Lord of the Rings: Middle Earth Defence

Out of all the genres chosen for a gaming spin-off from J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic Lord of the Rings trilogy, tower defence makes the most sense.

Each of the books builds up to some kind of heroic stand for the fellowship to make, whether that’s on the battlements at Helm’s Deep or in the dark mines of Moria.

So Glu’s latest film tie-in (a few years late, but we’ll let that slide) feels like a good fit for the universe. It’s just a shame it’s been shackled by a few too many frustrating game mechanics as well.

As you can guess, the game involves you defending a ‘home’ area (which I imagine are the hobbits for the most part) from being crowded out by a variety of nasties, including orcs and the Uruk-hai.

The paths these creatures take are pre-determined, with the defenders bought and placed alongside the road, and wooden barriers erected in the centre to slow them down.

As well as the foot soldiers of both the living and the dead, you also have the chance to purchase a few of the heroes from the books for each stage.

These powerful individuals are expensive but vital against the larger foes, and, as with the foot soldiers, can be upgraded multiple times

The balance between upgrade strength and purchasing new units is just about right – the increased range these improvements grants makes them invaluable at keeping enemies pinned down between the various barricades.

What isn’t so well balanced is the list of foes you’ll encounter.

Naturally, this being a licensed game (and a very well-loved one at that). Glu hasn’t magically created a bunch of new villains to bulk up the roster.

Yet this leads to many occasions where the same number of the same enemy magically grows stronger for no apparent reason.

The defence setup can walk through two waves of orcs, for instance, but suddenly be completely overwhelmed when facing the third wave – consisting of the same orcs as the last two.

It feels cheap and unfair. While it’s understandable that successive waves should be tougher, it would have been a little easier to gauge enemy strength if there was some kind of visual clue.

Gandalf the green

Another feature that rankles is the lack of difficulty modes. Being not the finest tower defence player, I found it frustrating that I couldn’t push the difficulty down when I hit a really difficult part.

Despite feeling a little hard done-by on a number of levels, LOTR:MED still had me going back to it to try again.

Whether it was the keenly balanced upgrade system, striking visuals, or the interesting decisions thrown up by the hero units, it’s a game that will still pull you back for more in spite of the punishment it doles out.