Lord of the Rings Conquest Community Event Coverage

[bapenguin]

http://image.colonyofgamers.com/news/lotrc_header.jpg

Last week, Co-Optimus and several other representatives from community sites were invited out to Pandemic Studios in Los Angeles to attend a Community event for Lord of the Rings: Conquest.

For those not in the know, Lord of the Rings: Conquest is a spiritual continuation of the Star Wars: Battlefront series, but with the “epic” setting cranked up as high as Pandemic could muster. Almost all of the major battles from the books and film are included, and the developers were given artistic license to expand on some of the events that happen off-screen or were only mentioned in passing in the books.

The write up covers details about the game's campaigns, classes and of course drop-in/drop-out cooperative gameplay.

Read the full Preview with 5 Exclusive Screenshots (http://www.co-optimus.com/preview/90/page/1/Lord_of_the_Rings%3A_Conquest%2C_No_Hobbit_is_safe ..html) over at Co-Optimus.com.

Source - Co-Optimus (http://www.co-optimus.com/preview/90/page/1/Lord_of_the_Rings%3A_Conquest%2C_No_Hobbit_is_safe ..html)

[Superman's Dead]

Thanks Bap! At your site and reading as we speak. This is the best gaming news I've heard in the past few months, hands down.

[SpacemanSpiff757]

This caught my eye when I signed up for Gamefly the other day. I'm going to keep an eye on this one.

[darkbase]

Whoa, I had no idea this was Pandemic's next game. This has to rock.

[pheriannath]

It did rock. I was pretty skeptical going in, but I had a blast with the game, and if they iron out the issues I point out in the article, this might be another big hit for them.

As I stated on Co-Optimus, I spent a long time with the game, and had a really good Q&A with the Pandemic guys, so if you want me to elucidate on anything let me know.

[Superman's Dead]

All of the questions I can think to ask are just 'HOW AWESOME?!'.

In the Battlefront games there was a definite feel of combat going on around you, and you had to find the right place to be to turn the tide of battle. Is there still that kind of feel to it? That you're one of many actually doing something, and not the lone player surrounded by AI that just looks like its fighting?

[pheriannath]

AI actually fights. At times, the game's got about 150 units on the screen, and you'll see it use a lot of the same tactics against other AI units than it does against a player.

Dynasty Warriors this is not.

[Superman's Dead]

Does the average fighter have a ranged attack? Is the game fun to play through as 'Rider Of Rohan #2', or is it just filler in between hoping you're Aragorn?

Thanks for answering the questions. I am beyond pumped for this. Battlefront is an old favorite for me; I was a cham-peen Battlefront 2 player.

[pheriannath]

Both the Scout and Warrior have a limited ranged attack, yes. (Throwing axe and a satchel bomb)

I had plenty of fun playing as the normal characters, but I did find myself looking forward to playing the hero units. In the single player/co-op, you're given the opportunity to play them fairly often.

[Superman's Dead]

Thanks pheriannath! :)

[Xerxes]

AI actually fights. At times, the game's got about 150 units on the screen, and you'll see it use a lot of the same tactics against other AI units than it does against a player.

Dynasty Warriors this is not.
In Battlefront they fought as well. Stupidly but AI did fight one another. I remember one time in the first game, one of them just ran into the wall the whole time. :confused:

Anyways. I was really looking forward to a Battlefront 3. One that really brought everything together. This sounds like it, with out the Star Wars. Be interesting to see what Free Radical can come up with for it.

[digitalErich]

Any word on flaying units? That's one aspect I hated about the BF series (and eventually pushed me away), but with the kinds of flying units they've have in a LotR game, I could see it working out better as they'd be much slower and be almost exclusively focused on air-to-ground combat.

[Xerxes]

Any word on flaying units? That's one aspect I hated about the BF series (and eventually pushed me away), but with the kinds of flying units they've have in a LotR game, I could see it working out better as they'd be much slower and be almost exclusively focused on air-to-ground combat.

Why did you hate flying in BF?

[tombofsoldier]

I know you created it a while ago Bap, but this is the first time I really looked at your site. Very slick, as is this site.

Anyway, I love Battlefield type games if they come together right. Best one ever is still Desert Combat. This looks nice enough, I'm concerned about how it will play with mostly infantry though. The best part of battlefield type games has always seemed to be the vehicles. It'll be interesting to see.

[pheriannath]

Xerxes, this is developed by Pandemic, not Free Radical.

As for flying units... there are Fell Beasts in the game, but I'm not sure if they're rideable by players. In the "Evil" campaign, you play as Nazgul at times, so it's conceivable that you'll be able to.

[Xerxes]

Xerxes, this is developed by Pandemic, not Free Radical.

As for flying units... there are Fell Beasts in the game, but I'm not sure if they're rideable by players. In the "Evil" campaign, you play as Nazgul at times, so it's conceivable that you'll be able to.

I was talking about Battlefront 3. Free Radical is rumored to be making the next Battlefront game. That's why I even separated my post. :o

[pheriannath]

I read gud.

Still jetlagged from the trip, sorry!

[Johan]

This games does sound and look good.

So far. Hate to be skeptical, but...my burn scars remind me I've been burned before. :(

[Food Nipple]

I really liked Star Wars: Battlefront on the Xbox, but that game did not age well. The AI makes the soldiers in Dynasty Warriors look like members of Mensa, and the game suffered from horrible lag with more than 8 people, and the cap was 32!

Switching from the ranged blaster combat of Star Wars to LOTR's melee combat seems like it could really amplify the problems the series already has. Was there any word on the player cap, dedicated servers, or even a release date?

[pheriannath]

Release date is under embargo. I have it, but it's not for you guys yet.

As of right now, the player cap is 16 and that felt about right. The AI does not suffer from Dynasty Warriors syndrome, so don't worry about that. As a matter of fact, it felt a little too aggressive.

[MagGnome]

This looks like it could be a lot of fun.

For some reason I passed over the story earlier as I thought it was about the upcoming LOTR MMO expansion pack.

[pheriannath]

It was great fun. It won't replace your Call of Duty/Halo nights, but it's solid and will have a pretty big audience.

[MagGnome]

It was great fun. It won't replace your Call of Duty/Halo nights, but it's solid and will have a pretty big audience.

Well since I don't have Call of Duty or Halo nights, I should check this out! :D

[Xerxes]

It was great fun. It won't replace your Call of Duty/Halo nights, but it's solid and will have a pretty big audience.

Yeah, the Battlefronts had some big groups behind them when they came out. I'm curious about the Mage class. I mean the mages in the movie didn't even do shit damn near. Not magic wise. Well except come back from death.

[Food Nipple]

Sounds like the embargo is up: January 13th, 2009. And here I thought that the beginning of next year was going to be slow. Now we've got this, RE5, and FEAR 2 all coming out early next year.

[Xerxes]

Fuck. I'm not buy shit this year. Keep your fallout and what have you. I'll be fighting folks for the one ring. MINES PRECIOUS!!!!