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A Sneak Peek at Pandemic Studios’ ‘Lord of the Rings: Conquest’

By Bob Alpi

Published June 23, 2008

The folks at Pandemic Studios (Battlefront, Battlefront II) are getting ready to unleash more battlefield combat goodness- this time in the “Lord of the Rings” universe. Aside from being able to battle as one of the good guys, Pandemic promises you can also choose to play the part of Cave-trolls, the Balrog or even Sauron himself.

“We’ve got a whole level where you get to play as the evil guys, running through The Shire, trampling Hobbits and burning the place to the ground.”
Eric Gewirtz, Pandemic Studios

“Our experience creating massive, rich, action-packed games means that The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will give fans exactly what they want: full control of the blade, bow and magic to fight its epic battles any way they want – even if they choose to play from the evil side,” says Josh Resnick, co-founder and general manager at Pandemic Studios.

From the information that can be gleaned from an IGN interview with Eric Gewirtz, Pandemic’s director on the project, Conquest is an application of the Battlefront model into a fantasy setting. Players are placed within Middle Earth and are allowed to determine who to use when accomplishing objectives and fighting. Similarly, players can choose a character class (Warrior, Scout, Archer or Mage) at the onset of the mission and unlock heroes during play.

The game will also feature a host of creature to ride (including Oliphants!) as well as siege equipment to operate. Catapults, battering rams, siege towers and ballista will be available for your war-making pleasure. Considering the epic scale of Middle Earth’s battlefields, you are going to need them:

“When you play as the Trolls in the game, you can pick up enemy units and kill them and then walk around with them while you’re swinging your club. Whenever you want, you can throw them and they’re all physics-based, so you can throw them into enemy units and they’ll knock the enemy units out like bowling pins.”
Eric Gewirtz, Pandemic Studios

Currently announced list of game levels: