Retro Magazine 1

war games.
Melbourne House marched out War in Middle Earth in 1988, shortly before
the release of The Crack of Doom. This turn-based strategy game was
developed by Mike Singleton, author of Shadowfax and The Lords of
Midnight (which was heavily inspired by The Lord of the Rings itself).
Using an icon-driven interface, you had to guide Frodo and the fellowship
from The Shire to Mount Doom. Along the way you would become
embroiled in battles with Sauron’s armies. The removed perspective
distanced the player from the characters, who were, after all, just pixels on
a huge playing field, yet the game certainly emphasised the epic nature of
the novel. It was ahead of its time too, predating the similar Dune games
by at least two years. The game was originally released on 8-bit machines
(including the MSX) but later appeared on the PC, Amiga and Atari ST.
These later versions benefited from enhanced visuals, including graphic
sequences which showed the characters preparing for battle.
Beam Software, the Australian owners of Melbourne House, released Riders
of Rohan on PC in 1990. This strategy game was similar to War in Middle Earth
and began with the battle for Helm’s Deep. There were a number of units you
could utilise, including Frodo and Aragorn, but the battle engine was on the
simplistic side. Besides making tactical decisions, there were also several action
scenes in which you battled against orcs, either firing arrows as Legolas or
swinging your axe as Gimli.
The Interplay games used a series of stills to drive
the story
Dead and
buried?
There is hope that Vol 3 may
surface some time in the future,
especially as a Lord of the Rings
game written for the Atari 2600 has
recently surfaced. This unreleased
prototype, subtitled Journey To
Rivendell, was originally scheduled
for release in 1984 by Parker
Brothers but never materialised,
even though box artwork and screen
shots appeared in one of their
release catalogues at the time.
Excited fans who phoned Parker
Brothers were told that the game
had sold out to cover up the fact
that it had never been released. The
prototype available on the Web is
clearly unfinished, although some
gameplay elements have been
implemented. For instance, when the
black riders attack, you can wear
the ring to become invisible and
dodge their attack.
All this is a long way off the
licences available now, but then
again, both The Two Towers and The
Return of the King games from EA
are little more than polished versions
of Golden Axe. Perhaps we haven’t
travelled that far after all! ✺✯*
These turn-based strategy sims
were a welcome departure from
the adventure games
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