Games
Sony
Microsoft
Nintendo
Other Platforms
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
xx
0-D Beat Drop!
xx
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Game Time
70
Ashes Cricket 2009
91
Assassin's Creed II
69
Axel & Pixel
xx
Backyard Football '10
60
Bakugan Battle Brawlers
78
Band Hero
63
Bass Pro Shops: The Strike
92
Batman: Arkham Asylum
89
Beatles: Rock Band, The
71
Ben 10: Alien Force - Vilgax Attacks
xx
Black College Football: The Xperience - The Doug Williams Edition
xx
Blood Bowl
83
Borderlands
44
Brave: A Warrior's Tale
82
Brutal Legend
70
Bubble Bobble Neo!
77
Bust-A-Move Live!
xx
Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2010
xx
Cabela's Outdoor Adventures 2009
94
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
58
Cars Race-O-Rama
xx
Chaotic: Shadow Warriors
68
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
74
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Commander's Challenge
xx
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Deadly Intent
45
Darkest of Days
83
Defense Grid: The Awakening
xx
Diner Dash
87
DiRT 2
84
DJ Hero
87
Dragon Age: Origins
66
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
xx
Dreamkiller
xx
Encleverment Experiment
57
F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn
51
Fairytale Fights
65
Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta
90
FIFA Soccer 10
61
Football Genius: The Ultimate Quiz
92
Forza Motorsport 3
42
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
xx
Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection
79
Gears of War 2: Dark Corners
89
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
85
Guitar Hero 5
xx
Guitar Hero: Van Halen
81
Gyromancer
83
Halo 3: ODST
62
Heroes Over Europe
80
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
62
Inferno Pool
61
Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao
74
Ion Assault
xx
James Cameron's Avatar: The Game
xx
Jurassic: The Hunted
xx
Karaoke Revolution
90
Left 4 Dead 2
76
Left 4 Dead: Crash Course
69
LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
74
LEGO Rock Band
69
Lips: Number One Hits
63
Lucidity
xx
Madagascar Kartz
85
Madden NFL 10
69
Magnacarta 2
82
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
73
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2
48
Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station
64
Military Madness: Nectaris
73
Mini Ninjas
xx
MX vs. ATV Reflex
83
NBA 2K10
71
NBA 2K10: Draft Combine
80
NBA Live 10
31
NBA Unrivaled
75
NCAA Basketball 10
83
Need for Speed SHIFT
88
NHL 10
68
NHL 2K10
76
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
77
Panzer General: Allied Assault
83
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection
xx
Planet 51
77
Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
xx
Qubed
63
Raiden IV
63
Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure!
38
Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger
66
Red Faction: Guerrilla - Demons of the Badlands
58
Risen
xx
Rock Band Metal Track Pack
xx
Rogue Warrior
xx
Saboteur, The
75
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space
60
Saw
69
Section 8
88
Shadow Complex
71
Sonic & Knuckles
71
South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!
xx
SpongeBob's Truth or Square
43
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
xx
Stoked: Big Air Edition
38
Summer Athletics 2009
60
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
80
Tekken 6
59
Tony Hawk: RIDE
69
Tornado Outbreak
62
Tower Bloxx Deluxe
86
Trials HD
72
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 2: The Last Resort
70
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 3: Muzzled!
xx
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 4: The Bogey Man
39
Warriors: Street Brawl, The
44
Watchmen: The End is Nigh - Part 2
66
Way of the Samurai 3
69
WET
54
Where the Wild Things Are
72
Wolfenstein
81
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010
55
Yo-Ho Kablammo
65
Zombie Apocalypse
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Lord of the Rings: Conquest, The
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 58 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 67 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Pandemic Studios
Genre(s): Action, Adventure
Players: 16
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: January 13, 2009
Summary
For the first time, play as Evil characters in a brand new, 'Evil' campaign. Battle through scenarios after Frodo failed to destroy the One Ring; it’s good to be bad. Acclaimed Battlefront gameplay in a fantasy setting allows players to choose the way they fight, as Warrior, Archer, Mage or Scout in melee and ranged combat. Online multiplayer - pick your allegiance then battle in 16-player online clashes, or in 4-player co-op campaigns. Local multiplayer - split-screen with up to 4 players competitively or 2 player co-op. A massive cast of characters & weapons adds great depth to the gameplay: Heroes, Wargs, Ents, Oliphaunts, Cave-trolls, the Balrog, Nazgul, ballistae, and more. [Electronic Arts]
Also On The Web: Kotaku Review Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
MEGamers
We are going to go ahead and declare The Lord of the Rings: Conquest as a great game concept.
