[{"TitleName":"War in Middle Earth","Publisher":"Melbourne House","Author":"Chris Pink, Mike Singleton, Paul Robotham, Alan B. Clark, Robert Clardy, John Howe","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0005629","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 62, Mar 1989","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1989-02-23","Editor":"Dominic Handy","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Dominic 'bye bye' Handy\r\nAssistant Editor: Stuart 'here I come' Wynne\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Philip King, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nContributors: Raffaele Cecco, Mel Croucher, Ian Cull, Mike Dunn, Paul Evans, Ian Lacey, Barnaby Page\r\nEditorial Assistants: Caroline Blake, Vivienne Vickress\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nDesigners: Melvin Fisher, Yvonne Priest\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nProduction Team: Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nSales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Andrew Smales, Lee Watkins\r\nAssistants: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Sticky Solutions Department a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\nTo DW and DH, thanks for all the good times!\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1989\r\n\r\nISSN 0954-8661\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"FRONTLINE\r\n\r\nWAR IN MIDDLE EARTH\r\n\r\nProducer: Melbourne House\r\nPrice: £9.99 cass, £14.99 disk\r\nAuthor: Design by Alan Clark and Bob Clardy, programming by Mike Singleton\r\n\r\nMelbourne House's first game based on JRR Tolkien's fiction was one of the most popular adventures ever, and a classic of computing game. The follow up to The Hobbit was something of a sleeper, despite The Lord Of The Rings getting 9 out of 10 in Issue 26. For their third Tolkien game the software house has changed genres and produced a strategy game. The game is based on events detailed in Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. You play the parts Frodo the Hobbit, who has recently inherited The One Ring from his uncle Bilbo Baggins. This ring is the most powerful evil magic item in existence and was created by the evil necromancer Sauron.\r\n\r\nSauron made 19 other such rings and gave them to the leaders of the Elves, Dwarves and Humans. Once these rings were placed on the fingers of the recipients, they came under the power of The One Ring.\r\n\r\nDue to a long series of events, the ring has come into your hands and you must destroy it by dropping it in a volcano situated in the middle of Sauron's evil realm. So you must muster your troops and friends to dispose of the evil artefact.\r\n\r\nWhen the game is loaded you are presented with a map of all the known lands in Middle Earth. In the centre of the map is a gauntleted hand and to the left are three command options; File, Memo and Time.\r\n\r\nYou control the gauntlet via either the keyboard or the joystick and by pressing fire on the map you get a more detailed view. Here you can see which units of troops and which individuals are hanging around. Friendly personnel are displayed as shields and it is possible for a large group of both individuals and units to be present in the same location.\r\n\r\nYou can find out full details of who is in this group - called a stack - by accessing your controls again. Here you are given a full rundown of your forces on a group by group, or Individual by individual, basis. The details include such basic information as name and commander, as well as Energy, Determination, Steadfastness and Virtue. The level of these factors decides how well your forces move, fight and remain loyal.\r\n\r\nIt you press your fire button twice you obtain a sub-menu with four commands. This enables you to either set a specific destination for your troops, order one group to follow another, Jan your units together or return to the main menu.\r\n\r\nOnce you have given them your orders you return to the main map. Here you can either choose File (save the game and set various options), Memo (state of the game info) or Time (which sets the game in action and make your troops obey your preset orders).\r\n\r\nThe aim is to move your troops to strategic forts, castles and the like so they're not decimated by Sauron's forces. When Sauron's troops attack yours, the game time is stopped again (as you make your orders) and the screen displays the campaign map with a pair of crossed swords representing battles.\r\n\r\nThe game then moves over to a special combat screen depicting every person in the battle. Soldiers are represented by small, animated figures and you can scroll across the battlefield to see them all.\r\n\r\nYou can control individuals by moving a cursor onto them and pressing fire. You can then either take direct control over them, or merely select an enemy for them to attack.\r\n\r\nIf combat is going badly - and it often does - you have the option of letting the ring-bearer wear the ring. This enables you to disappear from the sight of ordinary opponents and sneak away. There are disadvantages to this, though - your Virtue decreases at an alarming rate (so that you run the risk of becoming a servant of darkness, losing the game) and The Nine Nazgul can easily see you. The latter are very powerful magical servants of Sauron, who can all too easily defeat you, stealing the ring and returning it to Sauron.