The Lord of the Rings: Tactics [PSP]

• -- View an exclusive video and screenshots

One of the many great things about the Lord of the Rings trilogy is how perfectly suited it is for so many gaming genres. The frenetic, action-based titles immersed you into the movie experience, while the real-time strategy game showed battles on a bigger scope. Last year's The Third Age put an RPG slant on things. Now, Frodo, Gandalf, and the rest of the Fellowship tackle tactical role-playing -- on the PSP no less. Once again, the result should appeal to both gamers and fans of the films.

Knowing the EA formula when it comes to licensed games, it's surprising to see how fresh LotR Tactics ' take on the genre is. The main unique aspect of gameplay is the fact that both sides move and attack simultaneously. Once you plot out the movement phase for your side, everything happens at once. If two opposing forces meet up, they immediately halt their movement. During attack phase, you pick your targets; in a nice decision, everyone has both melee and ranged attacks.

Of course, Gimli relishes being up-close and personal, while Legolas prepares to rain death from afar. If you are nose-to-nose with an enemy, however, you can't ignore them in favor of attacking far-away adversaries. Having everything happen at once adds a chaotic element to battles that's usually lacking in titles of this ilk.

Missions themselves stray from the norm, as the goal isn't always to clear out every orc on the map. For example, in the mines of Moria, you must get everyone safely off the bridge while Gandalf contends with the Balrog. Often, you're protecting one key character while targeting a dynamic enemy. It's still not the most exciting game out there -- and you may rub your eyes and yawn every so often -- but it's a darn good-playing tactical RPG. The AI is especially admirable, as bad guys will often gang up on your and use items of their own.

Experience is dished out post-battle, and you can use money to further enhance stats, or buy up new special moves if you'd rather. Tossing gamers a bone, once you buy an item, any one of your troops can use it -- though the actual act of doing so is a bit clunky. However, that's really the only chink in the control armor, as LotR Tactics handles really well (switching characters and targets is especially nice).

EA knows how to capture the essence of the Tolkien/Jackson epic, and this game's no different. All the characters are faithful to their onscreen counterparts, there's a load of high-res movie clips, and the score is straight out of the films. Stages look great too, and really transcend the blockiness normally associated with a grid-based combat system. Console developers should take note. While you can move the in-game camera to your liking, the predetermined angles for attacks are sometimes ridiculously obstructed. Along with generic troops being hard to distinguish, these are the only faults in LotR Tactics ' graphics.

As pretty as it is and as faithful to the movie as it may be, one can't help but start to tire of the endless barrage of Lord of the Rings iterations EA has unleashed upon the gaming world. While the way the story is told is different, it's still the same darn story: Hobbits, the Ring, the eye of Sauron, etc. After having it force-fed down your throat time after time, the epic Tolkien trilogy loses some of its magic. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Multiplayer deserves some mention, too. Up to four players can go at it over Ad-Hoc, and it can bring about some really odd teamings of good and evil fighting on the same side. The simultaneous turn-based system really shines in multiplayer, and makes playing with friends a whole lot of fun.

Comparing Lord of the Rings Tactics to Metal Gear Solid -- another turn-based, tactical PSP title with a famous franchise attached -- this game comes out on top in almost every way. It's mostly due to the fact that hordes engaged in sword battles lends itself better to this genre than a spy with a mullet trying to be sneaky. However, LotR Tactics just has tighter gameplay and more intuitive control. This should please anyone looking for an engaging PSP title to suck out their unit's battery life at a record pace. This game can definitely be Hobbit-forming.