The Lord of the Rings: Conquest

Middle-earth’s decisive wars become loud, accessible third-person battles where swords, arrows, spells, and stealth all share the same battlefield. The Lord of the Rings: Conquest takes the large-scale objective warfare of games like Star Wars: Battlefront and applies it to the film trilogy’s most recognizable locations, from Minas Tirith to the Black Gate. A Good campaign follows the familiar struggle against Sauron, while the alternate Evil story imagines the Ring surviving Mount Doom and the forces of darkness conquering what remains. The tone is more arcade-action spectacle than tactical simulation, built around charging into packed fights and turning famous battles through brute force.

Players choose between four core roles—Warrior, Archer, Mage, and Scout—then switch their approach according to the objective and terrain. Warriors excel in close quarters, Archers pressure enemies at range, Mages control crowds with powerful abilities, and Scouts use speed and invisibility to sabotage positions or assassinate key targets. Most missions revolve around capturing command posts, defending allies, destroying structures, or pushing an army toward a final objective, with hero characters such as Aragorn, Gandalf, and Sauron appearing as especially powerful battlefield options. Campaign play supports two-player co-op, while local split-screen allows competitive matches for up to four players and co-op for two; its original online component is designed for larger 16-player clashes, though modern availability can vary.

Its biggest strength is the chance to fight for both sides rather than treating Middle-earth as a one-note heroic adventure. The Evil campaign remains the standout feature, offering an enjoyably grim alternate-history route that lets players crush familiar heroes and claim iconic locations for Sauron. Combat is simple, occasionally rough around the edges, and clearly rooted in its 2009 era, but the class variety keeps battles moving. Fans of Battlefront-style conquest modes, couch multiplayer, and Tolkien spectacle find plenty to enjoy, while players seeking deep strategy or polished modern combat may find it dated.