My review of Lord of the Rings: Conquest is up on SCI FI Wire, which is SCIFI.com's newly redesigned and re-launched hybrid of the old SCI FI Wire web site and Science Fiction Weekly. This is my second review for the new site (the first was of Prince of Persia, which ran back in late December). The new format is a challenge to write for because the word count is much lower, but it's a good kind of challenge to have. It's certainly helped me flex my shortform writing muscles.

As for the game itself? It's a definite "meh". There's no really strategy to this strategy game; it's almost entirely about hack'n'slash button mashing. It also has one of the most annoying narrators of all time, who  admonishes you to "take that tower" or "slay those orcs" every 15-20 seconds, which is particularly annoying when you've wandered off the battlefield and really aren't sure how you're supposed to get to your next objective. 

The game's "evil mode", featuring an alternative timeline in which Sauron conquers Middle-Earth, was a nice diversion, and offered more in the way of open-ended battlefields, but it just wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the game.