\r\n\r\nOverall, the game's graphics are generally average - sound is nonexistent - and the combat sequences are pretty hard to control. That said, War in The Middle Earth goes to prove that if a games concept is sound and has the ability to capture your imagination - which this product certainly does - you don't need lots of flashy graphics to produce an enjoyable computer game.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"73","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Map of all Middle Earth together with options."},{"Text":"Preparing your forces for the onslaught of Sauron's warriors."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"75%","Text":"Stylish packaging and comprehensive scenario set the scene."},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"60%","Text":"Mostly pretty dull, but interesting combat scenes."},{"Header":"Rules","Score":"72%","Text":"Informative and interesting."},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"75%","Text":"Icon-driven control system easy to use, but the battles soon become repetitive."},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"70%","Text":"An ambitious and intriguing game."}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 40, Apr 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-03-16","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Cleaner: Colin\r\nEditor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nDesigner: Thor Goodall\r\nEditorial Assistant: David Wilson\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Ben Bracken, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Catherine Peters, Rachael Smith, Phil South\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Stephen Bloy\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Katherine Balchin\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nPublisher: Terry Grimwood\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1989 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"Melbourne House\r\n£9.99/£14.99\r\nReviewer: Phil South\r\n\r\nHolding the rights to games from the wacky world of the famous John Ronald Reuel Tolkein has its benefits, dunnit? Like being able to whip off a new game every now and then when the mood takes you, based loosely on the magnificent fantasy 'tour de France', Lord Of The Rings trilogy. But War in Middle Earth? Where does that fall?\r\n\r\nI admit that I booted this game with a steely glint of suspicion in my eye, looking every which way for a reason to slag it off as forcefully as I could. But after about fourteen hours play on the trot I had to collapse with defeat. Try as I might, I couldn't find extreme anything to poke fun at, not even the graphics.\r\n\r\nThe scope of the game is broad indeed, like the unsettling boast on the packaging. \"Multiple playing levels let you control all the characters and armies that appear in Lord Of The Rings, from the broad sweep of strategy, right down to individual characters actions on the battlefield\"(!). Coo, is that a fact?\r\n\r\nWIME is, in fact, a new game from Mike \"eight billion locations and a cast bigger than Ben Hur\" Singleton, the writer of the Lords Of Darkness games. He specialises in that sort of thing, of course, but this is more of a strategy game than his usual graphic strategy adventures. I'm reminded of some of those wargames, the like of which Owen and Audrey Bishop used to review; you know, PSS and CCS make them? You have a map on your screen, and you move a cursor around the screen with keys or various flavours of joystick. WIME has the Mike Singleton touch, though, in that you can not only deploy whole regiments of humans, orcs, dwarves and elves, but also zoom in closer to control your own characters, like Frodo who carries The Ring.\r\n\r\nYou can wear The Ring, or just carry it. Wearing The Ring makes you invisible, but as you will know if you've read the books, this starts to alter your characteristics. For the worse. You can give The Ring away, but be sure you know who's got it, because you must take it to Mount Doom and destroy it by chucking it into the Crack Of Doom. Once the Ring is destroyed, that's the end of Sauron's power, and the game too.\r\n\r\nThe look of the game is fairly unexciting, on the face of it, and is not the sort of thing that'll appeal to your average action-packed laser spitting arcade junkie, for sure. But it is a gigantic strategy game, and for those of you who need something a little more meaty to get your teeth into (and there isn't a Pepperami handy) then this could be just the thing. Some folks prefer this kind of adventure to a pure text affair, and why not? I look at pages of text on screen all day and it drives me mental. This is a big game, for big heads.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Fabby strategy game, based on a great story. Buy it.","Page":"46,47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Phil South","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The campaign map is an extended view of the same Middle Earth map, bit zoomed in to show up finer detail. The hills and rivers are shown clearly, as are roads and 'units'. Units can be one player, or they can a whole battalion. Putting the cursor on them brings up a scroll telling you who or what they are. Friendly units are shown as shields, and enemies as crossed swords."},{"Text":"There are other menus to control the flow of battle, but if it all gets too much for you, you can give the Ring to another player, or in an extreme case, put it on and disappear."