The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring
| The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Liquid Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra Entertainment |
| Distributor(s) | Vivendi Universal Games |
| Director(s) | Edward Alexander Del Castillo |
| Producer(s) | Ed Kaminski |
| Designer(s) | Blaine Smith Jack H. Davis Jasen Torres |
| Programmer(s) | Mark Kornkven |
| Artist(s) | Jean Michel Ringuet |
| Composer(s) | Lennie Moore |
| Series | The Lord of the Rings |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | November 8, 2003 (NA) |
| Genre(s) | Strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 67.46% |
| Metacritic | 67/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Game Informer | 6.75/10 |
| GamePro |   |
| Game Revolution | B− |
| GameSpot | 6.7/10 |
| GameSpy | |
| GameZone | 7.4/10 |
| IGN | 7.9/10 |
| PC Gamer (US) | 78% |
| X-Play | |
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring is a 2003 real-time strategy game (RTS) developed by Liquid Entertainment, the makers of the previous Battle Realms and its expansion, Winter of the Wolf, and published by Sierra Entertainment. Set in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional Middle-earth, it expands upon the events of the War of the Ring as told in his fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings.
Unlike the later RTS The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth by Electronic Arts, War of the Ring is unrelated to the films by Peter Jackson. The game is officially licensed by Tolkien Enterprises, as are other book-based (as opposed to film-based) Tolkien games such as The Fellowship of the Ring and The Hobbit (2003).
The game plays much like Warcraft III with added features, some previously used in Battle Realms. A similar layout and control system is used, and the player gets to control hero units with special abilities. Most regular units also have abilities of their own. The game also follows certain RTS conventions such as having rally points and controlling unit creation and purchase of upgrades at designated buildings.
Some features from Battle Realms that were carried over include toggleable walking and running for units and the ability to set buildings on fire. The game also emulates Battle Realms’ yin and yang system, where combat experience (or special actions) would provide a special resource that could be used to buy upgrades or units. This resource is called Yin or Yang in the previous game, depending on the faction being used, and is called Fate here. The player can use Fate Points (gained in combat) to summon heroes, purchase their special abilities, and activate special faction-specific Fate Powers that will aid him or her in gameplay (such as summoning an Ent or a Balrog). Also, some influence from Warcraft III can be seen. The Minions of Sauron must corrupt land with "war posts" before they can build upon it - similar to the Warcraft III Undead faction's "blight". When playing as the Free People, one gets to control Huorns, similar to Warcraft Night Elf "Ancient Protector" units.
...
Wikipedia