January 12 - January 16
Arguably, this week brings the first major release of the new year, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Action gaming in the world of Middle Earth -- just as I assume John Ronald Reuel had always imagined his vision would be someday truly realized -- this latest dip in the money-well comes by way of Pandemic, makers of Star Wars: Battlefront. Not surprisingly, Conquest opts for a tried and true multiplayer focus that will certainly litter the complicated landscapes of a literary epic with the casual ignorance and vulgarities of the woefully over-privileged. I wonder how many elven warriors shouting, "learn to play, noob," it will take to cause my fatal aneurysm.
If my prose seems unnecessarily deriding, consider it the smoke meant to hide my base desire to play what looks to be a fairly straightforward hack and slash just to get down into the battle of Pelennor, which is the LotR equivalent of Hoth and Imperial Walkers. This is the game that perhaps should remind us that, sometimes, maybe it's enough to just enjoy the pretty graphics and press the X button a few hundred times. If this is just a meaningless short-term experience -- all looks and uncomplicated plesaure seeking -- that's fine as long as I know it going in.
It's not fair that some games get a pass for being simplistically unpretentious, and others get strung up from the nearest tree for not reshaping worldviews, but there it is. I suppose it's all about timing. Conquest seems like the right game released at the right time. It gets game of the week nods.
PC
- Cartoon Network Universe: Fusion Fall
- Delta Force 10th Anniversary Collection
- Mirror's Edge
- The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
Xbox 360
- The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
PS3
- The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
DS
- Jumble Madness
- Moon
- Personal Trainer: Math
- The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
Wii
- Deal or No Deal
- Neighborhood Games
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Sometimes I think I wouldn't mind being insulted so much if it were only 'in character'. Some sort of filter perhaps? "Thy n00biness offends mine own eyes, nit-twit scoundrel, that I might pluck them from my skull forthwith!"
... lame Shakespearean elves. That's what I want from gaming in 2009.
XboxLive: Clemenstation
"If all of those guys get into that tiny little tent, I am gonna lose it."
The demo for Conquest was appalling
I killed Sauron with a throwing axe...this game has some serious source material theme issues to deal with
BGG: Darke (shouldn't we have added this to the gaming ID page by now)
After skimming some reviews I feel very tempted to get Moon since it looks just like the kind of thing I would want to play on the DS right now. I think I'll wait until more reviewers have played it though since I've noticed some tend to be more lenient on handheld games like this. I really hope its as good as it looks though.
my blog about games
But they teabag with such otherworldly grace!
muttonchop wrote:
The demo was awful. I actually liked, despite some of the protests, the Battlefront series and look forward to another even if Pandemic is no longer at the helm.
I expected better of Pandemic though. I have no particular reverence for the LOTR and the concept of the game is interesting. The execution is woeful.
Unfettered Blather - Daily updated nonsense
X-Box Live Gamertag - Botswana GWJ
Less chatter more splatter!
Do you get to have a pillow fight after you kill Sauron? If not, it's a travesty.
Xbox Live: hubbinsd
Pointing out a deliciously placed misspelling.
Really, it's the art from the movies that bores me. I'm so done with looking at the movies. They've been over for a while now and I'd really like to see some more varied takes on the books.
"We do not live in an economy, we live in a Ponzi scheme." -Douglas Rushkoff
When I have my new computer put together and running properly I'm gonna be all about Mirror's Edge. I don't care what people have said about the game, I'll buy it just in support of EA taking the risk (and of course I do really want to check the game out). I will be waiting for the Steam release though.
http://twitter.com/Primosis
See, I saw some gameplay footage of LotR: Conquest on Gametrailers and it looks just horrible (figuratively speaking, of course). On the other hand, despite the myriad gameplay issues, I genuinely enjoyed the console port LotR: Return of the King. That wasn't multiplayer of course, but who says everything has to be multiplayer?
BTW, how were the two earlier games (don't know if they had PC ports)? Did they suck?
I absolutely loved Star Wars: Battlefront 2 on the Xbox! It is my favorite Star Wars game so far. It got some bad reviews, but something about the multiplayer, despite the horrible lag issues, drew me in for hours on end. Hell, the Jedi-Sith fights alone were awesome. I also have been looking for this type of game for a long time. I might have to pick this game up on the way home, despite my better judgment, but I really should wait for some reviews.
I don't know what to do!!!
Xbox Live: heavyfeul | Steam: heavyfeul
Download the demo.
Sun lamp? That's what it looks like. Only instead of a suntan, you get your brain cells rearranged.
http://isisless.deviantart.com/
XBOX LIVE: AtomicVideoHead
Sagacious advice...downloading.
Xbox Live: heavyfeul | Steam: heavyfeul
Yes, and set your expectations to "LOW"
I loved the Battlefront series as well. This is not the game I was hoping for.
Unfettered Blather - Daily updated nonsense
X-Box Live Gamertag - Botswana GWJ
Less chatter more splatter!
Wow...This game is terrible. Played the demo for a while and it does not have the same feel as Battlefront 2 at all. I am really disappointed. This seems like a missed opportunity on Pandemic's part. There has not been a good replacement for the Battlefront games this generation and this one could have been it. But, alas, I think I would rather fire up Battlefront 2 than play this game again.
The graphics are uneven, the classes are poorly balanced, and the controls are loose. It feels like this game needed another year of development or they simply did no QA whatsoever throughout the process. I would say wait till this is in the bargain bin, but by then there will be no one playing online.
Battlefront 2 had it's problems, but those could be overlooked for the amount of fun to be had in the game. There is not much to redeem the faults of this game. A definite pass.
Xbox Live: heavyfeul | Steam: heavyfeul
I didn't even bother downloading the demo. The fact that it has a pretty powerful license behind it and yet EA dropped it in January should have been the first warning sign that they knew they had a stinker on their hands.
I would think the first rule of PR is to ignore forum people, because they vacillate between crazy and liar. - Elysium
If I could later retract a Game of the Week, this would be the week I do it.
Talk about an air ball...
I felt -- I feel -- that Shawn, Rob and Julian were making out with the game, and as their friend I felt it was important to point out that they were making out with an ugly chick. - Cory Banks, keeping it real
First Mercs 2 and now this. What is going on at Pandemic?
I retracted so quickly last night that my butt flew off. I then had to eat my butt to get it to reattach. Then I pooped out a sheep. - Sephirotic
Punishment!
http://kotaku.com/5130836/rumor-ea-shuts-down-pandemic-studios-down-under?skyline=true&s=x
XboxLive: Clemenstation
"If all of those guys get into that tiny little tent, I am gonna lose it."
Wild sex parties? Planning for AIG-style bailout requests to fund more wild parties?
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
http://elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
Geez, today kotaku is showing some of the Star Wars Battlefront 3 alpha footage, which I guess is a victim of Free Radicals demise. LOTR conquests, from what folks are saying, seems a travesty... doubly so in comparison to the sweet potential of what might've been SW:BF 3.
Sorry its kotaku. I typed joystiq by mistake.
Xbox Live: Irongut | Playstation ID: Irongut_GWJ
I have to assume that someone is going to pick up the game. The Battlefront games are the most successful Star Wars games ever made. To not make a sequel seems ludicrous.
I am officially geeked up for this game. Let's hope for SW:B3 in 2009!!!!
Xbox Live: heavyfeul | Steam: heavyfeul