Lord Of The Rings, ea, original, pandemic

Pandemic Working On New Lord Of The Rings Title

My aching sense of disappointment at the cancellation of EA's Lord of the Rings Oblivion clone The White Council still lingers. To be replaced soon, however, with a renewed sense of hope, even if it is - pardon the quote - a fool's hope: EA revealed in an analysts report today that they've set newly-acquired developers Pandemic to work on a Lord of the Rings game.

But what kind of Lord of the Rings game? Who knows. The use of Pandemic, they of Mercenaries and Star Wars Battlefront fame, offers some hints. They've shown they can do combat and action over large areas (SW Battlefront). They've shown they can put together a large, sandbox game world (Mercenaries). They haven't shown they can make an RPG, but hey, maybe this new game won't be one. Maybe it'll be Grand Theft Fell Beast. Which, you know...could be even better.

9:20 PM on Tue Feb 12 2008
By Luke Plunkett
7,810 views
42 comments

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AURELIUS at 09:23 PM on 02/12/08
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New MMO from Bioware?
Shindokie at 09:24 PM on 02/12/08
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Lord of the Rings: Return of the Ring!
Luke Plunkett at 09:24 PM on 02/12/08
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@Ares19: Yes.

[kotaku.com]
Komrade_Kayce at 09:28 PM on 02/12/08
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Lord of the Rings: The New Franchise Whore to Rule Them All
Arttemis at 09:30 PM on 02/12/08
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I loved the hack&slash games of Two Towers and Return of the King. I'd play the games all over again if they tweaked the graphics, expanded the gameplay, and added online play.
CitizenTian at 09:31 PM on 02/12/08
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Yes! Yes! YES!
White Council had so much potential.
I would definitely be in support of Grand Theft Fell Beast, or Ring Wars Battlefront.
shazmuscle at 09:33 PM on 02/12/08
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Lord of the rings go kart racer. I'd buy that
okenny :) at 09:34 PM on 02/12/08
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ZOMG! That's the new screenshot from teh game! It's in 4D!!
J-Fro at 09:34 PM on 02/12/08
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@CitizenTian: I've got it...Grant Theft Oliphant.
AURELIUS at 09:35 PM on 02/12/08
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@J-Fro: lol
symphony_of_the_night at 09:36 PM on 02/12/08
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a shield skating game featuring legolas?
deathless at 09:38 PM on 02/12/08
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Bioware working on a KOTOR title? That must be the LucasArts-Bioware collaborative project that was announced several months back.
usethefork at 09:39 PM on 02/12/08
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Awesome!
okenny :) at 09:40 PM on 02/12/08
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It's really sad their hasn't been an RPG based on LotR... I mean an epic one... Oblivion epic... 500 Hours of game play where it takes 4 hours to run middle earth from end-to-end!!! Yes! Yes... I'm retarded :(...I still want it though :(
Luke Plunkett at 09:40 PM on 02/12/08
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@okenny :): Well, that's what White Council was. And who knows, maybe that's what this will be as well.
Luke Plunkett at 09:40 PM on 02/12/08
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@deathless: Yeah, looking into that...
Sonic_and_Tails at 09:45 PM on 02/12/08
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Oh shit!!!! KOTOR and new MMO are listed separately which does this mean!!!??? KOTOR 3 confirmed traditional RPG style? Wow I'm freaking psyched. Sorry for the excitement. Anyone else agree??
konchy at 09:49 PM on 02/12/08
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Add in Mattias Nilson as secret character and I'll be very very happy =D. carpet bombing options will be good too =D
magically_delicious at 09:58 PM on 02/12/08
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I have often pondered the irony of Tolkien dying without ever knowing his books would become the greatest text to film adaptation in the history of text to film adaptations...

but after playing some of the book to film to game adaptations, i figured he was better off dead and not knowing how bastardized things eventually became...
RykinPoe at 10:03 PM on 02/12/08
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Prepare yourself for Lord Of The Rings like you have never experienced. Prepare for... FULL SPECTRUM HOBBIT!!!!!!!!
Guild_Navigator at 10:18 PM on 02/12/08
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Dude, a squad based fantasy game with the heart of full spectrum warrior. It's just crazy enough to work!
TeaRunner at 10:20 PM on 02/12/08
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Hobbit Mercs

