'The Lord Of The Rings' Unreal Engine 4 Demo Is A Thing Of Beauty
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Featured Image Credit: Liam Tart
Put your hands up if at some point in your life you've dreamed of an open-world game based on the original The Lord Of The Rings trilogy? None of this Shadow Of Mordor spinoff nonsense - an actual adventure that lets you explore everywhere from the rolling hills of The Shire to the craggy terrain of Mount Doom.
Will it ever happen? I have absolutely no idea. We know Amazon is currently developing an ambitious MMO based on Tolkien's epic fantasy adventure, and there's a team of dedicated Minecraft players working every day to build a complete replica of Middle-Earth. But I'm greedy. I want a single-player adventure. I want something just for me.
Not that Shadow Of Mordor and its sequel weren't great, of course, but there was a limit to my enthusiasm when it came to exploring areas that hadn't been all that heavily touched on in the books. Give me The Shire. Give me Mirkwood. Give me Minis Tirith in all its splendour.
Thankfully, 3D artist Liam Tart has dared to dream just what Frodo's cherished home would look like in a next-gen video game, thanks to a stunning Unreal Engine 4 animation. As reported by DSO Gaming, this custom-made map gives us a tantalising look at The Lord Of The Rings game of our dreams, and it really is a thing of beauty.
Take a look at it for yourself below (or via this link). Just be aware that there's currently no way to download and play it for yourself.
While we wait patiently for Warner Bros. to hire the clearly talented Mr Tart, The Lord Of The Rings MMO is expected to land in 2022, and it sounds like there's a ton of work being put in to making this an authentic experience.
In a statement released back when the project was first announced, Amazon Game Studios VP Christoph Hartmann said: "Tolkien's Middle-earth is one of the richest fictional worlds in history, and it gives our team of experienced MMO developers - from the same studio developing New World - tremendous opportunity to play and create."
Leaked documentation recently stated that the MMO's content will be finished an playable six months PC open beta kicks off, and a commercial launch window is planned for another six months after that. Lets hope it manages to look even half as good as Tart's effort here, eh?
Topics: Unreal Engine 4, News, Amazon, unreal engine, The Lord Of The Rings
