Lord of the Rings: Conquest Pushed into 2009

Originally planned to be released on December 15, gamers looking forward to playing Pandemic Studios’ The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will have to wait just a bit longer. Slated for the Nintendo DS, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 the game will now ship January 9, 2009 internationally and January 13, 2009 in the U.S.

Brought to you by the same studio that created gamer favorites Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront 2 , this new take on the battle for Middle-earth will be reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings universe of J.R.R. Tolkien that you watched in the films. Not only will you be able to single-handedly fight for the forces of good, but in multiplayer mode you will be able to join with others to save the land from the ravages of Sauron’s army — or instead choose to fight along side cave-trolls, goblins, and the Urukai if you are so inclined. With the ability to participate in 16-player battles online or through four-player online co-op campaigns, you never have to go it alone no matter which side you choose. Hero-only “Deathmatches” are also to be made available, and there is also the “Ring Bearer” quest where you alone must escape the horrid Ringwraiths armed only with the famous dagger Sting.

In Conquest, gamers will be able to choose from different battles from the film such as Helm’s Deep, Pelennor Fields, Minas Tirith, The Black Gates, along with other skirmish areas such as Moria, The Shire and Weathertop. Some other battles or skirmishes that were not featured in the movies will be added as well, these will be from both the books and made up by the writers for the game but will remain true to Tolkien’s lore.

Josh Rednick, co-founder of Pandemic said it best when describing what players can experience when picking sides in The Lord of the Rings:Conquest:

“Players will finally be able to fight through Middle-earth along the frontlines of good or evil…and what The Lord of the Rings fan hasn’t fantasized about joining Sauron’s army to slay Hobbits?”

Yes Josh, there have been many times I have personally wanted to go on a Hobbit killing rampage while playing The Lord of the Rings Online due to the many errands my character had to run for the furry footed busybodies, and suffice it to say, if the game would have let me, I would have relished in the opportunity to turn Michael Delving into nothing short of a rubble filled crater.

While you are waiting for the game to land in retail, fans of The Lord of the Rings universe can participate in a “Battle for the Ring” community program where the more active you are, the more “gold” you will earn. The social network offers activities and incentives for members to fight against good or evil and earn temporary ownership of the Ring. Prizes are pretty sweet, with the Grand Prize winner (500,000 earned gold) receiving a package that contains a Samsung HT-Z310 Home Theater System, while other prizes range from winning the Xbox 360 version of the game to Microsoft Points. To try your hand at this, just go online and register and see how much gold you can earn.