U saw it here first! Scoop!
Samos42 at 10:26 PM on 02/12/08
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Pandemic Lord of the Rings would be pretty awesome. Exploding things in Middle-Earth would be equally as fun.
NitrousO at 10:29 PM on 02/12/08
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@Sonic_and_Tails: I noticed that as well and was wondering why Kotaku was trumping that up.
ThisCharmingMan at 10:31 PM on 02/12/08
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A Lord of the Rings Oblivion clone would be bliss.
Lixie at 10:40 PM on 02/12/08
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How about they stop starting new projects and start dedicating all available resources to finishing the projects they were supposed to have finished by now. Like say, Mercenaries 2.
SmilingPolitely at 10:45 PM on 02/12/08
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A new LotR RPG would be more than welcome. Haven't played any since the Interplay releases on PC and SNES in the early 90s.

... man, those games were awful. >.<
Chanaluss at 10:47 PM on 02/12/08
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ive been hoping for a LOTR action RPG, maybe with customizable characters like the create a hero system in BFME2
Wookiee1 at 10:55 PM on 02/12/08
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Can we finally experience the First Age?
I want to play as Maedhros and shag Haleth.
darthmole12 at 11:01 PM on 02/12/08
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Interesting
TheWoj at 11:18 PM on 02/12/08
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If we get a Battlefront-esque LotR game with a solid single player story line, I will die a happy man.
I know they're capable.
JohnnyLA at 11:46 PM on 02/12/08
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@Lixie I think this has been in the pipeline for a long time.
JibbyJam at 11:49 PM on 02/12/08
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@okenny :): Ever tried Lord of the Rings Online? If you're into MMO's, that game is pretty much exactly what you want.
Fyren at 12:34 AM on 02/13/08
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@JibbyJam: Yup. Right on the money. I am not a huge LOTR fan, but I hit max level with a burglar and dumped it. I did enjoy it for what its worth.
Irenicus-the one and only at 05:54 AM on 02/13/08
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God, I would love a good LOTR game.
Arkos at 08:30 AM on 02/13/08
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LOTR sucks. I can't believe people would still be excited about this.
Ignited_Impulse at 08:34 AM on 02/13/08
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LOTR: Return of the King had the funnest co-op action of it's day.
MasterBalls at 08:35 AM on 02/13/08
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If they make a sandbox LoTR game for the Wii, I would love Pandemic BEYOND sexual boundaries. Oh god please let it be, just like that crappy Enya song off the first film.
DARTH_TIGRIS at 11:51 AM on 02/13/08
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For those that have preached that LotR is the new SW (and even better), why hasn't that reached over into merchandising? This game hasn't received NEAR the attention that the SW news stories have.
Mohican at 12:40 PM on 02/13/08
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@DARTH_TIGRIS: The only good Star Wars stories in the last 20 years have lived in the comic and the game world. If you don't admit this, then you're not of spiritual or intellectual capacity to grasp the immense power of Lord Of The Rings anyway.

Star Wars hype continued on 30 years after the original film is a severe case of nostalgia and the emperor with no clothes. It's so much less than so many crack it up to be.
DonFubar at 12:52 PM on 02/13/08
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Heh, I heard about this a while ago!
Can't wait!
DARTH_TIGRIS at 04:17 PM on 02/13/08
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@Mohican: Defense much?! Wow, I didn't mean to come off as attacking LotR, because I wasn't. I enjoyed the movies a ton as well and the extended DVD's showed that there was a level of depth in the production that most will never realize. But that hasn't translated over to cross-media merchandising the way it has ENDLESSLY with Star Wars.

You say its nostalgia. Ok. My only problem with that is that there was no nostalgia when the original trilogy was released, but the merchandising was IMMENSE, possibly even bigger than it is now 30 years later. LotR, though, is still known as great books and movies only.

My question is why?