},{"Text":"This map is the overview of Middle Earth, with the window down to the left controlling things like saving/loading positions in the game, the time (in natty Roman figures) and memos from your men in action. These will scroll across the screen, if there are any. Once the game has been set in motion, by starting the timer, the troops will clash and the campaign map will be brought up."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 83, Feb 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-01-18","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham 'phew' Taylor\r\nDeputy Editor: Jim 'shiny shoes' Douglas\r\nProduction Editor: Alison 'get lunky' Skeat\r\nArt Editor: Tim 'diced carrots' Noonan\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'ratty' Dillon, Chris 'snivel' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Martha 'eejit' Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'serene' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'it's alright I'm here now' Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Jerry 'fluffy bunny' Parks\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1989 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]"},"MainText":"Label: Melbourne House\r\nAuthor: Mike Singleton\r\nPrice: £9.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nIt's not often a wargame gets a large review in SU, which could be regarded as being a little biased, but let's hope that WIME puts things to rights. It's not really a true wargame. It's a wargame mixed with an RPG mixed with a bit of adventure and just a smidgen or two or arcade qualities. Four basic elements, all of which have proved themselves in the past in their respective fields, but mixed, do they work? Well, funnily enough they do, and reasonably well I might add.\r\n\r\nFirst of all the credits. The main dude responsible for taking three books worth of complicated but very, very enjoyable reading matter and putting it all as a form of interactive entertainment is none other than Mike Singleton, whose games are all basically original and brilliant. WIME is no exception.\r\n\r\nYou take control of the forces of good and you have to try to get the infamous magic ring of corruption to Mount Doom and throw it into the fire. Pitted against you are the evil forces of Sauron, consisting mainly of two types of creature, both pretty hideous. The first, and easiest to beat in combat, is the common orc. These foul, pig like creatures travel round in packs of around a dozen, and basically wander everywhere. The second type of nasty, and these are pretty darn hard to beat even at the easiest of times, are the Nazgul. Black, deathlike riders, these in on the evil ring and are generally near invincible in combat.\r\n\r\nYou begin in command of around 100 'units'. What exactly the unit contains can vary from one of the games' specific characters to a group of 30 dwarves. Each of the units has a series of statistics, and it's these which you use to judge which moves to make when and where. Some statistics, such as strength, govern how good the character(s) will be in battle, others, such as dedication, give you some indication as to how fast they're going to be able to move across the map. The final statistic, their virtuosity, is the key factor in getting the ring across the map.\r\n\r\nThe longer you have the ring, the more corrupt you become. What you have to do is get the ring all the way across the map at a steady rate, swapping between different characters to use as ring bearers.\r\n\r\nThere are three different playing modes. In the main overview map, you deal with all the loading and saving bits, along with the time advancement icon. The map shows the entire playing area, and the positions of all your units. It does not show the position of the enemy, so there's no room for cheating.\r\n\r\nIn the main command mode, you get an expanded area of the map, with all the different terrains and features labelled, by scrolling around, the names of all the towns, along with all your units are displayed. Move the pointer over the icon that represents one of your units (a shield) and click once. Now, if you move up or down on the joystick, you can view all the characters in that group. Double click and you go into command issue mode. There are three things you can tell a group to do. You can tell them to go to a specific place; you can tell them to join up with another group; or you can get them to follow another group. This is all done by selecting which you want to do on a menu bar, and then clicking the cursor over the appropriate target.\r\n\r\nWhen you've issued all the commands you can possibly want to issue, go to the overview map, and click on the time advancement icon. This is the cue for action to begin. All the orders you've given out will begin to be executed. Of course, when you're moving 100 units around on a map, you are bound to get into a ruck sooner or later, and this is where the game gets really good. You are given a list of all the adversaries battling it out, yours and Sauron's. Press fire, and you go into the game's arcade sequence.\r\n\r\nAll the men are shown in a semi-3D representation of the battlefield, and it's a race against time to get as many men involved as possible. You are given a small circular pointer. Click in one of your men, and then on one of the enemy, and that man will run off to do battle. The game is designed so that each enemy soldier can only attack one target per round, so what you've got to try to do is to get as many men onto one target as possible. This bit is great. It's fast, it's frantic and it's fun.