The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard

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The name The Lord of the Rings refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see The Lord of the Rings (disambiguation).
The name Isengard refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see Isengard (disambiguation).
The Lord of the Rings- The Treason of Isengard.jpg
The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard
Video game
DeveloperSurreal Software (PS2, Windows)
The Whole Experience (Xbox)
Pocket Studios (GBA)
PublisherVivendi Universal
PlatformPlaystation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows
Release dateCancelled
GenreAction-Adventure

The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard was a third-person action-adventure video game under development by Surreal Software for PlayStation 2 and Windows, and The Whole Experience for Xbox. It was the sequel of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and like its predecessor was based on the books. A separate edition was developed for GameBoy Advance by Pocket Studios.[1] It was to be released by Vivendi Universal in late 2003 but was cancelled in September 2003 due to failing the standards Vivendi had set for their games.[2]

Plot

The storyline of Treason of Isengard is based on books, covering the second volume The Two Towers, and continues where its' prequel ended. The storyline would have featured Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli pursuing the Uruk-hai and entering Fangorn, the journey of Frodo, Sam and Gollum in their journey to the Black Gate, in Ithilien and in Shelob's Lair.It would have also featured the Battle of Helm's Deep and the Battle of Isengard.[3]

Gameplay

The player was able to take control of several characters. Whilst progressing the player would gain experience and could upgrade their characters. Other features included large battle sequences,[1] playing as an Ent, online gameplay and downloadable content.[4]

Playable characters

The game would include several playable characters. Due to the game's cancellation it is unknown which charactars would be playable. This list only includes confirmed characters:

Cancellation

Concept art of the Witch-king

Scheduled for release in Q4 2003, Treason of Isengard was dropped from the release schedule when it was determined that the game was not shaping up as strongly as anticipated and would likely not satisfy the expectations of Tolkien fans.

Vivendi Universal Games remains committed to developing and releasing quality games based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and we look forward to the release of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring this November, as well as Middle-Earth Online next year.
—Official statement of Vivendi Universal[2]

Treason of Isengard was cancelled in september 2003. In an interview with Gamespot, Andrew Shiozaki, senior brand manager of Vivendi, explained that Vivendi had reviewed their complete line-up of Middle-earth video games, which besides Treason of Isengard included The Hobbit, the War of the Ring strategy game and the MMORPG Middle-earth Online (which eventually was released as The Lord of the Rings Online by Turbine). It was deemed that Treason of Isengard failed the standards that Vivendi had set for their Middle-earth video games and was therefore cancelled. Instead, they focussed on the remaining three video games.[2]

Soundtrack

Brad Spear, who previously composed music for the Fellowship of the Ring video game, composed original music for Treason of Isengard, as well as tracks based on themes composed by Chance Thomas for Middle-earth Online (which later became known as The Lord of the Rings Online). Several music demo's were available for download on the - now offline - site www.lotr.com. Some tracks were reused for The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings Online.[6][7]

Trailer

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See also

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Black Label Games announces new The Lord of the Rings game", www.gamespot.com (accessed 27 August 2014)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "LOTR: Treason of Isengard axed", www.gamespot.com (accessed 27 August 2014)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard Trailer 1", www.gamespot.com (accessed 27 August 2014)
  4. "The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard", www.ign.com (accessed 27 August 2014)
  5. "LOTR - Treason Of Isengard Cancelled" dated 13 September 2003, http://games-beta.slashdot.org (accessed 19 March 2024)
  6. "Chance Thomas' Lord of the Rings Themes Surpass 1 Million Downloads", www.theonering.net (accessed 27 August 2014)
  7. "[1]" dated 25 May 2003, web.archive.org (accessed 19 March 2024)