Read Full Review >Vandal Online
Lord of the Rings Conquest succeeds in bringing Tolkien's fans a solid videogame, with intense action and a good representation of battles. But there is a strong difference between playing it multiplayer and single player, less fun than the former. Solo players should think twice the purchase.
Read Full Review >Cheat Code Central
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is a fun title that should keep many diehard fans, especially younger players, engaged. However, if you're looking for something with a bit more depth than button-mashing your way to glory, you will likely find the game shallow and frustrating.
Read Full Review >IGN
Diehard fans of both online, class-based games and The Lord of the Rings might want to invest the sixty bucks, but if redundant and unimaginative gameplay are things you despise, you'll want to steer clear.
Read Full Review >GameDaily
The graphics look decent (despite some broken animations), and the game allows players to smash both Orcs and Hobbits. That said, the mindless button mashing grows redundant and some enemies are mind-numbingly difficult.
Read Full Review >3DJuegos
Lord of the Rings: Conquest is a videogame too far from excellence to be recommendable without making some kind of warning marks before. Those who don't like the senseless button smashing will not enjoy this game, but if you are a fan of both the Tolkien universe and the online battles you will find here an honest but reiterative entertainment.
Read Full Review >Planet Xbox 360
It passes out achievements like their cheap candy and there is a certain charm when playing as your favorite characters. It also draws heavily from the movies and, like it did to me, might reignite your desire to watch them. Yet, none of these traits make for great gameplay. With short campaigns, frustrating combat, and chaotic multiplayer LotR: Conquest feels like a $60 reminder that Peter Jackson makes awesome movies.
Read Full Review >Da Gameboyz
While there are some great elements to multiplayer game, Conquest comes across as a somewhat rushed game that falls into the realm of pretty average.
Read Full Review >GameFocus
A weekend rental at best due to the game being wildly unbalanced and not a fun game but just a mediocre title. If it is patched and it’s balancing and multiplayer issues are addressed it might be worth a second look. Hopefully EA will return to the fold and give us another great game like Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, an awesome Role Playing Game that I would love to see a similar game released this generation.
Read Full Review >Pelit (Finland)
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest has some good movielike moments but overall suffers from a boring and difficult single player mode and lousy controls on the PC. The multiplayer is decent enough if you're into epic but rather simple fantasy action. [Feb 2009]
AceGamez
What The Lord of the Rings: Conquest boils down to is a third person action fantasy game with small glimmers of tactical depth and the occasional epic confrontation that just happens to be set in Tolkien's universe.
Read Full Review >Cynamite
Standing at the gates of Mordor, listening to epic music and feeling as a part of a huge battle – these are the great moments in Conquest. Unfortunately the unbalanced difficulty, repetitive missions and dated graphics kill these moments.
Read Full Review >Gamers' Temple
Like the One Ring, Conquest is beautiful to behold and highly tempting, but it comes with some big hidden flaws.
Read Full Review >TeamXbox
Fans of LotR or team-oriented multiplayer masters should pick this one up—sooner than later if possible. But for those thinking that The Lord of the Rings: Conquest’s core gameplay is like Ninja Gaiden with chain mail…this ain’t your “precious.”
Read Full Review >Console Monster
Star Wars: Battlefront stood ahead in a long list of rubbish Star Wars licenses games, and it seems that this time around Pandemic have fallen on the wrong side of the fence, sitting amongst many poor Lord of the Rings licensed games.
Read Full Review >GameZone
Using the fun Star Wars: Battlefront style, Conquest has all the right elements but they’re not implemented as smoothly or as it should have been on the Xbox 360. The controls make for some frustrating button-mashing battles even with some fun match types or the various heroes you can use on the many battlefields.
