RETROSPECTIVE
Returning to The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring
A 2003 real-time strategy game that doesn’t stray from the beaten path
With missions and gameplay mechanics that would have Tolkein rolling about in his coffin, War of the Ring is far from a faithful adaptation of the franchise that effectively spawned the fantasy genre. It treads the same ground that superior real-time strategy (RTS) games have, without needlessly changing the formula. Gather resources, create armies, and crush your foes. The cycle remains the same, but the prospect of controlling invisible Elven archers and beastly Warg riders offers an alluring experience for Lord of the Rings fans looking for a sense of familiarity in their RTS games.
Despite the experience of interacting with these familiar faces, however, Vivendi Universal’s entry into the genre doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel much and fails to bring much to the table to distinguish War of the Ring from its peers.
Nonetheless, the game served as a great introduction to a fascinating world I would soon invest a great deal of time in.
The Ring beckons.
A Light in Dark Places
War of the Ring’s campaign is split into two parts, allowing players to see things unfold from two unique perspectives. The “Good” campaign follows the adventures of Legolas, Gimli, and other heroes as they arrive at Rivendell just in the nick of time. On the other (dark) hand, the “Evil” campaign hands players the reins to Sauron’s twisted armies, corrupting acres upon acres of land, eventually laying siege to Minas Tirith. While the story plays out in epic Lord of the Rings fashion and even details some neglected, yet iconic, locations such as Mirkwood and Minas Tirith, the levels themselves aren’t very different from your bog-standard RTS missions. Start off with a handful of workers, gather food to purchase units and upgrades, then overpower the enemy with your numbers. Rinse and repeat.
While there is a rock-paper-scissor counter system in place, tussles in War of the Ring boil down to who has the bigger stick, rather than who wields it. Still, mowing down an Orc horde with Gondor swordsmen and shape-shifting bears is downright fun.
To achieve this fun, however, Vivendi Universal sometimes throws caution to the wind by chucking canon right out the window. Units popping out of buildings and finding tree-like Huorns in locales where life withers is rather jarring for someone accustomed to the detailed nature of Tolkien’s world.
I’d have also liked it if the two sides were different in a more nuanced manner, such as one side focusing on sheer numbers while the other tries to do more with fewer, yet more powerful troops.
As such, while the premise is exciting, the game is let down by uninspiring level design and a handicapped AI system. Truth be told, the AI in the campaign rarely retaliates with more than token raiding parties every now and then. This fact is all the more confusing when you consider how War of the Ring’s AI wipes the floor with aggressive tactics and horsepower in Skirmish mode. In the campaign, though, all it takes is a bigger army to save the day.
Fly, You Fools!
Gandalf. Legolas. Gimli. Aragorn. Frodo.
All of vanilla game mechanics aside, this is why you’re here. To whittle down Sauron’s forces with Elven steel and Dwarven hammers. Impeccable voice acting lends these iconic characters a sense of personality that is often missing in traditional ambassadors of the strategy genre. Heroes level up as they indulge in combat, turning them from overpowered units to godlike machinations in the span of a few missions. I can still hear Legolas as he made his way across the dark thickets of Mirkwood, laying waste to Giant Spider nests.
Progression is carried forth into subsequent levels, which means that you quickly test out their new quirks and abilities. Losing one, however, can mean the end of a mission.
Battles between heroes are entertaining to watch, not only because of the implications it could have on the fate of Middle-Earth (poor Tolkein) but also because of their impressive abilities. Gimli can smash his mighty ax into the ground to stun enemies, while Gandalf can call forth a rain of fire upon Uruk foes.
The effects are stunning, giving War of the Ring a sense of charm its competitors can’t replicate. In Skirmish and multiplayer fights, heroes are summoned by using fate points, a resource that you gain by inflicting pain upon your foes. You can also use them to acquire upgrades for your heroes.
Frodo’s blade, Sting, even turns blue as it faces orcs. Need I say more?
Stack up fate points and you’ll be able to use an array of devastating spells, from Elven brambles that ensnare goblins and trolls alike to a massive boulder-tossing Ent, a humanoid-shaped being of tough wood and tougher roots. The decimation of your foes (or your army) is a spectacle to witness, despite an aging engine and dated graphics. Vibrant colors and special effects from fiery spells, devastating explosions, and gory kills pop off the screen as massive armies tear each other to bits. The cartoony look ensures that the graphics are acceptable even over a decade later, but if you want crisp gore and bloodshed, Monolith’s Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War may be more to your liking.
But this is just one half of the tale.
Where the Shadows Lie
The Lord of the Nazgul. Black Riders. Saleme. Shelob. Gollum.
Don’t worry if you don’t know who Saleme is. She isn’t canon in the main Tolkien universe. The merciless leader of the Haradrim assassins, her curved daggers will find your jugular before you can scream. Sauron’s merry band of miscreants have just as much depth to them as their counterparts, with devious abilities and twisted attacks. Gollum is as charming as ever. Turning a bony wraith into a Black Rider is an event you won’t forget in a hurry. With the aforementioned fate points in tow, you can even summon the master of them all, the Godzilla-esque Balrog with its wings outstretched, flaming whip at the ready. It may have died in the books but remember, canon has long been tossed out the window by the time it shows up.
While the campaigns are similar, the Evil side plays with one key difference: you get to crack the whip. Slavemasters need to corrupt the ground before buildings can be placed. They also serve as the means of raising the population limit, subverting a core tenet of the RTS genre. Units are accordingly corrupted, from lifeless wraiths that can spot invisible foes to monstrous Uruk Hai whose arrows can knock back smaller soldiers. Troops also have unique abilities that come in handy, like the Giant Spiders’ stun ability and the Haradrim’s poison shots.
The developers probably realized that the Good campaign was effectively a victory lap for RTS veterans, so they ramped up the difficulty as you took control of goblins and their ilk. The soundtrack shifts from cheery to menacing, kicking things off with a memorable mission that asks you to deliver slaves who end up getting eaten anyway. The Evil levels have been designed in such a way that you can’t hole up in one spot for too long. The hunt for resources will force you to play more aggressively, taking horse riders and dwarven ax-men head-on. Some defensive missions are equally haunting, with wave after wave of powerful forces wreaking havoc at your doorstep.
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
While the campaigns alone will take you a while to finish, the Skirmish and multiplayer modes are the true test of your skills, tempered by the flames of Orcs and Man. A couple of exotic game types keep things interesting, like a Catapult mode that pushes players in a desperate rush to find the said weapon of mass destruction and control it long enough to decimate their foes. Another mode pits you in a race to capture a Place of Power to gain points, forcing enemy players to send forth raids to wrest control of it.
War of the Ring is a competent foray into the real-time strategy genre, but its lackluster mechanics don’t stand a chance against games that place innovation over fan service. But if said fan service is what you’re looking for, boy does this game deliver in spades.
The compelling setting and its struggles will remain with you long after you finish the campaign. A year later, The Battle for Middle Earth picked its corpse clean. And its sequel took things even further. But those are tales for another day. Today, Sauron’s forces besiege our gates, asking to be conquered.
Tolkien fans, this one’s for you.
