A partnership between Warner Bros. Interactive and NetEase Inc. is making a mobile strategy game to add to the Lord of the Rings franchise, called Lord of the Rings: Rise to War.
The game currently goes into development and without yet a definitive release window to reveal.
Strategy at the Palm of Your Hands
Set during the third age of Middle-Earth, the game will feature memorable characters from LOTR trilogy. While not explicitly stated, players can expect to see the likes of Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, Legolas, Samwise, Bilbo, etc.
We are pleased to announce our collaboration with NetEase, Inc. on the mobile game development of The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War. Set in the Third Age of Middle-earth, this latest mobile strategy game will feature iconic characters and locations from the original trilogy. pic.twitter.com/2cwlnmiFtL
— Warner Bros. Games (@wbgames) June 15, 2020
It has been quite a while since the franchise had seen an installment with the most recent being the mobile iteration of the hit PC title, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War.
However, considering the limitations of the platform, the game shifted from being an action game to strategy. Despite the massive shift in gameplay design, the mobile port retained the game’s award-winning and most exciting feature, the “Nemesis System.”
To the uninitiated, the Nemesis System is essentially an in-game mechanics where significant opponents are procedurally-generated, not pre-determined. This means that any enemy of notable rank can appear uniquely every time. The diversity of which can either mean taking them as ally or as a subject to slaughter for their prize.
As a rule of thumb, opponents of high rank tend to have outstanding traits that can prove helpful in your army, if recruited. The Nemesis System, therefore, rewards players in both ways, but lets players to decide which to take.
While not necessarily a game mechanics to appear in Rise to War, it makes for an interesting premise if it does.
In a press release, NetEase CEO, William Ding, spoke of why they choose to take on the helm for the project. Unsurprisingly, it boils down to the popularity of the IP, which the CEO claims as “most influential and celebrated.”
Not the First Partnership Project
The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War will not necessarily be the first collaboration between two companies, however. The project is the second for the two, considering that another title, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, is also in the works. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, for its part, is already nearing an initial release, with it having gone open beta recently in China.
NetEase, while with its own set of mixed receptions, is not necessarily a new face in the gaming business. Bearing a prolific portfolio, which dabbles on popular IPs like Diablo and Marvel, the company is quite prominent among gamers’ perception.
Although tinkering with pre-existing IPs is NetEase good at, it also has its share of creations as well. But ones that are conspicuously inspired from established sources.
Image used courtesy of Middle-Earth/YouTube Screenshot