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What?! Another EA Showcase post? Don't worry, it's the last post coming out from the Showcase, and funny enough, Conquest was the last game I played before they kicked me out of the EA Studios' gym (Being given a five hour window to check out nearly 30 games and then making everyone rush off to San Francisco -- which is about 30 minutes away from Redwood Shores -- afterward sucks ass).

I'm not really a Lord of the Rings guy and the only thing I've ever really liked based on the LotR series are the Internet spoofs like the one above (and one more after the jump!). I didn't even know Conquest was in the works but I'm really glad that I managed to get a quick peek at Conquest. It's actually a fun game and the main thing I loved about Conquest is that you can play as the bad guys. That's right, you can go around and kill those dirty little Hobbits. Hit the jump to read on. 

 
Lord of the Rings Conquest is set to raise the bar when it comes to the movie tie-in games. Not only will you be getting the chance to play both sides of the Ring conflict, but there will also be a 16 player versus mode similar to the Star Wars: Battlefront series. 
 
I didn't see the multiplayer, but I was told that people will get to pick whoever they want, like Aragorn or Sauron, and play in familiar locations from the movies and books. There will be your traditional deathmatch modes as well as a Conquest mode, which is your basic "capture and hold more territories than the other team" type of deal. There will also be a two-player co-op mode for the campaign, through Live or local split screen.
 
For my hands-on, I played a level in the campaign where I had to defend the entrance to a castle, as it was being over run by Sauron's forces. You and your forces have to prevent the castle from being overrun. All sorts of enemies big and small are coming through and you have to take out as many as you can within two minutes. There is a ring on the ground that indicates how badly you're getting overrun and you have to keep Sauron's soldiers out of the ring. If too many get inside the ring, you've lost.
 

As you play the game, you'll have the ability to switch between four different warrior classes on the fly. Warrior, mage, scout and archer were all available to me and each one offered up different attacks and spells to use. The X, Y and B buttons are all used for attacks and each of the button attacks represents either low, medium or strong attacks. You'll have a meter on the bottom of the screen that fills up as you kill enemies and holding the left bumper in conjunction with your attacks will increase their strength until the meter is depleted. 
 
I only played for those two minutes (actually, not even, as I died before the time was up) but I liked what I saw. The controls were good and I liked the whole swapping on the fly deal. 
 
After I was done playing, I just had to know more about the campaign. The game basically follows the movie more or less and even includes clips from the movies too. By now though, I'm sure people are sick of playing the same thing over and over again, as far as the story goes. That's where the villains step in and change the Lord of the Rings story up.
 
 
What if Frodo had failed? What if he was killed just before dropping the ring into the lava and Sauron was able to get the Ring? That's what Pandemic is exploring here with the evil side of the game as you play as Sauron and his forces. You'll lay waste to Middle Earth as you go and destroy the places Lord of the Rings fans have grown to love, such as the Shire, and annihilate everything in your path. 
 
Both campaigns will take about 20 hours to complete and the whole villains aspect really adds a refreshing perspective to this well known universe. Lord of the Rings Conquest will be out this November for the Xbox 360 and PS3.  
 
And as promised, here's the second funniest Lord of the Rings spoof ever:
 

LAUNCH GALLERY (8 IMAGES)
Photo Photo Photo Photo Photo Photo Photo Photo
 

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9 comments | showing # 1 to 9

Arttemis's Avatar
Arttemis at 08/22/2008 15:47
"Aragornnn!"
"Mmmmm..."

----

"Both campaigns will take about 20 hours to complete and the whole villains aspect really adds a refreshing perspective to this well known universe."

Very enticing news. Unfortunately, the gameplay videos I've seen looked incredibly sloppy. =( I'd have to see some impressive melee/ranged/magic mechanics before even considering actually getting this.
Dale North's Avatar
Dale North at 08/22/2008 15:58
most amazing video ever
Clockwork's Avatar
Clockwork at 08/22/2008 16:06
Since I still play Battlefront 2 to this day, I fall in love with anything that comes out of Pandemic. I'm so goddamn excited for this game and it looks like it'll be a lot of fun.
Bioautographical's Avatar
Bioautographical at 08/22/2008 16:30
Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 08/22/2008 17:11
Spykron's Avatar
Spykron at 08/22/2008 17:22
holy shit ive ever seen that voice over thing before. that was hysterical.
burzumy's Avatar
burzumy at 08/22/2008 17:29
Ah, yes. One of the reasons I like gamer culture - so many other people who want to play the bad guys. I've wanted to burn the Shire ever since I first read the books...
AliasWyvernspur's Avatar
AliasWyvernspur at 08/22/2008 21:02
@burzumy
Which is what makes Star Wars Battlefront 2 so awesome. You haven't lived until you've killed an Ewok with a headshot.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 08/23/2008 18:30
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