PSP - Lord of the Rings Tactics

Format
PSP
Publisher
EA Games
Developer
Amaze
Country of origin
US
Genre
Turn-based strategy

Lord of the Rings Tactics

By David Rasmussen
3rd Sep 06

Some franchises never die… no matter how hard you wish they would.
Take Jaws Unleashed… please. You think that a game where you can “be the shark” would be all that, wouldn’t it, what with it allowing you to play through an original story set 20 years after the original movie (starring SeaQuest slash 2010 slash Blue Thunder star Roy Schneider and that guy who recently “hosted” Shark Week on the Discovery Channel) and then also having the ability to play through Jaws to Jaws 3D (pretty certain you can do that).

Problem with that is the game is totally whacked from what I saw of it (if I am compelled a lot by readers I’ll… ugh… review it, which is a shame since the one and only known game of this franchise from the distant past of the NES was also whacked) including a whacked way to escape confinement in one area (let’s see… snatch a scientist and… what… DRAG it to a retinal scanner in order to open a way into a new area?!?) and the inability to make sharp turns (thus missing many targets or leaping over them completely) while managing to make a game where killing innocent people is not as interesting as it sounds (or looks).
For a game about a shark it seems to have more in common with another thing concerning a shark, mainly the whole “Jump the Shark” thing which is a phrase of impending doom and gloom spawned from Happy Days when the series went down the long drop into damnation after the episode in which Henry (you regret doing that episode now don’t you) Winkler’s Fonzie character jumped a shark… bleah.

But then again Jaws doesn’t compare to Lord of the Rings… right? Not so fast.
When the original Jaws hit in theater it was a box office burner which made quite abit of money as I remember it. Of course as for the video game version… well… remember this IS a Steven Spielberg movie and he’s not exactly had the best hit/miss record on games based on his works (I think if I quizzed you on his games based on his works you’ll remember more failures than successes).
But back to Lord of the Rings. If you are a proud owner of either a PC (and dumped lots of money into keeping it “current” and capable of playing the modern batch of PC games) or an XBox360 (lucky you) then you might have already gotten LOTR : Battle for Middle Earth II (the newest game based on the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy). Of course since I don’t own either a PC nor a XBox360 I couldn’t tell you what kind of game LOTR : Battle for Middle Earth II is since… well… I haven’t played it yet.

OK. Then what? You are not a PC owner, and you are not an XBox360 owner, and yet you want a new experience in the LOTR franchise since you last went and played the LOTR trilogy games or the not so well received “Third Age” “RPG” LOTR game… well, maybe EAGames can help you.
If you happen to be a PSP owner you can pick up the not so new, not so recent addition to the Lord of the Rings franchise with Lord of the Rings Tactics (for the PSP).

Just don’t expect much in the way of innovation here, because while the game is Lord of the Rings it lacks any real innovation to make it more than a game for the die hard LOTR fan who played every other incarnation of the franchise.
While the game is supposed to be a tactical strategy game it is nothing more than a simplistic Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA) action strategy game, where you set two forces against each other and bash away.
The thing is, though, while the game promises the ability to build an army you find that there is no actual army building done here. Unlike other (I.e. better) strategy games on the DS like Age of Empires or Advance Wars you find that this game is very limited in what you can do with your armies, even more limited in the way you went to war in Battles of Prince of Persia (NDS) despite the fact they both share one thing in common… the way the armies are dealt out. Like Battles of Prince of Persia, you are issued your forces automatically (with no option to building an army), but unlike Battles of Prince of Persia (that used a customizable card combat system to provide some variety) this game only features a meek system of “upgrade” where you can add useful items that you purchased from the mid-level shop, or skills grafted onto your chosen “hero” characters (be you fighting for the Fellowship or the armies of Mordor) to add a small sense of customization (which is limited at best). Also the skills are hard to come by as while they are numerous they are also hard to come by since the game is rather stingy with the money it gives out for level completion.

Other than that you carry out missions from the three movies, complete with theatrical cut scenes recut to fit the “Story” of the game depending on whether you’re with the Fellowship or Mordor. This, as you probably already suspected, is a shallow wading pool of gaming in comparison to deeper gaming like Battle for Middle Earth (PC or XBox360) where the combat is far superior and deeper than Tactics.
Also while there is the occasional “Fresh” level like the confrontation between the Fellowship and Saruman at his tower in Isengard (the start of Return of the King), which includes a fresh cut scene only seen to date on the uncut special edition of Return of the King, most levels are just cut and dried rehashes of familiar levels you’ve seen done over and over again (another minus).
Sure, you can play as the Fellowship or Mordor (each featuring six playable characters) and while you can pick which two “hero” characters you want to play as in certain bonus levels, the game is for the most part a highly scripted and way too predictable fare that offers up only abit of gameplay that will only serve to satisfy the LOTR fanatic looking for their latest fix. Other than that, LOTR Tactics will probably not be as fun as other games in the genre to the general player looking for a good game over another reason to relive their favorite LOTR moments. Breakdown will mete that out.

LOTR Tactical Breakdown
What’s Hot?
If you are looking for your next LOTR fix (complete with a nice fat batch of cutscenes from the movie) and the ability to play as characters from both side of the LOTR equation, then this game is for you.

What’s Not?
However if you are looking for a solid strategy game that doesn’t just appeal to the rabid LOTR fan then this is probably not going to suit you very well. For a game that promises abit it falls short in several ways (as I mentioned above).

Moments to Remember?
Well… there is the occasional fresh scene from the movie (seen to date only on the Special Edition DVD sets) that is new to you Lord of the Rings (which presents new to you LOTR gaming levels)…

What to Ignore?
But if you were hoping for an entirely 100% fresh and new experience in the LOTR franchise then guess again. Unlike, say, the Star Wars franchise which features new outings into it’s vast universe with games like Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox) and revised slash fresh outings into familiar territory (the Star Wars : Battlefront franchise) this game does neither, delivering the same levels for the most part in a new style which does little to compliment the series or provide it with a “fresh” outlook at the same old levels.

Overall?
Fans of the franchise might get this one, but for the most part if you are looking for a portable version of Battle of Middle Earth I or II then this is not going to be the game for you. Pass on this meager offering of LOTR gaming and seek out better fare elsewhere.

-- David Rasmussen 3rd Sep 06

PSP Lord of the Rings Tactics Images