GameStop in-store PS5 restock. N95, KN95, KF94 masks. Windows Windows. Most Popular. New Releases. Desktop Enhancements. Networking Software. Trending from CNET. Lord of the Rings - The Battle Free. The ones in the front meet the fight, the ones at the back wait and then it breaks up into pods as the battle progresses. For a start, harvesting and gathering are gone, history, caput, deemed inappropriate for the Tolkien universe.
As such, much of the resource collection now takes place in the walls of your base, be it through farms for the tree-loving humans or slaughterhouses for the savage orcs. In addition, gold is set to be dropped by the dead in RPG fashion. To compensate for this simplification, it's been made much more difficult to upgrade as you climb the tech tree.
For example, if you gain access to fire arrows in the middle of a battle, you can't simpiy upgrade all your existing archers to fire archers; but nor do you need to build a whole new set of fire-wielding troops. Instead, you have to send a cart laden with fire arrows out to meet your army on the battlefield, and only when it reaches them can they upgrade. Clearly, enemy supply carts are set to become a natural target in the same way enemy harvesters once were, though with far more satisfying tactical implications.
There are other new features we could talk about - the radical new interface, the streamlined base building - but in every case the aims remain the same. First, to make the game true to the Lord Of The Rings cinema: and second, to make it more fun.
And this, after all, is what Westwood is best at. After the three epic masterpieces that were the Lord Of The Rings films, it's somewhat baffling that we've yet to see the release of a PC-only game based around Peter Jackson's trilogy. We caught up with Mark Skaggs, executive producer on The Battle For Middle-Earth, and grilled him for information about the game like a Hobbit would a pack of juicy sausages. The first piece of good news is that you'll be able to command both the forces of good and evil, with each campaign's plot unfolding through video sequences that introduce each mission's background story.
For the good side, you get to control the Gondor and Rohan armies as well as the heroes of the Fellowship. Your goal is to defeat the evil armies across Middle-earth.
This includes fighting all the major battles you see in the three films plus a few more, says Skaggs. For the evil side, you get to control the armies of Isengard and Mordor and you have to get the ring from Frodo and conquer Middle-earth. Gone are the cumbersome hours of harvesting materials in pre-defined resource fields, replaced by what could be a far more intuitive and less time-consuming system.
As Skaggs explains:When you play as one of the good armies, you get food from the farms you build and iron from blacksmiths. You also get treasure from some of the monsters you kill in battles. These resources go into a pool that you use up when you build troops and structures.
Playing as Isengard or Mordor should see a similar system for resource gathering, only this time you amass raw materials via slaughterhouses food and furnaces iron. However, as Skaggs explains, there will be one major difference between the two sides' resource collecting abilities. When playing as Isengard, you're able to get wood from cutting down trees. We put this in because it felt in line with what Isengard did in the movies.
We're not allowing the good armies to do this though, because it just feels wrong having them destroying the forests of Middle-earth. Quite right too. Base building is also receiving a major overhaul. We're moving to a Camps and Castles' type of base-building system, where each side will have a camp or castle area with pre-determined build plots where they can construct various buildings.
By simplifying the process of building bases, we allow players to get to the fun part of producing units and fighting more quickly. It also allows us to tailor the look of the bases to fit the rich fiction of Middle-earth. Early playtests have shown that players think this new way of building bases works really well, states Skaggs. We're also moving away from the traditional tech tree concept you've seen in previous RTS games.
Instead, we're adding the concept of Building Veterancy. Each level of Veterancy brings with it more units and more defensive strengths. The final level of Veterancy also brings some ability for the building to defend itself with archers and the like. If you're a regular reader, you may remember our excitement back in issue when we found out about TBFMEs all-new visual emotion system, a feature that depicts the feelings of every unit on the battlefield and their reactions to different situations and opponents.
We pressed Skaggs to elaborate on this and give us some more examples of the types of behaviour we're set to see. One example would be soldiers quaking in fear when they come face to face with a troll, Balrog or Fell Beast," he explains.
However, beyond fear reactions, you also see cheering in reaction to good events and morale boosts when heroes are near. So form example, it'll be very visible to players that when Aragom is near, soldiers don't quake in fear at trolls due to the morale bonus he gives them. And you can expect to see more than your fair share of fully upgradeable heroes too who gain both experience and new abilities. Plus, all of the main characters from the films - both good and evil - pop up to say hello at some point and no doubt lop off some enemy heads while they're at it.
Skaggs also told us about some of the other units there'll be a massive 60 unit types in all that you can expect to either command or come up against during the course of the two campaigns, including Warg Riders - the snarling wolf-like orccarrying beasts that we saw skirmishing with the Riders of Rohan in The Two Towers. These rabid, hugely powerful creatures will be both fast and vicious, and are set to cany a 50 per cent probability of surviving if their orc rider is killed, at which point they wreak havoc on the battlefield by indiscriminately attacking any units.
The Elven Warrior should prove to be another of the game's more powerful and versatile units. Akin to the sour-faced saviours of Helm's Deep, they not only excel in archery, but also prove more than a little adept with blades when the enemy is too close for them to use their bows, though Skaggs didn't comment about their ability to use a plank of wood as a skateboard like Legolas.
These pointy-eared killers also receive stealth bonuses in woods, which will help no end when setting up ambushes and taking a much-needed piss after a night on the Elven Ale without worrying about getting nicked by the local rozzers.
What's more, if you combine two groups of Elven Warriors, one forms a sword-bearing frontline, while the other takes up positions directly behind and provides cover with their bows. This proves that while they may have the charisma of a corpse, they're a handy bunch to have around in a scrap. But I know what you're thinking. You want to hear about the actual battles don't you?
The bloodbaths, cauldrons of battle-scarred bodies where the ring of steel melds with anguished cries as swords meet flesh. So without further delay, let's find out just what's in store in that department.
We're going to have all the battles you see in the films - and more," claims Skaggs. For example, when Eomer runs into Legolas, Gimli and Aragom for the first time and he's just been out hunting orcs across Rohan. You get the chance to go on those orc hunts with Eomer. While battles are set to be epic in scale, EA Pacific isn't aiming to compete with the likes of Creative Assembly's Rome: Total War, with even the largest skirmishes involving hundreds rather than thousands of troops.
Battles will range in size from a handful of heroes fighting off a band of orcs - just like at the end of The Fellowship Of The Ring -to full-scale rucks such as Minas Tirith and the battle at the Black Gate of Mordor. However, if you're worried about a lack of scale, check out the cavalry charge from the game's E3 demo from - last issue's discs , a sight that should ease even the most cynical sceptic's mind.
Tactics are also important to a degree, but in order to keep the game as accessible as possible, The Battle For Middle-Earth won't include tactical subtleties such as flanking bonuses. Height will give you an advantage and so will various formations, explains Skaggs. Some of the coolest things we're doing are the unit combinations. Some of these give you real-life tactical advantages such as having archers in the back while soldiers provide protection from the front. Networking Software.
Trending from CNET. Download Now. Full Specifications. What's new in version. Release December 5, Date Added February 9, Operating Systems. Additional Requirements None. Total Downloads , Downloads Last Week 1. Report Software. You can also go to the other side, and to do all that he could not carry out his plan, and become a master of Middle-earth. Black Gate will be the main witness to key events. Players will first visit a variety of places associated with bloodshed, such as Minas Tirith, Osgiliath.
Every fight is dynamic, but it is not hardcore. Game project will appeal to all, including beginners in the field of RTS. As always, gamers have to do the preparation of the army and gather resources. To choose from a large number of units to suit all tastes.
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