The genre that feels like the best fit for all your fantastical orc-slaying business, in 2004 EA moved away from the hack n' slashery of the movie tie-ins and instead into traditional turn-based RPG goodness. The result? The perfect combination of old school Final Fantasy combat brought to life thanks to EA's extremely hefty budget. Animations popped and flowed accordingly, menu-systems were easily accessible, and in a similar vein to LOTR: Conquest you could also switch sides for an additional evil-tinted campaign - providing an extremely competent RPG despite it's complete lack of innovation. For hardcore RPG fans the omission of loot and more in-depth character-management meant it didn't go over as a classic in the genre, but sometimes all that's needed is to perfect a formula rather than reinvent it, and for those who prefer their role-playing in alternating attack/defensive flavours, this was spot on.
