15 replies to this topic

[Mathijs]

As my familiar dissatisfaction with the latest LotR-licensed abomination flares up again, I got to thinking what my ideal LotR videogame would be like.

 

Anyone remember the The Third Age and Return of the King games? They had a bunch of shortcomings, but they were great because they felt like they belonged in Middle-earth. If I were to design a LotR game, I'd take the pseudo-open-world from The Third Age and combine it with the combat of Return of the King, all updated for the modern era. 

 

There would be a bunch of campaigns to choose from. They could be divided up by film, by characters, whatever. They'd incorporate elements from both the books and the films, and some original sidequests, properly designed to not feel out of place.

 

Each campaign would exist of several missions, each mission would take place in a huge map. Missions would be introduced through film clips. A substantial part of the budget would go into hiring Ian McKellen/Viggo Mortensen/Ian Holm/whoever to narrate

 

The Fellowship's trek through Moria, for instance, would all be done in 1 mission (like in The Third Age, whose Moria mission really impressed me), which would take an hour or two to complete (including sidequests). Like in the Lego games, it'd be possible to switch between characters at any given time. Combat would be a big part of the gameplay, but there'd be a real sense of danger, in that health isn't infinite and somewhat difficult to restore. Part of the gameplay in Moria would be to avoid combat, instead focusing on staying hidden and finding the right path to avoid orc warrens and (since Moria would be pretty darn dark) sudden drops. I wouldn't go for a highly complicated combat mechanic; the combat in Return of the King could be used as a base, with certain improvements (counter strings come to mind). In Moria, a big part of combat would be to make sure the Hobbits are kept safe, either by switching between them to kill orcs yourself or by using one of the warrior characters to stay close to them. 

 

The graphics would have to be impressive, with well-designed camera angles and lighting to echo the sense of wonder that people got from watching the films. 

 

Anyway, what would your ideal LotR game look like?

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

I would think the most prevalent idea would be a sandboxish Middle-Earth game along the lines of Skyrim.

One that is detailed and varied and of course immersive but unless I'm mistaken I can't think of any suitable developers under WB who could pull it off.

If they subcontracted an established team or used a limited licence with companies like Bethesda, Blizzard, Square or Capcom.

 

The second most popular suggestion is the obvious one around here and that is BFME 3.

 

I think it could be interesting to get an official version of TATW not that I'm that big into the Total War series myself but an official version would be big money for all involved.

 

I would have liked to have seen a more complete and polished version of War in the North.

That game seems to get a bad rap despite the fact the game was okay, not great but okay with a bit more work, some patches and post release support from the team it could have been a great game.

But it got abandoned almost immediately after release and persisting bugs never got addressed which will only ever hurt future sales in this day and age and in all honesty I see the same thing happening with Bloody Fantasy Yarn.

[Pasidon]

The diverse, scripted campaign idea would be interesting, but it would require a remarkably good story.  I would need to see a story branching from the typical Jackson IP  with writing and world design that reimagines the franchise.  No voice actors from the movies... assuming the actors and designs from the Jackson movies are perfect is a bit optimistic.  I want voice actors that aren't even close to the movies.  I want game quality, not movie quality. Two very different things.

 

An open world LotR would also be good.  I wouldn't want to see it quite like Skyrim, as I would like to see more of an emphasis on combat and economy; fighting the challenges of the living world and not just the enemies.  That's something Skyrim failed at and something a LotR game would excel at, if done right.

 

In my opinion, an ideal LotR game would be a game that gives you the choices like a Tell-Tale game, but the competent, versatile combat like Shadow Warrior.  And zero components inspired from the movies, making a phantom limb from the IP we know of that I could proudly say is better than Jackson's vision.

[Lauri]

The Witcher 2 (3 for open world), probably in Rhovanion, set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. No magic, but you're free to explore and visit elves, dwarves and men, in additon to orc encampments, who'll try to kill you of course. You can choose between being a man, elf or a dwarf, and you'll experience the world differently. As a dwarf you'll encounter much hostility when traveling to the elves of Mirkwood, while the men of Dale welcome you. A lot of different side-quests to take, all good and hand-made. Some could have race-specific rewards, or even be restricted to a certain race.