\r\n\r\nGraphics aren't too bad; there's some nice detail on the main map, and the icons are both clear and recognisable. The battle sequences are very nice. Each of the enemy types looks different, as do the friendly armies, which more than compensates for the bland green background in this section.\r\n\r\nIt's very easy to do. It's also very hard to do. In fact it's up to you how hard to make it (choose out of 15 skill levels), 0 making the Nazgul amazingly easy to kill, 14 making everybody except you practically invincible.\r\n\r\nI really like it. It may not appeal to all (arcade freaks stay away). But if you're a fan of the books, then you won't be disappointed. The attention to detail is amazing and the feel of the book has been captured perfectly. Strategy buffs, or even people who want to spend a more productive Sunday afternoon rather than defeating the semi-quaser Thraglets from Venus again, why not give it a whirl? Mike does it again.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Interesting blend of almost every genre of game. Works well, too.","Page":"88,89","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Dillon","Score":"79","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"74%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"61%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"79%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 20, May 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-04-06","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Future Publishing [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted], Telecom Gold 84:TXT152\r\n\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nReviews Editor: Bob Wade\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Jarratt, Andy Smith\r\nProduction Editor: Damien Noonan\r\nConsultant Editors: Jon Bates (Music), Brian Larkman (Graphics)\r\nAdventure Editor: Steve Cooke\r\nContributors: Tony Takoushi, Zog\r\nArt Editor: Trevor Gilham\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Angela Neale\r\nProduction: Diane Tavener, Claire Woodland, Vivien Dean, Naomi Steer, Louise Cockroft\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertising Sales Executive: David Lilley\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\n\r\nCover by Steve Dillon\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nAvon Direct Mail [redacted]\r\n\r\nSPECIAL OFFERS\r\n(Christine Stacey) [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nSwift Graphics Ltd, Southampton\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nSM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nChase Web Offset [redacted]\r\n\r\n© FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD 1989\r\n\r\nNo part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"Melbourne House, £9.99cs, £14.99dk\r\nPC version reviewed Issue 17 - ACE rating 914\r\n\r\nFrodo has the same aim in the 8-bit versions of War in Middle Earth as he does in the 16-bit game reviewed three issues ago, but the way the player gets involved is radically different.\r\n\r\nFor a start, there simply isn't room on cassette-based systems for the detailed 16-bit location graphics found at character level: indeed the character level is not present. The adventure element is also missing: there's no need to go in search of items to give to leaders of the races of Middle Earth before their forces are put under your command. All forces allied to the cause of good accept your orders the moment the game starts.\r\n\r\nThe main map screen gives an overview of Middle Earth, and action takes place while it is displayed. Moving a pointer over a location on the main map and pressing fire calls up the more detailed, scrolling Campaign Map. Here orders can be given to units, locations and armies can be examined in more detail and status information on your allies called up. While the Campaign Map is accessed, game time is paused. The strategic element of the 8-bit versions is true to life - you don't get to see the deployment of Sauron's forces on the Campaign Map, so the only way to find out where his armies are is by running into them.\r\n\r\nThe combat sequences are much more detailed. Rather than just selecting a couple of options from a menu, you can pitch in and join the fray. When two opposing armies meet, the display can be changed to give a view of the conflict and the player is allowed to influence the outcome of battle by using a cursor system to direct the actions of individual soldiers. Your troops don't go into attack on a battlefield, but wait patiently until they are either attacked or told who to fight.\r\n\r\nAs would be expected, there's not so much graphic detail in 8-bit versions of War in Middle Earth, but if anything there's more of a challenge, with the option to set levels of difficulty. Fans of the Mike Singleton approach to games design will recognise his touch.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"79","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Amstrad - 8-bit version of War in Middle Earth allow the player to really mix it during battles. Your troops don't attack opposing creatures - they just stand still, defending themselves if attacked. It's up to you to direct individual soldiers by selecting them with the cursor and giving them an objective to attack. The bad guys naturally ignore orders..."