J.R.R. Tolkien's War in Middle Earth

Discuss Review + Want + Have Contribute

Description

Three Rings for the-Elven kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their hall of stone,
Nine for mortal men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his throne
In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

September 23, 1418 s.r. Frodo Baggins receives a letter from Gandalf the Grey, telling him to leave at once for Rivendell and to keep an eye out for a friend on the road by the name of Strider. He also warns that the servants of the Enemy are in pursuit and have taken the guise of riders in black.

J.R.R. Tolkien's War in Middle Earth is the 16-bit game with additional adventuring features compared to the 8-bit version, loosely depicting the events of the One Ring from the Shire to Mt. Doom. The game starts with the three hobbits: Frodo, Sam, and Pippin surrounded by nine individual units of Nazgul near the Shire. Although the first task is to travel to Rivendell, the player is free to decide how heroes and armies progress, despite the in-game conventional storyline.

Victory is attained by successfully sending the ring bearer to Mt. Doom - how this accomplished is completely up to the player. Additionally, any hero including Frodo may die during combat. If the ring bearer dies during combat, a new ring bearer (if they survive the encounter) will be appointed to carry the One Ring. If the enemy gains possession of the One Ring is taken by the enemy, they will attempt to reach Barad-Dur, Sauron's fortress in the heart of Mordor, which will result in the player's defeat. The player will also lose if the enemy manages to seize three major allied citadels.

Gameplay is divided in accordance to the three different map levels used:

Full Map Level
Consists of the whole map of Middle Earth on one screen. All heroes and armies will be shown as colored dots; blue as allied units, green as neutral units, and red as enemy units, as well as general terrain and regional displays. All forces are in the game are viewable as no fog of war feature is in effect.

Campaign Level
Most gameplay features of the war takes place at this level. This map offers more detail of locations and units; all locations such as towns, citadels, ruins, etc., may be viewed from here; characters are displayed as figured and armies as badges. Large armies will be shown as a shield, indicating the unit type as well as the shield background signifying the unit's country of origin. Although at the start of the game various character and armies are viewable across the map, only flashing units may be issued orders by the player.

Combat encounters for armies also commence at this level, which will prompt a new window where the player may opt to enter a battle or ignore the event. Combat orders consist of four commands: charge, engage, withdraw, and retreat. The battle when all units of either side is completely destroyed or retreats.

Animation Level
Animated encounters for characters take place at the level, either for story or combat-related events. Random encounters will prompt a window to be opened and the player may opt to go there or ignore the event. Objects, such as armor, weapons, and other equipment are also viewable and may only be manipulated at this level (e.g. equip, use, etc.). Some units of the West require certain items before their units may be mobilized.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Part of the Following Groups

• Fantasy Creatures: Dwarves
• Fantasy Creatures: Elves
• Game Engine: World Builder
• Game with Creator's name
• Inspiration: Author - J. R. R. Tolkien
• Inspiration: Literature

User Reviews

Control the fate of Middle Earth from a Global point of view! Great Game!

DOS

Indra was here (20921)

Critic Reviews

Zzap!	Amiga	May, 1989	93 out of 100	93
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)	DOS	Feb, 1989	914 out of 1000	91
ST/Amiga Format	Amiga	Mar, 1989	91 out of 100	91
Commodore User	Amiga	Apr, 1989	89 out of 100	89
The Games Machine (UK)	Amiga	May, 1989	89 out of 100	89
The Games Machine (UK)	DOS	May, 1989	88 out of 100	88
The Games Machine (UK)	Atari ST	May, 1989	88 out of 100	88
Power Play	Atari ST	1989	71 out of 100	71
Power Play	Amiga	May, 1989	71 out of 100	71
Computer Gaming World (CGW)	Amiga	May, 1989	Unscored	Unscored

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
War in Middle Earth - Two versions?	11	Indra was here (20921) Apr 12, 2014

Trivia

There is no trivia on file for this game.

Related Web Sites

• AtariMania (for Atari ST: game entry database; downloadable release; software sets; advertisement; manuals; additional material.)
• Hall of Light (for Amiga: game database entry; package material digitalizations; screenshots; additional material.)
• IMDb, the Internet Movie Database (For combined platforms: game database entry.)
• John Howe's Official webfolio > The Lieutenant of the Black Gate (Original illustration created for the Tolkien Calendar and after used in the cover art. By John Howe.)
• John Howe's Official webfolio > The Tolkien Calendar, October 1987 (Source of the illustration used in the cover art, by John Howe.)
• Lemon Amiga (for Amiga: game database entry; magazine reviews; manuals; additional material.)
• The Unofficial War in Middle Earth Fan Site (Dedicated to the preservation and aide of players who love and still play this classic strategy game. Contributions welcome!)
• Tolkien Computer Games (More information about War in Middle Earth)
• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (video game) (encyclopaedic entry for combined platforms.)