Lord Of The Rings: Conquest *** 360/Ps3 Scott Munro's Games Round Up

SINCE Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy hit the silver screen, a wealth of titles have flooded the market.

In true movie tie-in style, most have been largely forgettable, with only Lord of the Rings Online standing out.

Lord of the Rings: Conquest is the latest title to vie for your attention, focussing firmly on the films' epic battles. Electronic Arts have included 16 levels, which are split between The War of the Ring and Rise of Sauron campaigns.

Playing through battles as the good guys in locations such as Helm's Deep and the Mines of Moria are entertaining enough, but you can also experience it from the side of dark lord Sauron.

The four main classes at your disposal are Warrior, Archer, Mage and Scout, but from time to time you can step into the shoes of one of the film's main characters.

The gameplay is reminiscent of Koei's Dynasty Warriors series, with players wading through generic looking enemies. There are plenty of battle combos at your disposal, but they are fiddly to input so combat can boil down to mindless button mashing. The game is also extremely linear, and leads you by the hand to the next objective.

Howard Shore's musical score is excellent, while narration is provided by Hugo Weaving, but it's the fun multiplayer mode that impresses most as 16 players can battle it out over Deathmatches and Capture the Ring modes.

It's a decent, if uninspired title.

l360 version tested.