The Lord of The Rings: Conquest - Reception

Reception

Reception for The Lord of the Rings: Conquest has been mixed to poor. The majority of reviews claim that the game lacks any of the epic feel of the movies or novel, CVG commenting on Sauron's appearance in the War of the Last Alliance tutorial as akin to a "Scooby-Doo villain" chasing the player while "you backtrack and shoot arrows into his face". Battles are criticised by many reviewers as being repetitive, becoming mere "hack 'n slash scuffles". CVG also commented on the lack of difficulty in killing some of the larger enemies, such as trolls and Mumakil, slating the quick-time events that allow them to be killed with a single blow, making them lose all of their intimidation potential when fighting against them and making them "frustrating" to control in multiplayer. Another common complaint is the "parody-style liberties" it takes with the Lord of the Rings licence that would have "Tolkien break dancing in his grave".

Other reviews were even more critical of the game, Games Radar stating that The Lord of the Rings: Conquest lacked even "one redeeming quality". A common complaint was graphics well below modern standards, Games Radar likening the troll and Ent models to "claymation diarrhea" and IGN stating that "friend and foe alike blend into one messy brown blur". Most reviews cited poor characterisation and plot, most often in regards to Wormtongue's participation in the battle of Isengard. Another common source of annoyance was the in-game announcer, who "bellows" objectives and hints to the player incessantly.

IGN criticised the "redundancy" of combat, stating that all four classes were essentially identical to play as, even between the two separate campaigns, and that heroes were merely "class characters on steroids". They also complained about the combat system as a whole, in that the player can " buttons and no result". Other reviews also mentioned combat as being unrealistic, one example being if the player falls from a high position they "won't so much as buckle at the knee" which gives a "weightless, videogamey feel" that contradicts the "grand scale... of the universe". IGN did, however, praise the game for its "easily recognisable" locations, though said that the plot for the Rise of Sauron campaign could have been "stronger", while Game Informer believing that there is no story of any kind "outside of clips stolen from the motion picture". IGN commended the game's musical score and claimed that "diehard fans of both online, class-based games and The Lord of the Rings" would enjoy the game, a view not shared by some other reviewers who believe that fans of the books would be the most likely to hate it. IGN also comments on the "universally bad" voice acting, specifically mentioning the impersonators for Aragorn and Gandalf.

The game's AI is often cited as another weakness of the game, IGN listing two glitches, such as an enemy boss walking off a cliff and "saving us the bother of having to defeat him in combat". Eurogamer stated that the player's allies are "AI-impoverished", stepping into the player's line of fire "before sauntering off unscathed and oblivious", while Game Informer says that the AI appears to be "tripping on acid as they stare blankly at walls and sunsets". The lack of mid-level saves or a checkpoint system was also quoted as a weakness, forcing the player to restart a level if they fail to complete an objective.

Balance issues with the game are commented on by reviewers as needing work, IGN saying that the mage class is "clearly overpowered" and The A.V. Club believing that, due to the mage's ability to heal himself, the class is "the correct choice 90 percent of the time". The A.V. Club also stated that the scout class is "a griefer's dream" in multiplayer. The Official Xbox Magazine cites objectives where the player must hold a position for a certain length of time while being besieged by enemy forces, a common problem being that, if the player is killed, by the time the player has respawned, the location has been overrun before they have a chance to fight back. Many reviewers also complained about the lack of enemies on screen, CVG saying that the "cardboard cut-outs in the background" are the most exciting part of a battle.

Multiplayer was regarded as a disappointment, the game's servers "plagued by connection problems and lag", even without the full sixteen players possible. They also cited a lack of bots as a weakness, the "wide, open levels sparse and under-populated" without them. The A.V. Club slated multiplayer as "glitchy", sometimes placing the player "in a one-on-one match of capture the flag".

In the DS version of the game, AI problems are again mentioned, the player's allies " around like a Hobbit with its head cut off". The lack of checkpoints and sub-standard graphics were also raised, along with lag during multiplayer and combat being unsatisfying, the reviewer not getting "a sense that you are clashing swords and armour with your opponents". The review also points out that the game seems much as though "the licence is really just skinned onto capture the flag".