing as the trilogy has many truly memorable battles. If you’re a
hardcore fan then I suggest you give this one a try. Otherwise, it’s best to
simply dust off past Rings favorites that don’t feel like they’re under the evil
spell of Sauron.

Review Scoring Details for The Lord of the Rings: Conquest

Gameplay: 6.5
Using the fun
Star Wars: Battlefront style, Conquest has all the right elements but
they’re not implemented as smoothly or as it should have been on the Xbox 360.
The controls make for some frustrating button-mashing battles even with some fun
match types or the various heroes you can use on the many battlefields.

Graphics: 6.5
Unattractive
character models and an occasionally jerky framerate will make the characters
move like clunky robots. Sure, the backgrounds look all right and there’s some
solid visual effects, but this looks more like an original Xbox game.

Sound: 8.5
The brilliant and
unforgettable score from the trilogy plays throughout the game including the
pause menu so you can’t ask for a better soundtrack. The overall background
noises and sound effects are awesome and the voice acting is excellent.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
As a single-player
game, you will find that the uneven AI and the poor controls will play a role in
your defeat and you will definitely die way too many times so very easily during
the game’s campaign modes.

Concept: 7.0
The Lord of the
Ring fans will
definitely like the idea of raiding the Shire in the Rise of Sauron campaign or
taking down Olephants as Legolas in a game that plays much like Star Wars:
Battlefront. There are also some interesting modes including a decent online
multiplayer mode.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Playing the game
online does fix many of the annoying AI issues seeing as you’ll have actual
players taking up the roles of allies as well as enemies. The many game modes,
including Capture the One Ring was definitely made for multiplayer fun.

Overall: 6.5
It’s sad to see such
great potential go so wrong and while The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
isn’t awful, it just isn’t as amazing as the trilogy itself. If you’re a huge
fan of the films who is patient enough to put up with a number of annoyances,
then this game might be for you. Those who can’t are better off skipping this
one.