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| The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Liquid Entertainment |
| Publishers | Sierra Entertainment (Vivendi Universal Games) |
| Director | Edward Alexander Del Castillo |
| Producer | Ed Kaminski |
| Designers | Blaine Smith Jack Daniel Davis Jasen Torres |
| Programmers | Mark Kornkven Ben Newell Andrew Schnickel Stefan Immich Chris Robbers |
| Artist | Jean Michel Ringuet |
| Composer | Lennie Moore |
| Series | The Lord of the Rings |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | |
| Genre | Real-time strategy |
| Modes | Single player,multiplayer |
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring is a 2003real-time strategy game (RTS) developed byLiquid Entertainment and published bySierra Entertainment, a subsidiary ofVivendi Universal Games. Set inJ. R. R. Tolkien’s fictionalMiddle-earth, it expands upon the events of theWar of the Ring as told in hisfantasynovel,The Lord of the Rings.
War of the Ring is unrelated to thefilms byPeter Jackson. The game is licensed byTolkien Enterprises.
The game plays much likeWarcraft III with added features, some previously used inBattle Realms. A similar layout and control system is used, and the player gets to control hero units with special abilities. Most regular units also have abilities of their own. The game also follows certain RTS conventions such as having rally points and controlling unit creation and purchase of upgrades at designated buildings.
Some features fromBattle Realms that were carried over include toggleable walking and running for units and the ability to set buildings on fire. The game also emulatesBattle Realms’yin and yang system, where combat experience (or special actions) would provide a special resource that could be used to buy upgrades or units. This resource is calledYin orYang in the previous game, depending on the faction being used, and is calledFate here. The player can useFate Points (gained in combat) to summon heroes, purchase their special abilities, and activate special faction-specificFate Powers that will aid them in gameplay (such as summoning anEnt or aBalrog). Also, some influence fromWarcraft III can be seen. The Minions of Sauron must corrupt land with "war posts" before they can build upon it - similar to the Warcraft III Undead faction's "blight". When playing as the Free People, one gets to controlHuorns, similar toWarcraft Night Elf "Ancient Protector" units.
The game featuresPlaces of Power, monuments that award bonuses to all units (like increased armor or attack) if controlled by the player. The player takes control of one by either finding on the map (by having a unit go near it) or wresting it from the foe (killing guards, if any, or else taking it when left unguarded).
The game utilizes a more advanced graphics engine than doesBattle Realms, with variable weather and lighting effects. The engine is able to generate visual effects such as blowing grass and units sporting bloodstained weapons after they have killed enemy units.
The game records the number of enemy units killed by each of the player's units as part of the interface when each is selected.
The game features a Good and an Evil campaign, in which one fights the War of the Ring from opposing sides. The game does not actually dwell on prominent battles such as theBattle of the Pelennor Fields (except for theBattle of the Hornburg, featured in the Good campaign) but rather presents scenarios based upon Tolkien’s writings (with varying degrees of license taken). For example, the Good campaign starts withGimli and the Dwarves fighting the Orcs in theIron Hills, and one Evil mission has Grishnákh destroying theBeacons of Gondor. A more faithful scenario is the defense ofOsgiliath withBoromir andFaramir.
The game also features a multiplayer mode of gameplay, where players fight against either the computer (skirmish) and/or other players (via network) on preset or user-created maps. LikeBattle Realms, this mode includes several variations like Razing and Survival.
The game features two factions to choose from: TheFree People ofMiddle-earth (the good side), and TheMinions ofSauron (the evil). The Free People includeMen – such as those ofGondor andRohan, theRangers of the North, and theBeornings – as well as theElves and theDwarves. Allied creatures include theEnts and Huorns. Playable heroes on this side include theFellowship of the Ring, as well as leaders such asFaramir andErkenbrand. The Minions of Sauron include the various kinds ofOrcs and Goblins,Wargs (ridden by the Orcs),Trolls, theHaradrim Men, and the giantspiders ofMirkwood. Playable Evil heroes includeGollum and theWitch-king of Angmar. Other people or creatures from Tolkien's works featured in the game, though not normally playable by either side, include theWild Men ofDrúadan Forest andBarrow-wights.
The assignment of regular unit roles (infantry, cavalry, ranged units, or spellcasters) to Tolkien's fictional people or realms is limited, to an extent. For example, creatable Gondor units are limited to infantry (Gondor Swordsmen) and Rohan units are limited toRiders of Rohan. The only creatable ranged units for the Free People are theDwarf Axethrower and theElven Archer.
The game allows (or requires, in campaigns) the player to use armies which may include allies who aren't supposed to be fighting the same battles. For example, the player may create Riders of Rohan during the defense ofOsgiliath; it was fought without their participation. During the scenario "Helm's Deep" in the Good campaign, one uses Gondor Swordsmen alongside Riders of Rohan andRohan Archers (an uncreatable, campaign-only unit).
There is some mirroring between either faction's troop tree. For example, Elven Archers (ranged) andHaradrim Slayers (infantry) both have "cloaking" abilities which make them invisible.Rangers andWraiths (notRingwraiths) are both "detector" units which enable the player to see the former.
The game takes some liberties with units, though for the most part, these do not explicitly conflict with Tolkien's writings. For instance, the Dwarves have the Axethrower and theDwarf Shieldbreaker, who is armed with a hammer and a shield and is covered in plate armor. Nowhere does Tolkien write that his Dwarves used hammers and throwing axes in combat, and plate armor is unmentioned in his writings except forgreaves orvambraces.
Also, the game presents Tolkien's goblins as distinct from his orcs (as withThe Battle for Middle-earth II); however, the author established that those terms referred to the same creatures.
Another group of Orcs, theUruk-hai (in the books the result of cross-breeding Men and Orcs) are in the game the result of Saruman breeding Orcs with undead Barrow-wights - creatures Saruman had no relation to in the books either.
Finally, new characters have been invented, including the playable heroSaleme, a female Harad assassin.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 67.46%[3] |
| Metacritic | 67/100[4] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Game Informer | 6.75/10[5] |
| GamePro |   [6] |
| GameRevolution | B−[7] |
| GameSpot | 6.7/10[8] |
| GameSpy | [9] |
| GameZone | 7.4/10[10] |
| IGN | 7.9/10[11] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 78%[12] |
| X-Play | [13] |
War of the Ring was met with mixed reception upon release, asGameRankings gave it a score of 67.46%,[3] whileMetacritic gave it 67 out of 100.[4]
In an officialGameSpot review, Jason Ocampo called it "a competent, if lackluster, effort" which would probably appeal best to "casual gamers" instead of veteran real-time strategy players, as well as "Middle-earth fans",[8] an opinion shared by Dan Adams ofIGN.[11]
Speaking as a Tolkien "geek", Adams noted that fans of the book may find it "weird" (as he did) to see several RTS conventions applied to Tolkien's world, such as "elves and humans and dwarves... popping out of buildings" and "harvesting ore in the middle of a green field". He also noted that the game's scheme of diverse people and creatures fighting side-by-side led to "bizarre" situations untrue to the book. Playing as the Evil faction, Adams said the "population cap" (100) and the amount of "population slots" most units each take up (at least 3) made it "hard to get the feeling of superior numbers." Nevertheless, Adams said his familiarity of Tolkien's works had influenced his opinions, and that Vivendi had aimed for a game that was easy to identify with and understand. He said players who were less familiar with Tolkien's works (or were lessfastidious about accuracy) would probably not have such issues.[11]
| Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's books |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Based on Peter Jackson's film series | |||
| Middle-earth series by Warner Bros. Games | |||
| Parodies | |||
