On the eve of Pandemic’s Community Day, Middle-earth Center got an exclusive chance to shoot some questions over to Eric “Giz” Gewirtz, director for the upcoming “The Lord of the Rings: Conquest”. Find out what the answers are to some of the hottest community questions in the interview below!
(Please note: the questions were asked and answered PRIOR to the Community Day, look forward for more some hands-on dirt soon!)
Middle-earth Center: There is quite a controversy going on at the community forums about whether or not Mages are in line with the works by Tolkien. Can you tell us anything about what drove you to add mages to the game?
Eric “Giz” Gewirtz: Magic has always been a subtle and mysterious thing in the Tolkien lore. Peter Jackson took a little more of a straightforward approach to magic in the films (Saruman launching fireballs, elves summoning the river to drown pursuers, etc). For the game, we needed to strike a fine balance between staying faithful to the license and providing satisfying gameplay. The Mage began with the idea of tapping into the arcane power of characters like Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast the Brown, etc. The question was: If these powerful wizards had almost god-like powers, what would ‘apprentices’ of the magical arts be able to do? From there we started exploring some cool gameplay roles on the battlefield. A healer/support class surfaced naturally, and we thought the mage would fit nicely in that role.
MEC: The books by Tokien and then the movies by Peter Jackson have become a holy grail of sorts for many people. How do you balance gameplay with Tolkien canon?
Giz: In some ways, games add a whole new constraint on licensed propriety. Player expectation adds a whole new layer to the experience. In a book, you are left to your imagination to fill in the details. In a film, a lot of those details are interpreted for you on screen. In a game, the expectation is that a lot of those decisions are put back into the player’s hands. We always start with the source material and build out from there. Every decision is made on a case-by-case basis. We work closely with Tolkien and New Line to make sure everyone is on the same page. Most of the time it’s about interpreting the spirit of the canon with fun gameplay. Key word being “fun”. If an aspect of the game is not identical to the canon, most fans will be a lot more tolerant as long as they are having fun.
MEC: How exactly is the story told in the game? Will we see CGI clips to introduce the next battle?
Giz: Both campaigns (‘War of the Ring’ and ‘Rise of Sauron’) are told with Elrond as the narrator. Hugo Weaving reprises the role for the game. Each campaign mission begins and ends with film footage, set to Elrond’s distinct voice, establishing the time and setting for the mission. Then it is up to the player to fill in the details of how to get to a victorious outcome.
MEC: The lore has room for many different races, will these be featured on the maps as well? Say we play as a Dwarf in Moria but as a Gondorian in Minas Tirith?
Giz: Yes! We have tons of races to play in the game, including: Gondorians, Rohan, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Uruk-hai, Trolls, Ents, Haradrim, and Easterlings.
MEC: Will we be able to pick a race to play as online, or are we bound to the race(s) featured on the map?
Giz: Each race is specific to the battle they were in to maintain authenticity. Although we do allow for Elven archers in Helm’s Deep 
MEC: In line with the previous question, will there be differences between the races, like armor, strength or class selection?
Giz: To maintain balance in multiplayer, we did not give different stats to the races, but each race has unique looking classes to choose from. To stay faithful to the battles, you will have Ancient Elven Archers in the Battle of the Last Alliance and unique Gondorian Archers defending the walls of Minas Tirith.
MEC: How much will the maps differ in terms of objectives and strategy, are there differences between the maps for the Singleplayer campaign and the multiplayer modes?
Giz: Each map really is its own entity. Some maps are designed as sieges, like Helm’s Deep, and are all about holding the Wall, the Front Gate, and keeping the Uruk-Hai back. Other maps are wide open, like Pelennor Fields, and involve destroying siege towers, taking down Oliphaunts, etc. Still other maps, like the Mines or Moria and Mt. Doom, are ‘dungeon crawl’ like interiors with caverns and halls. Though the same maps are used in the campaign and in multiplayer modes, different section are used, changing the importance of each area depending on the game mode.
Read on and then let us know what you think, discuss the interview on our forums.
Tags: eric gewirtz, exclusive, giz, interview
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