New Lord of the Rings Game is, You Know, For Kids
Posted by Damien McFerran
Warner Bros. turns the cute factor up to eleven
As you may already be aware, EA's ownership of the LotR movie licence has recently expired and the rights have now reverted to Warner Bros.
Given the nature of the subject matter one would naturally assume that Warner would play it safe and create an epic action adventure with lots of orc-slaying and plenty of gore; after all, this is a property based on a book which is essentially an allegory of World War II.
However, flying in the face of popular opinion, Warner Bros. has revealed that its first LotR-flavoured release will be The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, a game that is - you know, for kids - and has a strong focus on 'colourful' and 'friendly' visuals. We certainly don't recall Mordor being all that colourful or friendly, but what do we know?
Here's what Warner has to say about the upcoming game:
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is the first Lord of the Rings videogame created specifically for kids and their families with accessible gameplay set in a friendly, colorful rendition of Middle-Earth. Players assume the role of Strider and embark on his greatest quests from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The game offers authentic, action-oriented sword fighting, lancing and archery that all ages can play together
The game is due to be shown at this year's E3, and while no formats have been confirmed as yet but if this doesn't appear on a Nintendo console then you can paint us pink and call us Susan.
[via uk.wii.ign.com]
#1
City_Of_Delusion said:
The words "how will that work?" come to mind.
#2
KDR_11k said:
BRB, hooking a generator up to Tolkien's corpse.
#3
TwilightV said:
Maybe something like The Hobbit game by Sierra?
#4
Damo said:
The ABOMINATION of The Hobbit game by Sierra, you mean.
#5
Esposch said:
"Let your kids butcher Orcs like cattle and watch their heads roll around on the ground! Let them watch their friend be murdered in front of their eyes after he is corrupted by an evil ring! Let them see Gollum writhe and scream as he is boiled alive! Coming soon to a game store near you!"
Sounds very family friendly!
#6
James said:
Throw in the huge spider and killer elephants and you've got a game kids of all ages can enjoy.
#7
opeter said:
Why the heck they need to make every franchise acceptable for kids?!
#8
calculon said:
Oh dear lord. I can only pray an Oliphant crushes the hell out of the dev team before this comes to store shelves - or at least that someone will pull a Tom Bombadil and just make this terrible threat to all that is good disappear
#9
greyelephant said:
How do you make it kid friendly? Easy, just change the name to "Lord of the Rings Family Party".
#10
NintendoNaut said:
Ugh...Leave the serious franchises alone.
#11
Bass_X0 said:
It'll be Grand Theft Auto: Family Party next.
#12
pixelman said:
Well, I don't think Tolkien would be all that annoyed, since he wrote a good deal of stories for kids. He'd probably be happy that his kids could play the role of Aragorn without experiencing all the brutality surrounding him. But remember, Aragorn wasn't all about dismembering orcs - he was a ranger. Playing the role of a ranger would be hella fun.
Oh, and don't worry, there will probably be a good deal of combat - Zelda: Wind Waker was rated E
We'll have to wait and see, but I doubt it'll be better than ROTK.
#13
Hardy83 said:
Well if it does get new generations to get interest in Lord of the Rings to the point that they eventually check out the books, or even Lord of the Rings Online then I'm all for it.... Maybe. lol
#14
warioswoods said:
Lord of the Rings has always been best suited for a child's intelligence.
flees impending attacks
#15
Knux said:
I'm not a Lord of the Rings fan,but do they have to ruin every serious franchise?
#16
Sharecrow said:
I just love that picture.
And I could be okay with an 'E' LotR if it were fun to play...
#17
Hawker said:
@ opeter my question is why do they think all kids need bright colors &cute graphics? I guess it's the way most people are, once they become adults they forget how smart & tough kids are.
#18
Kriqxz said:
@ #7 opeter
The Middle Earth books already contain several childrens stories. Even 'The Hobbit' is a childrens story based as a prequel to the main Trilogy, so what's wrong with having a childrens game based on Middle Earth?
They haven't released any screenshots, nevermind anything other than a few very vague details.
Stop being so prejudiced... it causes enough problems in society already...
#19
Bahamut_ZERO said:
I don't mind it being colorful and stuff, but seriously "kiddy?" Just because it doesn't use the Unreal 3 engine it's suddenly only for kids. sigh
As long as it's good, I don't mind, but I really hope WB isn't just making a quick cash-in....
#20
Objection said:
In my opinion, a game's rating alone should not make a gamer cast a blind eye to it. Let it also be said that I can't see this working.
#21
Marvelousmoo said:
Ahh darn it
#22
PHANTOM93 said:
Ugh, Why do they have to do this to every franchise!
Admittedly though almost every game in the Zelda franchise is rated E, so I'll try to keep an open mind about this. It could even be interesting if it sheds some light on the various tasks that Aragorn and Gandalf were doing between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
#23
SKELETOYS said:
That picture is freaking hilarious! That poor kid is scarred for life though...
#24
MickEiA said:
Lord of the rings suck star wars franchise is way better