When I first pulled Tactics out of the box and read the instruction manual (yes, I do actually read them), the game seemed nicely put together, with simple controls, and a couple of customization options for each character. The back of the box said that you could use twelve heroes from Middle Earth (where the game is set). It also stated that you could play as The Fellowship, the" good guys", or conquer and rule as the forces of Mordor (the "bad guys" . You pretty much follow and take control over the main characters from the popular books and movies through the plot.
Structure
This game really focuses more on the tactics, and you don't worry too much about special character powers or even customization. You really can't feel the difference of when your characters level up or you get new weapons, mostly because (as far as I know), the appearances of the characters never change. You can, however buy magic powers for each character, and they look pretty cool, and do interesting stuff. Anyway, both of the opposing forces go through the same processes at the same time, which really does separate it from a turn-based RPG (whether that's good or bad). It also means that you have to always be thinking ahead and thinking about what your enemy is thinking about (before he or she starts thinking about what your thinking about, which is what he or she should be doing).
In this way, it is slightly reminiscent of chess. There are two phases: Movement and Combat. In the movement phase, you can chose where your characters move to (at the same time as your opponent positions his or hers). Then, you push the circle button, and everyone moves at the same time. You do the same thing in the Combat phase, except you decide who attacks who. Of course, the game is played on a grid.
[header=3]Game play[b/]
I'm imagining that this game is driven by a pretty complicated engine, because when you move, everyone goes at the exact same time- step for step. If a character blocks another (non-friendly) character or gets within one vertical or horizontal space (not diagonal), then they don't finish their move and prepare to fight. In the combat phase, if you are right next to an enemy "unit", as they are called, you are in their Zone of Control, which means you aren't allowed to use ranged attacks, you must attack the one in you ZoC (as it is so elegantly abbreviated).
There is some actual variety in this game, whereas other games sometimes have a severe lack. There are different types of goals, which include things such as capture the flag, survive for X turns, kill X enemies or have X and Y still living. The actual game play is fun and interesting, if you like this sort of thing.
Technology
As for load times, this title has some for about 12 seconds (while loading a fight), except one big one that lasts for about three minutes when it's starting up. The graphics are great, I'd say above PS1, but not quite as sharp as PS2. The character models, especially on the evil side, are occasionally hard to differentiate. The scenery is just, well, beautiful. It honestly makes me want to visit Middle Earth. Even the darker levels are very nice looking. I'm glad that you can pan around with the analog stick; I spent about 5 minutes just playing around with the scenery.
Despite its aesthetics, sometimes it looks very two dimensional. For example, the leaves in the trees all appear to come together and make a shape that looks like a piece of paper from a certain angle. The sound is very good, and came directly from the movie, which should give it some instant merit. EA also managed to put in a movie clip for almost every level.
Difficulty
This game is medium hard, I'd say. I tried the "easy" campaign first, and I almost got beat a few times at the end. (I'm a moderately skilled casual gamer). The artificial intelligence is pretty good. I've yet to see the computer do anything stupid.
Value/Facts
I think $50 is a little much to be asking, but if you are a fan of either tactics games or LotR, it'll be well worth it.
Pros
• Good, new game play.
• A lot of replay value, especially with the multiplayer skirmish mode.
• Good graphics and sound.
• Well created scenery (EA bought the rights to the book, so they also got to invent the looks of some new levels).
• There is a tutorial, don't worry.
Cons
• The camera snaps around during the part where you watch what you planned during combat mode, is confusing at first.
• Hard to tell the differences between characters sometimes.
• Not very deep and fun character customization.
• Not a very long game (easy with the forces of mordor only took me 8 hours).
Summary
You'll certainly have fun with this game if you want a new look at tactics games or you are a fan of the movies or books. If not, I'd wait 'til the price drops a little. I think this is a genre that you like or hate, so try it out and see.
Good review and I agree with all your points. They could have done a little better with the leveling up of characters and equipment wise and I would have like to seen more variation in character animations when performing moves. Also I feel certain characters miss way too much in battle. For instance I was Gandalf standing right next to a orc I needed to kill, used a level 3 spell three times in a row and they all missed. Comon now... I havent beaten the game yet, but I am playing on Medium and some of the levels after 60% completion are fairly difficult. I would say a 90 in my opinion...
Sorry.... but I have to strongly and vehemently disagree. I have played all the LOTR games that hit the market and this one was the worst. There's no way to score this piece of crap an 88. It's not even a 68. Lame animations. Wonky camera. Horrible menus. Hard to navigate. Upgrades mean little or nothing. Winning battles is more luck than skill. This is one of the worst strategy games out. For real.... try Fire Emblem or Advance Wars and tell me how this thing ranks against them.
Thats the problem with reviews/reviewers (not flaming you) but you cant rate a game based on how good another game is... To me this game has decent graphics, I dont know how you can say the menus are confusing... You only have a few options to choose from, it makes me think, I want to keep playing and has a lot of replay value with multiplayer. Yes the camera can get a little screwy at times but it doenst kill the game. Yes there are better games of this genre out there but we are talking about this game not those.
"you cant rate a game based on how good another game is..."
Uhhhh..... rating games against others is exactly the point. So you can make a choice. So that you can see how a game stakes up against others that are similar. For example, if you liked Advanced Wars and see that this game scored an 88 - you could assume that LOTR Tactics is as good or better. And you would be VERY WRONG. Read any review at any publication or notable gamesite - they always reference similar games in the genre to compare and contrast.
Regarding menus / cameras / presentation - strategy / rpg titles lean heavily on the visuals. Players spend a lot of time upgrading, buying items, etc. and therefore the menus should be well designed and feature nice art, etc. It helps make the title more immersive and enjoyable. Tactics menus are the worst I've seen on a PSP - utterly bland and horrible.
The camera is beyond screwy. More than half the time I couldn't tell who was attacking whom. Many times it would just show a wall. When the movement phase was complete it often zooms out to an impossible angle where you can't judge the scale of what's happening.
Strategy games need a lot of gloss in terms of visuals and animations because you by their nature they force the player to watch the action unfold. What I watched unfold was a piece of wrapped in old smelly newspaper...... LOTR Tactics was a huge disappointment.
Medical said: "Gamespot seems to give all PSP bad ratings. I have to have come here for real reviews. Great review."
This is very true - I've cancelled my GS account. Too many DS fanboys in the forums and too many Nintendo-biased reviewers crapping on good PSP games. Note they gave GTA one of the lowest ratings it got from any source...
Although i am an indepth LotR fan, i think this game isn't what it's worth. I playe it for a little while ('bout 2 hours) and i got really bored after aout 45 minutes, but kept playing to see if it got better...it doesn't. It is all really the same thing level after level.
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. You pretty much follow and take control over the main characters from the popular books and movies through the plot.
) an dI'll be getting kart and socom ,so I'll be busy.
