Very thrilling indeed, judging by the demonstration to which we were privy. You’re going to see for the first time ever a skirmish between trolls and Ents. The sense of being able to control the battles and doing it for the first time is going to make a lot of, not only fans of the fiction, but game players very excited. As Skaggs says, "Our goal with this game is to create some of the best fantasy battles ever seen in a game. The game will also draw heavily from the forthcoming The Return Of The King, which is already being touted as featuring the most spectacular battle scene ever filmed, namely the attack on Minas Tirith, which will also play a big part in Battle For Middle-Earth. Understandably, much of the action is derived from the second film, featuring as it does the epic closing battle. From what we’ve seen, suffice to say that if it’s in the films, it’s in the game. It’s a good question, but not one that is readily answerable without knowing exactly what tools you’ll have at your disposal.
What would you do differently, if you were there?" It’s In The Game
Imagine if you could immerse yourself in this world, if you could get in there and actually play a part, command the battles. And finally, you’ve got the lush living environment, a pervading sense of majesty and magic. You’ve got your heroes, the fellowship, you’ve got epic battles, the landscape, the fortresses and the armies. You’ve got a great story obviously, classic good versus evil, the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Let’s break that down a bit and think what is so exciting about it. As well as their vast experience with the genre, the Westwood boys have also brought their C&C: Generals engine to the party, and it is a modified version of this that will provide the basis for The Battle For Middle-Earth.Įxecutive producer Mark Skaggs is understandably excited: "Remember the first time you got exposed to the fiction of The Lord Of The Rings? Whether through the books or the films, remember how exciting that was? The sense that you were there, the wondering what was going to happen next as you turned to the next chapter. Thankfully, some of the talent was salvaged and taken under EA’s expansive wing (the rest presumably now eking out a living in the casinos and strip joints). Westwood is no more, the Las Vegasbased outfit now sadly closed, much to the chagrin of many a press trip veteran. Of course, talking about Westwood Studios, the official originators of the genre and developers of the long-running Command & Conquer series. In the hectic world of RTS games, one name stands head and shoulders above the rest, resonating down the years on the success of a flurry of quality titles. This includes the exclusive voice over services of the real actors, as well as actual footage from the three films, ramming home the game’s official status.
LOTR BATTLE FOR MIDDLE EARTH 2 FREE ONLINE DEMO MOVIE
To EA’s advantage is its exclusive agreement with New Line Cinema, affording the developers invaluable access to the movie assets. It's actually something of a surprise that no-one thought of it earlier, although Vivendi is working on a similar concept based on the original books. The more you think about it, the more obvious a genre the RTS is, with the LOTR universe boasting an array of different units and a slew of readymade scenarios, such as the battles at Helm's Deep, Ithilien, and Minas Tirith, for instance. Who hasn’t watched the epic battle at the end of The Two Towers without wanting to click on a few orcs and send them to a bloody death? Around this time next year, that dream willīecome a reality, as EA unleashes another LOTR game on what they hope will remain a Tolkien-crazed public. But a real-time strategy game? Of course. Littered with heroes, quests, battles, hacking and slashing, the scope is vast, and has, of course, already been liberally exploited. It’s hard to watch the Lord Of The Rings films without thinking of them in terms of a game.