Sierra announces Orcs: Revenge of the Ancient, a strategy game based on The Lord of the Rings.

Sierra have announced Orcs: Revenge of the Ancient a new combat/strategy game featuring fantasy villains, the Orcs.

In the game you take on the role of an Orc chieftain who must battle his peers in the Orcish tribes in order to assume the mantle of leadership. In order to do this, you will equip, train and lead a team of Orcish warriors against your opponents.

"Players who want to fuse the gameplay of their favourite genres will now have the opportunity with Orcs: Revenge of the Ancient, a raising, training, fighting game with RPG-based elements," said Orcs creative director, John Race. "We're excited to set Orcs' original storyline in the rich and layered world of Middle-earth."

Gameplay might be described as a mix between Creatures and Virtua Fighter with a bit of Die by the Sword thrown in. As a chieftain, you have four elite Orcish warriors under your command, each of which can be custom trained, equipped, and armed with a variety of armour, weapons and moves.

Each Orc has different traits like strength, intelligence and dexterity, as well as personality traits, such as a berserker temper or a penchant for backstabbing. You then take your Orcs into a realtime, 3D combat environment, first in the single-player game, and then ultimately into an online arena, where your Orcish champions will battle those of other players across the Internet.

There is also a story element to the game, based on the rich mythology of Tolkien's Middle-Earth world. As a player, you will have to keep in good standing with Sauron, The Lord of the Rings, vying with other chieftains for favour, quests, and successful missions.

Orcs: Revenge of the Ancient will first be shown at E3 in May. It will be released in November.