 

There would be a plot throughout, but I'm not sure what it'd be. Nothing stupid, like saving the world. Maybe you have to stop a conflict between Mirkwood, Dale and Erebor before it escalates into armed conflict. It'd stretch the lore, but it's not unreasonable I think. It might be silly though, as it could end up as the battle of three armies.

[{IRS}Athos]

I'm going to agree with most of the points that Mathijs made, though that may just be because those two LotR games were my favorite GameCube games ever, even over Super Smash Bros. Melee.

While The Third Age was by no means a perfect game, I found most of it enjoyable. Sure, the characters might not have been strongly developed, and the story was a bit shaky at times, but the gameplay was fun, the graphics were good for its time, and the plot at least made an effort to use existing events and possibilities in Middle-earth rather than "blah blah blah Wraith possession."

Is it likely that Idrial would be able to summon water horses? Maybe not. But by the mechanics of the film universe, it is at least possible to do such a thing. That's more than can be said for "myeh, whatever, mind control and stuff."

[Mathijs]

Yeah, what I liked most about The Third Age was how the world was pretty vast. I mean the Eriador stuff went on for quite a while, then through Hollin and into Moria; and that place was just huge. I wish there hadn't been any random encounters so I could have just explored the halls

 

Helm's Deep was so great to walk around in pre-battle, too.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

I was surprised by how much I did enjoy The Third Age's combat system, but I would have an open-world style as my ideal game, as others have said before me. Also, like others have said, to place it outside the main plot lines of Tolkien, because that was done aptly through the movie-based original games, would be better - I think the concept of putting the game's protagonist as someone relatively insignificant, such as a soldier or maybe a minor character such as Beregond.

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

The Third Age's combat system AKA Final Fantasy X's CTB system.

[MattTheLegoman]

There was a game released not to long ago.

1. Open World with the player being able to travel to different story missions
2. Saruman introduced each new part from the campaign
3. Movie-based, but the some of the side quests included people and events from the novels
4. For Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (Bot5A will be DLC)
5. Achievements like Pointy-earth Elvish princeling., One does not simply., Don't tell the elf. & Taking the Hobbits to Isengard.

The only shortcomings was that it was made of LEGO. =p

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

Screw Lego adaptations.

[Zeta1127]

A Skyrim-like Tolkien game would be a dream come true to say the least.

 

I have had an idea for what Conquest could have been for quite a while now, after I heard how underwhelming it was, inspired by what was possible in the Battlefront series. I would actually want the game to be all encompassing, not just covering The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but also The Silmarillion. The factions would be Gondor, Arnor, Rohan, Erebor, Elves (I am not sure what I would do with them, but Lorien, Rivendell, and Mirkwood would definitely be involved), Mordor (Harad, Khand, and Rhûn might even be separate), Angmar, and Isengard. Though I only recently tweaked Erebor with influences from TDH. Of course there would also be Beleriand and Angband, probably split into a few factions since there are so many possibilities. There would six classes for each faction and heroes, following the general pattern of swordsman/axeman, archer, spearman, warrior (could be both a swordsman or archer), and unique units. Horses, wargs, mûmakil, and siege weapons would most likely act like vehicles.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

I wouldn't buy anything Silmarillion-inspired, simply because I don't think anyone can do it justice.

[Bashkuga]

There was a game released not to long ago.

• Open World with the player being able to travel to different story missions
• Saruman introduced each new part from the campaign
• Movie-based, but the some of the side quests included people and events from the novels
• For Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (Bot5A will be DLC)
• Achievements like Pointy-earth Elvish princeling., One does not simply., Don't tell the elf. & Taking the Hobbits to Isengard.

The only shortcomings was that it was made of LEGO. =p

Another shortcoming was that it was made very childish, with those weird "funny scenes", like sunglasses when looking at mithril :S. Although I expected that because the game is made for younger people.

Edited by Bashkuga, 01 June 2014 - 06:45 PM.

[Zeta1127]

I feel the same way, after EA gave Glorfindel white hair in BfME 2, when his name literally means golden haired, and Shadow of Mordor doesn't help matters either.

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

Game play wise SoM does have some interesting ideas and the game play might actually be good if the footage shown so far is accurate but it's very out of place for LOTR if anything the LOTR will probably hold the game back a bit and it would probably do better with an original IP.

[Zeta1127]

Yeah, it looks like SoM could be an interesting game, that unfortunately doesn't belong in Tolkien's world. Which is a reason not to really trust someone to do The Silmarillion right.