},{"Text":"C64 - On the Campaign Level the cursor becomes a magnifying glass which is used to call up detail on units and places."},{"Text":"C64 - The main map screen which shows Middle Earth in its entirety. The finger icon is used to access the Campaign Level."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMSTRAD VERSION\r\n\r\nThe game is marginally better suited to the Amstrad's capabilities.\r\n\r\nAce Rating: 856/1000"},{"Text":"C64 VERSION\r\n\r\nClanking sounds that accompany battles wear thin after a while.\r\n\r\nAce Rating: 856/1000"},{"Text":"SPECTRUM VERSION\r\n\r\nProved a little awkward to load at first, but apart from the Spectrum's graphical limitations, every bit as good as its 8-bit stablemates."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"851/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 89, Mar 1989","Price":"£1.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-02-16","Editor":"Eugene Lacey","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nDeputy Editor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Paul Glancey\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Garry Williams\r\nSales Executive: Johanna Cook\r\nCopy Control: Lora Clark\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\n102,401"},"MainText":"MACHINES: Atari ST, Amiga, Spectrum, Amstrad, C64, IBM PC\r\nPRICES: C64, Spectrum, Amstrad cassette £9.99, disk £14.95, ST and Amiga £19.99, IBM PC and Compatibles £34.99\r\n\r\nToikien has proved a fertile ground for game designers. Not just the various officially licensed games from Melbourne House either - the Tolkien-esque world of hobbits, elves, wizards, and monsters bttling it out in mythical lands has been ripped off for countless adventure games.\r\n\r\nNow Melbourne launch new Tolkien game - five years after their original Hobbit adventure topped the Spectrum charts for literally months on end.\r\n\r\nWar in Middle Earth is a world away from that original Hobbit adventure, with its lateral thinking puzzles and slowly filling in graphics beside certain locations.\r\n\r\nWar in Middle Earth is much more of war game-come-role playing game than the earlier Tolkien adventures.\r\n\r\nAs in the great book itself - the Lord of the Rings - the object in War in Middle Earth is to retrieve the ring - and keep it from the evil Sauron.\r\n\r\nYou ploy the port of Frodo Baggins - whose uncle Bilbo Baggins is well known in the Shire for his adventures - the most famous of which saw him discover a ring with strange powers.\r\n\r\nIn your quest for the ring you are accompanied by three fellow Hobbits, Sam, Merry and Pippin, Aragorn the Ranger, Boromir of Gondor, Legolas, Gimli a dwarf and the great white wizard Gandalf.\r\n\r\nThe game is played out on a massive scrolling map of the land of Middle Earth.\r\n\r\nTo examine any area of the map in detail you move the finger cursor to the required location. Press fire and time is suspended whilst you make your move.\r\n\r\nThe game uses a neat window system to provide additional information about your units. These are represented by shields. You are told several important pieces of information about each unit - and it is important in the game to try and know who is where, what there strength is and where they are going.\r\n\r\nWindows also open during the battle sequences - to provide you with information on the enemy and your options. It is not always wise to stand and fight it out.\r\n\r\nA further window can be made to open by depressing the fire button twice. This enables you to give instructions to your unit. You have four possible options: Return, Set to Destination - which enables you to send the troop to a specific destination, Set To Join - this orders the unit to join another one, and Set to Follow to follow you.\r\n\r\nWhat makes Middle Earth more than just a Tolkien war game is the battle sequences. There is no sitting back and watching the computer work out the relative strengths and weaknesses whilst your warriors thrash around. You can directly influence the outcome by skillfully positioning your warriors - picking them up and moving them to skirmishes where your men are losing the edge. It is close hand-to-hand fighting - just as Toikien describes it in the books.\r\n\r\nWar in Middle Earth is as much a race against time as strategic challenge. You have to win time to discover the ring and destroy it by flinging it into the Cracks of Doom where it was forged.\r\n\r\nIn order to win the time to carry out the mission you have to keep the forces of evil at bay. To do this you need to mobilise on army by enlisting the support of the men of Dale, the Nations of the West, the Elves of Lorien and Mirkwood, the Dwarves of Erebor and the Iron Hills.\r\n\r\nThe campaign is lost if the forces of evil win back the ring and return it to Barad-Dur or Isengard.\r\n\r\nThe graphics and on-screen presentation of War in Middle Earth are superb. All of the icons, the various scrolls, and window information systems are neatly implemented.\r\n\r\nThe game has all the hallmarks of a game which has been crafted slowly and painstakingly. I can thoroughly recommend this game to Tolkien fans and anyone who enjoys a strategic challenge. Great stuff.\r\n\r\nAs a special treat to all Tolkien fans we have a bumper package to give away to the first person to write in and tell us the name of the third book in the Trilogy Lord of the Rings.