Lord of the Rings Tower Defense?

by Levi Buchanan - IGN.com | 27 August 2010 12:00
 
Glu hopes you shall not pass... up this game.
 
I admit, the title Middle-Earth Defense made me laugh a little. Probably because I spent so much time grinding on the ridiculous Xbox 360 action game Earth Defense Force. But this Lord of the Rings game is very much a serious tower defense affair. You play out seven battle scenes straight from the film trilogy – Weathertop Mountain, Mines of Moria, Helm's Deep, etc. – but instead of rushing in with Aragorn, you instead spread the fellowship across the map to thin herd after herd of Sauron's evil forces.
 
By now, you know how a tower defense game works, right? Middle-Earth Defense is built on the genre conventions, but Glu is making some key tweaks that stand to make this tower defender fresher than its contemporaries. Though you have basic units to place on the map, such as elven archers, your aces are the heroes of the fellowship. When you drop a hero from the story into a scene (and you can only use heroes from that specific scene… you cannot install Boromir in Helm's Deep, for example), they take on an advanced attack role. Aragorn has a powerful special attack you activate with a tap of a special button, sending the ranger into the thick of an advancing horde. Gandalf – when available – has a fireball storm special that wreaks havoc on the entire mob of wargs, Uruk-hai, and other nasties under Sauron's command.
 

I like the addition of these hero units that have not just unique attack powers, but also serve to support a narrative. This is not tower defense for the sake of it. You are moving the story along with the installation of these heroes.
 
Middle-Earth Defense is still very much a work-in-progress. Glu will not march Frodo and Co. into the App Store until December. But judging from my play session this week, I think this tower defender has real promise. I confess my own tower defense fatigue – I've played so many of them over the last three years. But Middle-Earth Defense is making great use of the Lord of the Rings story, something I enjoy very much. If tuned just right, I think there's a definite chance Middle-Earth Defense could rekindle a spark.
 
Supplied by IGN.com