Creative Assemblyis an incredibly talented studio behind many incredible games.Alien: Isolationis one of the best survival horror stealth games I’ve ever played,Total Waris one of the most iconic strategy series in the world, and Viking: Battle for Asgard is a criminally underrated title that deserves revisiting.
Unfortunately, the studio was saddled withHyenas, a live-service title that wasabandoned by Segaweeks before it was due to release. Sega realised too late thatthe live-service bubble had already burst, andCreative Assembly suffered for it. It suffered with wasted time, years spent working on a game far out of its wheelhouse that never saw the light of day. Alien: Isolation was also outside of CA’s usual wheelhouse, so this risk could have paid off, but the developer also suffered with layoffs thanks to Sega’s rash decision.
It’s time to go back to what the studio does best. Complex battles, a smooth blend of turn-based tactics and real-time strategy, and the best war simulators in the business. However, I think it needs to put a twist on the formula. No, not Battle for Asgard 2, Creative Assembly needs to make a spiritual successor to Battle for Middle-earth.
Battle for Middle-earth 2 might be the best Lord of the Rings game ever made. It’s certainly my favourite – at least until theStardew Valley-esque Tales of the Shire releases– and who better to revive the series than the masters of real-time combat themselves? It’s high time Glorfindel got some screen time again, and he’d be a perfect leader for a Total War: Middle-earth campaign.
Creative Assembly has the experience for this, not least because of the three Total War: Warhammer games it has produced over the last decade. It dealt with the complex IP with aplomb, and you’d be hard pressed to find a Warhammer fan who dislikes the series.
Embracer has been incredibly forthcoming since acquiring the rights to video game adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, and after Gollum bombed, it needs a free win as much as Creative Assembly does. Total War: Middle-earth would be just that, a licence to print money.
What Creative Assembly needs more than anything right now is a break. The team needs some time to recuperate, to mourn the losses of its brainchild and colleagues. After that, however, working on something familiar might be the perfect salve to soothe their wounds.
Fans would lap it up, as Battle for Middle-earth isn’t just fondly remembered in my house, it’s widely known as a genre classic. The blueprint is there, all it takes is Creative Assembly to smush its existing formula onto the map of Middle-earth, and the outcome will be superb. Embracer’s rights cover the Lord of the Rings books, so while fans may wish for the Dagor Dagorath or Dagor Bragollach, the events of the War of the Ring would be a more likely timeline.
Forces of Gondor, Rohan, and Rivendell would be essential ‘good guys’, while the hosts of Isengard and Mordor would oppose them. If CA wanted more flavour it could look east and south, to the war between the Dwarves and Easterlings and the march of the Haradrim respectively. This would also add some much needed diversity to proceedings, as the reds, golds, and purples would contrast well against the drab browns of Orc military gear and the sparkling silver armour streaming out of the forges of Minas Tirith.
A campaign playing out the War of the Ring – on the side of goodorevil – would be perfect, and a freer mode would complement it perfectly to aid replayability. What if Rohan had not answered Gondor’s call for aid? What if the Dwarves had arrived at the Black Gate? What if Mûmakil stampeded over Sam and Frodo on their way to Mordor, and the Ring was left encrusted into the dirt on the sole of an elephant’s foot? That last question probably wouldn’t be answered, but we can dream.
With all the Lord of the Rings games being announced at the moment, I’m surprised there hasn’t been a strategy entry in the series. It’s high time fans get a spiritual successor to Battle for Middle-earth, and Creative Assembly deserves the treat.
