http://kotaku.com/388386/pandemic-get-arou...-the-rings-game



Worst. Secret. Ever. Ah well, it's public knowledge now, with Pandemic finally releasing the first details on their upcoming Lord of the Rings game. Called Lord of the Rings: Conquest, it's a "spiritual successor" to the studio's previous work on the Battlefront series, and as such will be a fairly similar title. Except there'll now be up to 150 combatants on-screen at any time, with players able to choose from "practically the entire universe" of LotR characters and races.

There'll be two singleplayer campaigns to play through, one presumably "good", the other based on a scenario where Sauron actually gets his hands on the One Ring. As for multiplayer, while there'll be 150 characters on-screen, it'll support only eight players online at any time, though it will also feature four-player co-op play, including - awesomely - four-player splitscreen co-op on the same console. Game's due sometime in the fall, and will be hitting the 360, PS3 and PC.

I was originally a little sceptical about this whole thing, but 150 guys duking it out on a battlefield (ie sections of Helm's Deep) might - if they can get the level design right - totally nail that LotR "big battle" feel.

http://kotaku.com/5008262/lord-of-the-rings-conquest-gallery

PANDEMIC STUDIOS ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS: CONQUEST
‘Conquest’ Grants Players Freedom to Fight Epic ‘Rings’ Battles Any Way Desired

LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 8, 2008 – Pandemic™ Studios, an award-winning developer of blockbuster video games, is proud to announce the development of The Lord of the Rings: Conquest™ for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, PC and Nintendo DS™ platforms. Pandemic Studios is a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS).

In a partnership with New Line Cinema, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is an action-packed game created by the same Pandemic Studios team behind the best-selling Star Wars Battlefront™ and Star Wars Battlefront™ II titles. Set in “The Lord of the Rings” universe of J.R.R. Tolkien as depicted by the Academy Award®-winning films, players will finally fight the entirety of these epic battles any way they want. In addition to crusading as the heroic forces of good, for the first time ever in a ‘The Lord of the Rings’ action title they’ll conquer Middle-earth while playing as the legions of Sauron’s evil army, including Cave-trolls, Oliphaunts, the Balrog and Sauron himself. The game is set for a global release in fall 2008.

“Our Pandemic Studios creative teams have years of expertise bringing giant battlefields to life,” says Andrew Goldman, Pandemic Studios co-founder and general manager. “We’ve always wanted to harness our experience in a fantasy universe with warriors, archers, mages and castle sieges. Of course, there is truly no better fantasy world to recreate than the enormity of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ realm.”

“We’ll freely admit that we’re rabid fans of The Lord of the Rings fantasy,” says Josh Resnick, co-founder and general manager at 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.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Pandemic Studios on this game,” commented David Imhoff, Senior EVP of Worldwide Licensing & Merchandising for New Line Cinema. “They bring not only their incredible technical and creative abilities but also a great passion for The Lord of the Rings.”

The world premiere of game footage and the first trailer for The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will premiere exclusively on Spike TV’s GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley on Friday, June 20.

This announcement reveals the third blockbuster video game project in the works at Pandemic Studios’ Los Angeles-based headquarters alongside the upcoming Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™ and Saboteur™, both in development for the Xbox 360™, PLAYSTATION®3 and PC platforms. For more information on The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, please visit: http://www.pandemicstudios.com/conquest.

Pandemic is laying siege to Middle Earth this fall with Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Developed by the team who made both Star Wars: Battlefront titles, Conquest follows a similar formula. The difference being that this time the team is tapping into the rich lore of LOTR. Conquest is doing some things no other Ring game has attempted. 

You begin Conquest on the side of good, battling in famed battles from all three LOTR movies plus a few un-filmed battles mentioned in the books. Each scenario has you taking on the role of different characters, all of whom fall into four basic types: warrior, archer, scout, and mage. You can choose any class you like. Each has a unique set of weapons, skills and powers. You can get through a level with any one character type, though there are missions where the scout's invisibility cloak is more helpful than the warrior's flaming sword attacks.

Pandemic showed off two sections from the third movie. I began in Pelennor Field as the allies of Sauron laid siege to Minas Tirith. As a scout, I was at the mercy of many a mounted enemy. Rather than taking on direct combat, it was best to use my invisibility cloak to sneak across the battlefield. If killed, you return to the start of the map, though the battle continues to rage on. In this fashion, you won't really be knocked out of a battle, but if you have to complete a task in a certain amount of time, death can be a major blow to you hopes of success.

The goal in Pelennor Field is to destroy the siege towers attacking Minas Tirith. A scout isn't expected to lay down a bunch of sword swipes to destroy a massive siege tower. Instead, you just need to get close enough to set off a flare near the tower. This tells others where to aim the catapults. Getting to the tower is a little tricky as each is guarded by a troll. A scout will get squished by these behemoths. But you can stand off to the side and draw the troll's attention. Then when he comes to smash you, go invisible and slip past him to the siege tower.

For the second section of the demo I took on the role of a warrior. Set inside the walls of Minas Tirith, you must defend against the siege as it breaks through the front gate. There is a large circle in the open hall and you shall not let anyone pass. Combat in Conquest is simple, button-mashing fun. It's the standard light and heavy attacks. Score some combos and you can unleash your true power in the form of fiery sword slashes.

Once the horde is held back, it's time to head upstairs and protect the outer wall. The battle is incredibly hectic. And that's just playing alone. Bring in some more friends either online or through four-player split-screen and things should get really chaotic on screen. Your goal is to destroy the siege ladders that are now allowing scores of orcs to flood into Minas Tirith. Burning the siege ladders is the easiest way to get rid of them. To do that, you need to power up your warrior and unleash a flaming sword attack. The fire spreads and the tower goes caput.

The heroic campaign of Lord of the Rings: Conquest should be fun. The gameplay mechanics are very simple, but enjoyable. And if Pandemic can smooth out the animations and snap the framerate into place, playing through the heroic campaign should be fun. But it's what comes after you complete the first campaign that really has me excited. Get Frodo to Mount Doom, save Middle Earth and your reward is unlocking the evil campaign.

The evil campaign imagines what would happen if Frodo failed and the ring fell into Sauron's hands. You get to play as the villains of Middle Earth. Sauron, Saruman, orcs and even ring wraiths become your tools to lay waste to the world. Ensure the one true king meets one grizzly death, then burn the Shire and eradicate hope from the world. It should be fun.

Along with the two campaigns, there will be a number of multiplayer modes. Pandemic isn't saying much about these yet, but expect the return of modes from the Battlefront games. There will also be a few new modes. One of them sounds pretty awesome. One player is Frodo and the rest play ring wraiths. The longer Frodo survives, the more points he earns.

Look for more details on Conquest's evil campaign next week. Lord of the Rings: Conquest ships for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this fall.