When it comes to the epic world of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, you’d be pushing it to say that there’s a deficit of games to take you there. Justifying another game that whisks players off to Middle Earth needs a special concept, then. How about the gameplay mechanics of Star Wars Battlefront transposed to the greatest fantasy universe ever created? Yup, the Pandemic guys behind Battlefront have sunk their teeth into the Lord of the Rings license. The idea behind Conquest is to let players battle through Middle-Earth however they see fit. Players will jump into the fray of key battles from the story, such as Helm’s Deep, Pelennor Fields, Minas Tirith, The Black Gates, cutting their way through the battle in whatever way takes their fancy. Pandemic has taken its lead from the films spawned by Tolkien’s epic novels, but has expanded past them to mine the wealth of material from the books to take players into battle with the forces of evil at the Mines of Moria, Weathertop and The Shire. Well, we say ‘with the forces of evil’, but you’ll also get the chance to do battle with the forces of good. Players will be able to play the game from a hypothetical ‘what if evil won’ point of view, trampling across Middle-Earth as the likes of Cave-trolls, Oliphaunts, the Balrog and even Sauron himself. Players get involved as a soldier, picking from the classes of Warrior, Archer, Scout or Mage. As they progress, they’ll be able to ride mounts and even play as heroes with special abilities such as Aragorn. The game also features a multiplayer option, with modes such as Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, Hero Deathmatch, battles to control certain areas and even Ring Bearer, a ‘Catch Frodo’ mode in which Ringwraiths must try to wrest control of the ring from the little guy. Conquest is a sure-fire must-have for anyone who wants to get neck-deep in Middle-Earth lore.