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There's a limitless source of material with a property like The Lord of the Rings. Most of the stuff comes from the latest film trilogy, including videogames, toys and new editions of the classic books. And it's a safe bet the tie-ins will continue for years. When it comes to videogames, Electronic Arts is all over the Lord of the Rings. It recently picked up the rights to publish everything in the Lord of the Rings literature that wasn't in the film versions, in addition to everything you've seen at the theater.
And damn has it ever made use of it. EA has released action games such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, as well as adventure games such as The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. It even released a full-fledged role-playing game, too, with Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. And now, EA is set to release The Lord of the Rings Tactics, a combat strategy title for the Sony PSP handheld. Like every other game set in the land of Middle Earth, LOTR Tactics takes the characters and locales from the books and film and tries to offer something unique.
And while Tactics offers a solid strategy experience, it fails to capitalize on the persistently-cool Lord of the Rings license. That's not to say EA neglected certain characters or left out famous locales. On the contrary, LOTR Tactics packs plenty of recognizable heroes and villains, as well as an assortment of lesser characters. There's even a good amount of maps ranging from Helms Deep, the Plains of Rohan, the Mines of Moria and Minis Tirith. In terms of story, there's stuff in Tactics that didn't even make into the theatrical release of the films, so that's not the problem either.
Where LOTR Tactics doesn't get it quite right is in the presentation of the above elements. The characters are all there, but apart from the FMV sequences, there's no real character interaction or development. Granted, many strategy RPGs come off as a little weak when it comes to narrative, but that doesn't mean they should be that way. Take the pinnacle of the genre, Final Fantasy Tactics, for instance. It wove an intricate, moving story to help "prime" the strategy elements. In addition to offering deep, satisfying gameplay, the story and characters in Final Fantasy Tactics gave you a compelling reason to keep playing.
In LOTR Tactics, you're treated to a bunch of FMV sequences ripped from the film trilogy, but if you haven't seen the movies, they won't mean very much. In fact, the movie sequences have been re-edited to a point of feeling almost useless to anyone who hasn't seen each movie at least a few times. They don't really setup the combat encounters, and they certainly don't help you understand the plight of the characters, so there's very little reason for them to be there except to form a weak substitute for story. To be fair, the video quality is pretty decent and those that don't care whether their strategy is served with a nice dish of narrative won't really care. On the other hand, those that do care will find LOTR Tactics doesn't feel as epic as other LOTR videogames.
And damn has it ever made use of it. EA has released action games such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, as well as adventure games such as The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. It even released a full-fledged role-playing game, too, with Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. And now, EA is set to release The Lord of the Rings Tactics, a combat strategy title for the Sony PSP handheld. Like every other game set in the land of Middle Earth, LOTR Tactics takes the characters and locales from the books and film and tries to offer something unique.
And while Tactics offers a solid strategy experience, it fails to capitalize on the persistently-cool Lord of the Rings license. That's not to say EA neglected certain characters or left out famous locales. On the contrary, LOTR Tactics packs plenty of recognizable heroes and villains, as well as an assortment of lesser characters. There's even a good amount of maps ranging from Helms Deep, the Plains of Rohan, the Mines of Moria and Minis Tirith. In terms of story, there's stuff in Tactics that didn't even make into the theatrical release of the films, so that's not the problem either.
Where LOTR Tactics doesn't get it quite right is in the presentation of the above elements. The characters are all there, but apart from the FMV sequences, there's no real character interaction or development. Granted, many strategy RPGs come off as a little weak when it comes to narrative, but that doesn't mean they should be that way. Take the pinnacle of the genre, Final Fantasy Tactics, for instance. It wove an intricate, moving story to help "prime" the strategy elements. In addition to offering deep, satisfying gameplay, the story and characters in Final Fantasy Tactics gave you a compelling reason to keep playing.
In LOTR Tactics, you're treated to a bunch of FMV sequences ripped from the film trilogy, but if you haven't seen the movies, they won't mean very much. In fact, the movie sequences have been re-edited to a point of feeling almost useless to anyone who hasn't seen each movie at least a few times. They don't really setup the combat encounters, and they certainly don't help you understand the plight of the characters, so there's very little reason for them to be there except to form a weak substitute for story. To be fair, the video quality is pretty decent and those that don't care whether their strategy is served with a nice dish of narrative won't really care. On the other hand, those that do care will find LOTR Tactics doesn't feel as epic as other LOTR videogames.
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