Read Full Review >Gameplanet
Whilst often frustrating and lacking in complexity, Lord of the Rings: Conquest still has a limited appeal for die-hard fans. For everyone else, it's a real disappointment.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is an exciting and action-packed way to experience Middle-earth, provided that you have the patience and fortitude to shoulder a few frustrating burdens.
Read Full Review >PALGN
Despite having its moments, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest can only be recommended to die-hard fans.
Read Full Review >Armchair Empire
Unlike the memorable Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings film trilogy (which are used to provide Lord of the Rings: Conquest’s cut-scenes), this newest EA Lord of the Rings title is more like the latest summer blockbuster: fun for the short time it lasts, but instantly forgettable once it’s over.
Read Full Review >Xbox360Achievements
It is fun for a while, but despite the epic landscapes and chance to control (even fleetingly) the heroes of the Middle-Earth, once that first half an hour is over you’ll be looking elsewhere for your fun.
Read Full Review >WonderwallWeb
On paper this game is a winner but too many areas that made Star Wars Battlefront so great have been left out. Fans of the LOTR films will enjoy and the multiplayer will keep you going.
Read Full Review >Worth Playing
A very hastily put together offering with gameplay that falls far behind what other titles have been doing on current systems for years.
Read Full Review >Game Positive
If you are a fan of the series or this style of hack and slash gameplay, there is enough here to warrant your time. Otherwise, you may want to keep your distance or stick to a rental.
Read Full Review >VideoGamer
Unless you fall in love with the deathmatch modes, the main draw here is the two campaigns - and most gamers will be able to cut their way through both in under five hours. Even if you're a massive fan of the series, we'd advise you to approach this game with caution.
Read Full Review >MS Xbox World
Lord of the Rings: Conquest is an average game at best, which could have been improved in so many ways – better graphics, more refined combat, decent camera etc.
Read Full Review >Meristation
Lord of the Rings: Conquest offers the player the same gameplay from the Star Wars: Battlefront franchise, but located in the Middle Earth. Pandemic had a great idea including two different campaigns; we love being the bad guys. But the game is a bit repetitive and offers little variety along the 16 different levels and the graphic are far from the finest examples of this generation. Although LOTR isn't a AAA game, you'll have a good time with it thanks to a great multiplayer mode.
Read Full Review >Gamervision
Despite its many flaws, there is some fun to be had. Poor design choices, sloppy controls and a lack of any soul or polish keep it from being anything but a brief distraction, but hacking your way through the armies of Sauron to the tune of Howard Shore’s epic soundtrack is enjoyable up to a point.
Read Full Review >G4 TV
Conquest hits the same beats that we’ve hit over and over again in previous titles. It’s not that they don’t hit them well, but they hit the exact beats we’ve come to expect from a Lord of the Rings title.
Read Full Review >ZTGameDomain
Clunky controls and redundant gameplay all point to the guilty party: mediocre game design.
Read Full Review >GameTrailers
Conquest relies too much on retreading old ground in almost every way. Numerous bugs, unpolished mechanics, and average presentation are the telltale signs of a rushed game, and this one has all three. It's not quite bad enough to cast into Mount Doom, but only those who can't get enough of Tolkien's tales need apply.
Read Full Review >Gamers.at
This game is nothing but a plain insult to all Fans of The Lord of the Rings as well as all other gamers.
Read Full Review >Game Over Online
And so The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is a disappointing outing.
Read Full Review >Gaming Nexus
The Star Wars: Battlefront formula performs at expectation, but the execution of sizeable battles doesn’t wholly answer to the promise of making a difference in the War of the Ring.
Read Full Review >Game Revolution
While fans of the franchise will get a kick out of re-enacting their personal favorite battles, most folks will probably be wishing that hacking up hobbits was more like blasting Ewoks. And even if you do get a kick out of it, much like dating a crazy hot chick, the enjoyment will be short-lived once you start to look beyond the surface and see the glaring flaws.
Read Full Review >GamingExcellence
It seems that Pandemic should stick to making games with blaster rifles instead of swords and arrows, those are infinitely better than Conquest.
