This week I attempted to trudge through the recently release Lord of the Rings: Conquest.  I say trudge because in single player it's an incredibly frustrating experience.  The constant knock downs, pinning against the environment, and the constant rain of enemy arrows really rub my hobbit feet the wrong way.  Thankfully the game supports co-op, and jumping into a session of that helps alleviate the pain.

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Pandemic Studios, the developers of Lord of the Rings: Conquest, are hosting a week long game with developers session for the aforementioned title.   From January 26th, 2009 through February 1st, 2009 over 20 team members will be playing online from 10PM to 2AM Eastern.  The event takes place only on the Xbox 360 and promises to have developers playing all gameplay modes - which we assume includes the 2 player co-op mode.

To celebrate the event Co-Optimus is giving away 2 copies of the game.  Unlike the event we have both platforms covered.  We'll be picking an Xbox 360 Winner and PlayStation 3 winner on January 26th.   To enter simply leave a comment and tell us what Rings character you'd like to co-op with the most and what platform you want the game for.

Be sure to read our full review of the game right here - and good luck!

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Lord of the Rings: Conquest is soaring into retailers next week, in fact, it's already landed at Co-Optimus HQ in time for us to review the latest from Pandemic Studios.  We'll be giving the console versions a run through the hobbit obstacle course, but for those of you with fancy smancy PCs...and even ones without - the official system requirements have been released.  Without further ado...
 

Lord of Lord of The Rings: Conquest™ requires at least the following:

FOR WINDOWS XP SP2 or Windows Vista
* 2.4 GHz Core Duo processor or equivalent
* 1 GB RAM
* A 256 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 3.0 - nvidia 7800 or equivelent
* The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
* A DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
* At least 6 GB of hard drive space for installation.

 Also, if you hoped to get a demo for the PC like the folks on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network...well you are SOL.   According to BigDownload an EA spokesperson has said there  are currently no plans for a PC demo.  This make Frodo a sad hobbit.

Source: Link

Ever since our in-depth preview that included some hands-on time by Mike, our hopes have been high for Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Even though Pandemic apparently removed two players from the four-player co-op campaign, Pandemic's last two battlefield-style outings -- Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront II) -- allowed enough AI on the playing field at one time that players could band together and play multiplayer matches as co-op partners. Conquest looks like it will be no different: the Live page for the game indicates that up to four players can play splitscreen.

The game officially ships January 13th, but until then a multiplayer demo is available right now on Xbox Live. Although the demo does not showcase the co-op campaign (doh!), at least you can swing your sword a few times and see what the fuss is about before laying down your hard-earned money.

It's already in my queue. Gotta love the new XBLM web interface!

UPDATE: Apparently, the demo was released over a week ago on the Playstation Network as well.

Source: Link

The other day, we posted a news story where we reported that Lord of the Rings: Conquest only had one Co-Op achievement.  Sad news, to be sure!  Luckily, our good friends at Pandemic sent along the official, complete list of both Achievements and Trophies, along with the clarification that any and all achievements related to the campaign are able to be earned in cooperative play by both players!

While there is indeed only a lone Co-Op specific achievement, a whopping 36 achievements out of the 48 can be earned in co-op.

Hit the jump for a full list! (And be warned, some of the achievement titles may count as spoilers!)

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We've got two videos today from the upcoming Lord of the Rings title, Conquest, from Pandemic studios.  The first video showcases almost 6 minutes of Gameplay footage as well as an interview with studio director Eric Gewirtz.  The really cool thing about this video?  It's taken from the Evil campaign in the game and it shows the player in control of a Balrog, in the shire, killing Ents and Hobbits.  How do you like them apples you old gaffer?

The second video is in the same vein, title It's Good to be Bad it shows off more Hobbit slaughter as well as a few of the other villain characters you can play.   Eye spy with my little eye Sauron! 

Lord of the Rings Conquest features 2 player co-op play through the entire good and evil campaign, and hits store shelves early next year for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC.  There's also a Nintendo DS version which features 4 player co-op releasing around the same time.

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Despite an original fall release date, EA and Pandemic studios have announced a small delay in Lord of the Rings: Conquest for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and DS.  Via a press release it was announced the game would have an official January 13th, 2009 launch in the US.

“We have been working hard to create a ‘The Lords of the Rings’ experience like no other,” says Andrew Goldman, Pandemic Studios co-founder and general manager. “And we are excited to finally confirm the launch of The Lord of the Rings: Conquest to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and Star Wars Battlefront fans alike.”

“Players will finally be able to fight through Middle-earth along the frontlines of good or evil,” says Josh Resnick, co-founder and general manager at Pandemic Studios. “And what ‘The Lord of the Rings’ fan hasn’t fantasized about joining Sauron’s army to slay Hobbits?”

For more details on the co-op experience of this title hit up our hands on preview.

Update:  We've corrected the date and posted a brand new trailer of the game in the full article.

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In addition to the official site, EA Games and Pandemic announced Battle for the Ring earlier this week; users can post their own blogs, interact via a public forum, and perform quests for "gold", much like the mission system that the now-defunct CharlieOscarDelta.com had made popular.

Pandemic promises that "gold" - the site's reward currency - can be exchanged for something tangible in the future. Sure enough, click on the Loot button, and you'll find several very nice items to set your sights on.

If you're eagerly anticipating the release of Conquest, then you may want to check out Battle for the Ring...it provides easy-to-download screenshots, wallpapers, and even pits user groups against each other in classic MUD fashion.

Source: Link

Last week, we and several other representatives from community sites were invited out to Pandemic Studios in Los Angeles to attend a Community event for Lord of the Rings: Conquest.

So grab your longsword, strap on your cross bow and get ready to enter the world of Middle Earth.

Actually, spiffy may not be the right word.  You can check the trailer for Lord of the Rings: Conquest out for yourself here, and choose your own word to describe it.  The fact that four players can play through the campaign cooperatively via split-screen or online had us watching the title closely.  Given the fact that you can also play through as the bad guys?  That just puts it over the top.  Maiming hairy footed halflings with a buddy for an evening sounds like fun to me.  Hobbits, you are going down!