Fans of the LEGO Lord of the Rings are in for a nice treat: on their website, LEGO has two browser-based games based on popular battles in Middle-earth: the Battle at the Black Gate and the Siege of Helm’s Deep.
Source: LEGO
Battle at the Black Gate
In this game, players create their own team of three to take on enemies at the Black Gate. Available heroes are Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Merry & Pippin. For my test run, I stuck with Gandalf, Aragorn, and Gimli; though for one level I replaced the Man and Dwarf with the Elf and Hobbits. My strategy involved having two melee characters to take on the smaller enemies, with Gandalf providing ranged attacks against larger enemies or ranged opponents.
In addition to the playable heroes, players can also call upon various allies– the Army of the Dead, a Rider of Rohan, and even one of the Eagles – to aid them in battle against their enemies: warriors, archers, cave trolls, and even the Mouth of Sauron on horseback.
There are ten stages total, each one increasing in difficulty and number of enemies. At the end of each stage, stars (indicating the number of remaining characters on your team) are displayed and reappear in the final scoreboard upon completion. (In case you were wondering, I had a near perfect score – unfortunately, I lost Gimli and Aragorn in the eighth stage, so I only received one star.)
Although the main goal of this game is to buy time for Frodo to get the Ring to Mount Doom, as a gamer, I would have enjoyed a Boss-type fight at the end. Instead of a big battle in the final round, my team was simply faced with a seemingly never-ending wave of enemies. But keeping in mind that this game is also intended for children, I found it to be an enjoyable way to pass half an hour of my time. Regardless of age, the Battle at the Black Gate will surely appeal to a variety of audiences.
The Siege of Helm’s Deep
For the Siege of Helm’s Deep, players can choose from one of three characters – Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli – to protect the fortification from being overrun by enemies. After the successful completion of one area of the map, players can move on to the next one, all the while utilising skills such as archery, sword-fighting, and axe-wielding against siege-ladders, battlement breaches, and berserkers.
To try these games for yourself, visit LEGO’s Lord of the Rings Games page
You can view images of the games in LEGO’s Google+ album
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