Read Full Review >Gamer.nl
Lord of the Rings: Conquest feels like a cut down, simplistic version of Star Wars: Battlefront. Battlefront was far from flawless, but the gampley worked more than fine in a sci-fi setting. The translation into a fantasy setting didn't.
Read Full Review >InsideGamer.nl
I simply can’t recommend The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. The game is riddled with both minor and major mistakes, the camera is awful, it looks like a PlayStation 2-game, and the gameplay consists of little more than mindless hacking and slashing of countless enemies. The only positive aspect is the decent multiplayer-mode, but even that feels outdated, compared to Call of Duty 4, Gears of War 2 or anything in that direction.
Read Full Review >Boomtown
If you enjoyed the Conquest demo you'll no doubt like the full game. But I just found it a bit dull. Too dull even to get annoyed about.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
We were hoping for more from The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, and we're disappointed that the game didn't do more with such a powerful license. Star Wars: Battlefront hasn't aged very well, and to get essentially the same game with a different theme left us wanting more.
Read Full Review >Eurogamer
While there is some enjoyment to be had here, it is hard-won and rarely fulfilling. The imprecision of the combat and its lightweight feel combined with the ropey visuals conspire to date the game considerably.
Read Full Review >Game Informer
Outside of clips stolen from the motion picture, you won’t find any kind of story here, either. Pandemic worked wonders with Star Wars, but couldn’t grasp the One Ring. Conquest is a joyless trip through familiar territories, and sadly, nothing more than that.
Read Full Review >Kombo
Conquest is very uncharacteristic of what Pandemic is capable of. Playing through Conquest, it was surprising to see the attention to detail in the visual department and the failure to execute in creating a smooth experience juxtaposed in the same game.
Read Full Review >HellBored
Lord of the Rings: Conquest follows in the same tradition of so many other games based on Tolkien’s world: full of promise but lacking in execution.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine
It’d be too easy to say that Conquest will appeal only to diehard Tolkien fans; in fact, they’re the ones most likely to hate it.
Read Full Review >Computer and Video Games
The pairing of large-scale online battle game with the thrill-packed Lord of the Rings series should've been a winner, but as it's turned out, Conquest won't possibly satisfying any Battlefront fan or Lord of the Rings buff at all.
Read Full Review >Total Video Games
Very much throwaway gaming, Conquest is wholly lacklustre, devoid of any real purpose, and is a real low point for Pandemic, which after Mercenaries 2 is really saying something. 'Must do better' is a gross understatement.
Read Full Review >Teletext GameCentral
To add to its problems the game is also surprisingly ugly, often looking much more like an original Xbox game.
Read Full Review >DarkZero
How the developer of Star Wars: Battlefront and the publishers of the Battlefield series let this one out the door in this state I will never understand.
Read Full Review >Giant Bomb
If Conquest is indicative of the level of quality and care the company is willing to invest in LOTR-themed games, maybe it's time for them to let someone else give it a try.
Read Full Review >GameCritics
With nothing to recommend it, I say toss this disc into the cracks of Mount Doom and be done with it.
Read Full Review >Telegraph
It’s uglier than Gollum and twice as annoying as that whiny Frodo chap. Even brutalising fat hobbitses as Sauron himself can do little to alleviate the feeling that Conquest is a cheap, lazy and regressive game that is the very worst kind of franchise cash-in.
Read Full Review >X360 Magazine UK
A pointless, unfinished, unpolished, joyless, broken experience.
Read Full Review >games(TM)
As soon as you pass the initial novelty of feeling like Legolas, or whatever character the Scout corresponds to - though we’d argue its inspiration is the Spy class from Battlefront - half of the gameplay disappears into the ether. [Feb 2009, p.118]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
EA's glitchy multiplayer servers place you in a one-on-one match of capture the flag.
Read Full Review >Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
Everything about LOTR: Conquest is bad. [Mar 2009, p.80]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 67 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Tess A. gave it a10:
Fantastic online multiplayer. No matter how many :critics" call it a button masher, it is far from it. This game requires aim, timing and skill. Don't let the people who have obviously never actually played it detour you from a fantastic game with tons of online fun to be had. Please, more games like this and I will be set.
