LOTR: Conquest gets heroes, maps

Lord of the Rings: Conquest will beef up with some extra heroes and maps today.

This second DLC pack costs 800 Microsoft Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60) on Xbox Live, according to IGN - PS3 pricing is absent, but we'll find out soon when the Store is updated.

The new heroes on offer are Arwen, Boromir and Gothmog. That last one is what Peter Jackson nicknamed "the Elephant Man Orc"; the ugly commander who takes control of the baddies at Pelennor Fields after that blonde lady stabs witchy in the face. This is not the Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs, from The Silmarillion. He'd be a teensy bit stronger.

All three are based on the Warrior class but have special perks. Arwen, the pointy-eared daughter of Elrond, swipes with ice-claws and spins into a whirlwind as a special attack, deflecting projectiles as she goes. She can summon a wall of water like she did in the film, too, as well as set freezing ice traps for people to stumble on.

Boromir uses kicks and punches as well as his sword, and sounds the Horn of Gondor as a ranged attack, stunning enemies while buffing allies. Gothmog triggers falling rocks during battle, and has a poisoned throwing axe to slow his prey.

The two new maps are Amon Hen and Battle of the Last Alliance. The former is where Boromir made a grab for The Ring in the film and where The Fellowship eventually broke. Conquest, Capture the Ring and Team Deathmatch are on offer. Gothmog and Lurtz are the evil heroes, while Boromir and Arwen represent the good.

The Battle of the Last Alliance is the Second Age conflict that resulted in Isildur cutting The Ring from Sauron's hand and kicking off The Lord of the Rings as we know it. The conflict lasted many years and happened on many fronts, though, which is why this map is set on the lava fields of Mordor. Conquest, Capture the Ring and Team Deathmatch are on offer. Gothmog and Sauron represent the baddies, while Arwen takes up arms for the good.

On top of this are two extra hero arenas: Weathertop and Minas Tirith.

Lord of the Rings: Conquest certainly sounds exciting, but turned out much less so; a lazy attempt to cash in on a licence. Still, there are plenty worse than a re-skinned Battlefront clone by Pandemic.

Head over to our Lord of the Rings: Conquest review to find out more.