\r\n\r\nThe winner will receive a copy of the game and also a copy of the board game - Middle Earth Role Playing System - as featured in AGM News. Send to Tolkien Compo, C+VG, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"70,71","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Eugene Lacey","Score":"88","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Battle mayhem."},{"Text":"Detailed scrolling map of Middle-Earth."},{"Text":"Main menu screen."},{"Text":"The land of Middle Earth - general map."},{"Text":"Your adventurer has just found Gandalf."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"UPDATE...\r\n\r\nThe splendid job carried out with the 8-bit graphics should be bested by the 16-bit versions. All 8-bit versions are on sale now. Amiga, ST and IBM PC and compatible versions will be on sale by the end of the first week in March."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"88%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 17, Apr 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-03-23","Editor":"Jon Rose","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL AND HEAD OFFICE\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Jon Rose\r\nFeatures Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Robin Hogg, Warren Lapworth, Robin Candy\r\nEditorial Assistants: Vivien Vickress, Caroline Blake\r\nResearcher: David Peters\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Mel Croucher, Don Hughes, Marshal M Rosenthal, Jason Sheldon, John Woods\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nProduction Team: Ian Chubb, Yvonne Priest, Melvin Fisher, Robert Millichamp, Robert Hamilton, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nADVERTISING AND ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENTS\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nGroup Advertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Lee Watkins\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts [redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by the Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow and on our Apple Macintosh II running Quark Xpress 2.0. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group. Distribution effected by COMAG, [redacted].\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of TGM. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop Viv Vickress a line at the PO Box 10 address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into TGM - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitably stamped, addressed envelope. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in TGM are not necessarily those of the Editor. Other Newsfield publications are CRASH (Spectrum), ZZAP! (Commodore 64/Amiga), FEAR (fantasy and horror) and MOVIE - THE VIDEO MAGAZINE. Now that's quite interesting, but why are you reading all this when there 111 pages to go?\r\n\r\n©TGM Magazines Ltd, 1989\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nAmstrad CPC Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nCommodore 64/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\n\r\nYAWN-ALONG-A-TOLKIEN\r\n\r\nMelbourne House have been associated with Tolkien since their adaption of The Hobbit. Lord of the Rings and Shadows of Mordor were received well. War in Middle Earth is a something of a departure in the series in that, unlike its predecessors it is essentially a wargame.\r\n\r\nLord Sauron's ring of power, having come into Bilbo Baggins's hands (The Hobbit) has now been passed on to his heir Frodo. You control all the characters and armies allied to the fellowship of the ring - dwarves, hobbits, elves and men.\r\n\r\nThe game is controlled from three screens using a command cursor to select desired options. A map displays Middle Earth. Its. terrain types and positions of any allied units.\r\n\r\nLord of the Rings fans will notice errors in the accompanying booklet - not only are some of the names spelt incorrectly but the story's wrong in places as well and there turns out to be very little for you to actually do. The battles soon become tedious as its too easy to win even when faced with extremely unfavourable odds.\r\n\r\nWar in Middle Earth is very disappointing. Tolkien fans will find the lack of detail frustrating while wargamers will find this too straightforward to offer a lasting challenge.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"As the fastest of the 8-bit conversions, the battle screens are the least tedious - they tend to be over quickly. The graphics are largely monochromatic with a bit of colour splashed around on the campaign map. A reasonable implementation but lacking","Page":"54","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Fastest of all the 8-bit versions, Spectrum War in Middle Earth is still too long-winded to be exciting, and too easy for the average RPG-er."},{"Text":"Middle Earth as seen below from TGM's space satellite on the Amstrad."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"\"Too easy to win to offer a lasting challenge\""},{"Text":"AMSTRAD CPC\r\n\r\nOverall: 65%\r\n\r\nThe battle screen features a few bugs - sometimes several men form a straight line with each member performing exactly the same movements. Odd."},{"Text":"COMMODORE 64/128\r\n\r\nOverall: 62%\r\n\r\nGraphically the best version, the characters are more detailed and colour has been used effectively, but battles take an age."},{"Text":"OTHER FORMATS\r\n\r\nSoon to be available for the ST, PC, Amiga."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"65%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]