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The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring (PC)
Publisher: Vivendi Universal Developer: Liquid Entertainment
Genre: RTS Release Date: 11/04/2003
ESRB: Teen
By Allen "Delsyn" Rausch Nov. 5, 2003
War of the Ring brings a killer license and few minor innovations, but they're not enough to raise War of the Ring out of the "been-there-done-that" category.
Pros Cons
Well-designed units and gameplay mechanics; fun single-player missions; nice graphics; fate powers and terrain-based battles. Not terribly original; fails to properly exploit license; no formation or attitude controls; cartoony graphics blunt the game's drama.
I really wanted to love War of the Ring. It was put together by the team from Liquid Entertainment who brought us the underrated Battle Realms, and sports the license from one of the most beloved fantasy franchises in the world: The Lord of the Rings. It's also, as far as I know, the first time an RTS has been set in Tolkien's world. That means I finally get to command the armies of Middle-earth against the evil hordes of Sauron (or in the game's best twist, the hordes of Sauron against those annoying do-gooders). Unfortunately, while WotR is a good title that offers a lot of fun, it simply doesn't offer a game that's new or interesting enough to raise it from the pack of similar RTS titles available.
War of the Ring's first problem surrounds the implementation of the Lord of the Rings license. Since Liquid and Vivendi had the rights to the literary works (EA has the license to make games based on the films), it had to rethink the way it was going to present Middle-earth. The game's presentation and missions probably won't appeal to the casual Lord of the Rings fan (whose image of the world may stem mostly from the current films), and hardcore Tolkien fanatics will find any number of inconsistencies with the books.
To start, the decision to reuse the Battle Realms engine means that the game's graphics are very brightly colored and cartoon-like. Swords and axes are larger than the men who wield them, everyone and everything seems to have boxey bodies (especially noticeable on the horse's hooves), and everything seems bigger than life. This really worked in Battle Realms, which blazed its own trail with its own original world and storyline, but this style doesn't really work for War of the Ring. While the graphics are pretty good for what they are, the cutesy nature of the characters you'll play (particularly the minions of Sauron) simply work against what should be the pervasive atmosphere of desperation, darkness, grandeur, last stands, and forlorn hopes that made Tolkien's world so compelling.
Don't meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are soggy and hard to light... Even worse, the brightly colored fantasy world tends to make War of the Ring seem derivative of every other fantasy game on the market -- particularly Warcraft III. In a way, that's not the game's fault. Lord of the Rings is what created those modern fantasy archetypes. Unfortunately, that only puts more pressure on the developer to make sure that a Lord of the Rings game is distinct from all the derivative worlds that take LotR as their inspiration.
Fans who know every piece of elvish poetry may enjoy the chance to explore more of the story's background. The game's single-player campaign is very well done, with plenty of interesting mission ideas that work around the events of the story, rather than just faithfully re-creating them. For example, the first missions of the good campaign follow the adventures of Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli before they went to the Council of Elrond, giving a little more insight into their actions at the event and their motivations for joining the Fellowship. Even more enjoyable is the chance to play as the evil forces of Mordor and get some insight into Sauron's tactical skill.
More here
Publisher: Vivendi Universal Developer: Liquid Entertainment
Genre: RTS Release Date: 11/04/2003
ESRB: Teen
By Allen "Delsyn" Rausch Nov. 5, 2003
War of the Ring brings a killer license and few minor innovations, but they're not enough to raise War of the Ring out of the "been-there-done-that" category.
Pros Cons
Well-designed units and gameplay mechanics; fun single-player missions; nice graphics; fate powers and terrain-based battles. Not terribly original; fails to properly exploit license; no formation or attitude controls; cartoony graphics blunt the game's drama.
I really wanted to love War of the Ring. It was put together by the team from Liquid Entertainment who brought us the underrated Battle Realms, and sports the license from one of the most beloved fantasy franchises in the world: The Lord of the Rings. It's also, as far as I know, the first time an RTS has been set in Tolkien's world. That means I finally get to command the armies of Middle-earth against the evil hordes of Sauron (or in the game's best twist, the hordes of Sauron against those annoying do-gooders). Unfortunately, while WotR is a good title that offers a lot of fun, it simply doesn't offer a game that's new or interesting enough to raise it from the pack of similar RTS titles available.
War of the Ring's first problem surrounds the implementation of the Lord of the Rings license. Since Liquid and Vivendi had the rights to the literary works (EA has the license to make games based on the films), it had to rethink the way it was going to present Middle-earth. The game's presentation and missions probably won't appeal to the casual Lord of the Rings fan (whose image of the world may stem mostly from the current films), and hardcore Tolkien fanatics will find any number of inconsistencies with the books.
To start, the decision to reuse the Battle Realms engine means that the game's graphics are very brightly colored and cartoon-like. Swords and axes are larger than the men who wield them, everyone and everything seems to have boxey bodies (especially noticeable on the horse's hooves), and everything seems bigger than life. This really worked in Battle Realms, which blazed its own trail with its own original world and storyline, but this style doesn't really work for War of the Ring. While the graphics are pretty good for what they are, the cutesy nature of the characters you'll play (particularly the minions of Sauron) simply work against what should be the pervasive atmosphere of desperation, darkness, grandeur, last stands, and forlorn hopes that made Tolkien's world so compelling.
Don't meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are soggy and hard to light... Even worse, the brightly colored fantasy world tends to make War of the Ring seem derivative of every other fantasy game on the market -- particularly Warcraft III. In a way, that's not the game's fault. Lord of the Rings is what created those modern fantasy archetypes. Unfortunately, that only puts more pressure on the developer to make sure that a Lord of the Rings game is distinct from all the derivative worlds that take LotR as their inspiration.
Fans who know every piece of elvish poetry may enjoy the chance to explore more of the story's background. The game's single-player campaign is very well done, with plenty of interesting mission ideas that work around the events of the story, rather than just faithfully re-creating them. For example, the first missions of the good campaign follow the adventures of Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli before they went to the Council of Elrond, giving a little more insight into their actions at the event and their motivations for joining the Fellowship. Even more enjoyable is the chance to play as the evil forces of Mordor and get some insight into Sauron's tactical skill.
More here