Conquest

Conquest: Trek Mi Q'an Books Four and Five: No Escape and No Fear
$12.99
Freaking great books. Okay, the seduction, big man, small girls, capturing from earth and such are the same. But, the plots, the characters, the development of what could be very repetitive is just so great. She can make erotic to become funny. She can make erotic to be very hot. She can write about people that are very interesting. I am hooked I may say and I I saw on her web page that the next book is no way out: Jana, then No Way Out: Dari, then No way Out: Kari and then No way out: Armageddon and I can't help but to hope she will release them all in a large book so I can read it soon.

:D :D

Lord of the Rings: Conquest
$19.99
BUY IT! it has a great story and awesome instant action. the story never gets boring ive beaten it ten times now. i am dissapointed only because the producers said you would get to launch hobbits out of catapults and you cant. evil mode was great but heroes kill saraun to easily

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
$19.99
Since Lord of the Rings first hit the silver screen as epic, three-part blockbuster, EA Games has been attempting to give gamers the opportunity to relive the story from both main character, commander, and now everyday Joe points of view. And who wouldn't want to jump into the action, kill some orcs, and avoid getting smashed by ginormous oliphants?

In the latest titles, Lord of the Rings conquest, you get to play as one of those soldiers you saw in the movies scurrying out of the way from balls of fire and following studs like Faramir in combat. You even have the opportunity to jump in the shoes of the heroes like Gandalf and Legolas when things get hairy. Gamers have the choice of being and archer, warrior, scout, or mage (wizard), each having their own special abilities and complimenting other classes nicely. One critical aspect about controlling a unit is that you are in fact dependent on the other AI players to assist you, though this does lead to some criticisms about the game itself.

Before getting into the negatives, let me throw out a few kudo's. First, the environments are pretty cool. It was awesome being around lumbering oliphants about to crush you and seeing what exactly made Minas Morgul glow that spectacular green/blue color. It was nice having options to ride a horse, fire a catapult, and pull levers as well. Probably my favorite part was raining down fire arrow death on uruks trying to siege Helms Deep. I probably could have done that for hours alone if my team mates were more plentiful/effective.

Which brings me into my criticism of the game. I enjoy having other players around me and the fact that the game takes away the "one man army" aspect of it, however, the game still relies on you doing pretty much all of the work in order to move forward. Even if you try to play a supporting role, such as taking out enemies around warriors as an archer, or shielding the troops from arrows and lightening as a mage, they still rely on you to do all of the work. This in turn begs the question: why aren't you given a commanding ability for the troops? While this is not the only game that suffers from the "one man army" dilemma (see my review on Call of Duty 4), one has high expectations for a game representing a worldwide multi-million dollar production.

Oh yeah, and be prepared to lose/die...a lot. Sometimes, it will make no sense at all and will take little time at all. I found it particularly funny in the Pelennor Fields battle when I alone was responsible for taking down three siege towers and 3 oliphants...single handedly...Oh yeah, then I had to kill the Witch King. Oh well, all in a days work I guess.

You will find yourself either laughing or groaning at the voices in the game. The main command voice is very monotonous and boring. Then you have the non-real voice of Gandalf calling out "I am Gandalf". Besides dying for poor reasons a million times, that was almost enough to make me regret buying this game in the first place.

Now, the time you all have been waiting for: do you buy it or not? As much as I have supported past EA Lord of the Rings games and never completely regretted my purchasing decisions, I have to say save your money on this one folks. Even if you find it in a discount bin for $20, and you WILL see it there, hold onto your dough. There are other games that have been released around this time which will still run on your systems pretty decently. While the game does allure players with prospects of being part of massive battles and cool characters, it is simply gilded: gold on the outside, crap on the inside.

Conquest: How Societies Overwhelm Others
$24.95
Day's book, Conquest, offers a new interpretation of what we would commonly call colonial settlement. Instead, Day offers the idea of supplanting societies, that seek to replace the current population and culture with one in their own image. Importantly, Day illustrates the process of supplanting through numerous cases and examples from around the globe. He is not limited to only to English or Spanish colonization, but spreads his net widely.

Day's writing is clear and concise. His scholarship, as usual, is top notch. Anyone interested in colonialism, settlers and new societies would do well to read this book.