''J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan'' is a computer video game from 1991 based upon the fictional

War of the Ring ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's ...

set in the

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...

world created by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

, centered in

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

novels. The massive-scale simulation takes part in the realm of Rohan and the player controls the forces of Good during the onslaught of the forces of Evil, namely centered on the conflict with Saruman of

Isengard In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Isengard () is a large fortress in Nan Curunír, the Wizard's Vale, in the western part of Middle-earth. In the fantasy world, the name of the fortress is described as a translation of Angrenost, a word ...

. It was published by

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...

and Mirrorsoft.

Gameplay

In terms of gameplay, it is very similar to the 1988 '' War in Middle Earth'', except the setting was downsized from the entire world just to the land of the Rohirrim, engulfing mostly the storyline from ''

The Two Towers ''The Two Towers'' is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is preceded by ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and followed by ''The Return of the King''. Title and publication ''The Lord of the ...

'', and to a small extent ending in ''

The Return of the King ''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, ...

''. In a combination of a single-unit adventure, small-scale battlefield tactics and broadscale campaign warfare, the player must coordinate the Fellowship and Rohan's troops in order to fend off the invasion of Saruman's

Orcs An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially ''The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly, ...

and save the Rohirrim lands, as well as mounting enough forces to push the war on the fronts in the east in order to contribute to

Sauron Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Midd ...

's defeat. At the beginning, the player can in the starting menu choose to start a new game, load an old one, quit, access encyclopedias dealing with featured units and characters, or practice. The practice folds down to tutorials in single-fighter combat: - Archery: the player takes control of

Legolas Legolas (pronounced ) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and one of the nine members of the Fellowship who set out to destroy the One Ring. He and the Dwarf Gimli ...

attempting to shoot down (18) Orcs from a wall, while crouching from their spears - Duel: the player chooses between four Heroes:

Aragorn Aragorn is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of Ar ...

, Legolas, Gimli and Éomer, to fight either an Orc or a Dunlending in melee combat - Magic Duel: the player takes control over

Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" from the Old Nor ...

fighting a Nazgûl flying mounted on a Felbeast The game begins just before the Battles at the Fords of Isen, with the player taking control over Rohan's western armies (an army consisted of an infantry unit estfold Militia a light cavalry unit utriders a horse archers unit arrowdale Bowand three heave cavalry units elms Deep Guards and Edoras Guards, the Grimslade squadron being under Théodred's personal leadership. The main army is led by Théodred, while there is a separate unit of heavy cavalry arrowdalethat is still behind on the road. The game ends when Sauron is destroyed after the Battle at the Black Gates and Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom.

Units

The player can control only the good side in the conflict. * Rohirrim Infantry - the poor, the young and the old gathered together, versatile all-round melee fighters eager to patriotically defend their homeland (squad size: 600) * Rohirrim Archers - Rohan ground units which have mastered the proficiency with the bow (squad size: 150) * Rohirrim Light Cavalry - fastest in the world, ideal scouts; useful for rapid skirmishes (squad size: 450) * Rohirrim Heavy Cavalry - renown horsemen, among the hardest fighters in the world; useful for routing enemies with their lances (squad size: 450) * Rohirrim Horse Archers - highly skilled, mounted ranged units; can also fire while moving but with reduced accuracy (squad size: 150) * Ents - tree-like beings from

Fangorn Treebeard, or ''Fangorn'' in Sindarin, is a tree-giant character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is an Ent and is said by Gandalf to be "the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth.", b ...

forest as they are, they are fiercely powerful warriors little can stand against, should they ever decide to join the conflict and not neutrally stand by idle. * Orcs - all-around melee units, but generally weak and flee when outnumbered; vulnerable when exposed to direct sunlight * Orcish archers - coward Orc fighters that have mastered the proficiency with the bow * Uruk-hai - elite Saruman's warriors, hybrid orcs; travel across sunlight without problem; fierce fighters that can stand ground against most * War Riders - Orcs mounted on the backs of large wolves ( Wargs); very savage and fierce, except when their attack is broken; their mounts are hungry and independent on their own, very weakly trained * Dunlendings - savage, lightly-armed tribesmen from the countryside with an innate hatred for the Rohirrim, will blindly fight to the death

Characters

The game features a number of characters, only conditionally "heroes": * Aragorn - (Fellowship) the mightiest mortal in the world, a brilliant personal fighter; master strategic leader * Gimli - (Fellowship) masterful hand-to-hand combat fighter * Legolas (Fellowship) - Elven prince; best archer in the world, very quick but lightly armed * Gandalf (Fellowship) - a Wizard (Maia) sent by the Valar to aid the Free Peoples against the Dark Lord, the most powerful hero; avoids combat and councils others, best fighter amongst the Good forces with unmatched powers, invincible through conventional means (can wipe out nearly anything) * Merry (Fellowship) - non-combatant; stealthy * Pippin (Fellowship) - non-combatant; stealthy * Treebeard (Ents) - leader of the Ents, among the oldest creatures; concerned for the living, especially his native Forest * Éomer (Rohan) - King's nephew and Third Marshall of the Riddermark; excellent leader as second only to the King; very good sword fighter * Erkenbrand (Rohan) - Leader of Westfold and commander of Helm's Deep; an exceptional warrior and is bent on maintaining the defenses at the Hornburg * Hama (Rohan) - King's Doorward and Captain of His Guard; a very good fighter as boundlessly loyal * Théoden (Rohan) - The King. The best military commander in the world, still a potent fighter, but very old and physically weakened * Théodred (Rohan) - Prince, Second Marshal of the Riddermark. Identical to Éomer (personal combat), but a weaker commander * Éowyn (Rohan) - 'Eomer's sister, inspires the people as a shield maiden; non-combatant * Gríma (Rohan/Isengard) - The King's councilor, convinced Saruman is an ally, in reality a spy and saboteur * Saruman (Isengard) - the chief antagonist; powerful as Gandalf, unengaged leader of the evil forces; wants to annihilate the Rohirrim and get the One Ring for himself, building an Army of dark forces for that task

Reception

'' Computer Gaming World'' called the game's graphics "simple, yet pleasing", but described it as "a lightweight strategy game that includes several action sequences and some very limited character interaction". The magazine stated that those who had not read Tolkien's books would likely not understand the game's backstory, and that strategy players would dislike how closely they needed to follow the original story's actions to succeed in the game. ''Computer Gaming World'' only recommended it to devoted Tolkien fans.

References

External links

''J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan''
at MobyGames {{Papyrus Design Group games 1991 video games DOS games DOS-only games Konami games Papyrus Design Group games Personal Software Services games Single-player video games Strategy video games

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