The Lord of The Rings: The Battle For Middle-Earth II

I thought that the first game was great, but Battle For Middle Earth 2 is bigger, better, and more badass in every way that you could imagine. Say what you want about EA, but I do not think they get enough credit for what a great job they did with the Lord of the Rings license and this game is a shining example of that.

The Books or The Movies?

One of the coolest aspects of this game was that EA went all out with the licensing for this game. It is not just based on the movies or the books, but actually features locations and characters from both. This is truly impressive and at the time it was released I would say this was the most comprehensive collection of Lord of the Rings stuff any game had seen. Battle For Middle Earth 2 features some really cool characters and locations that did not make it to the silver screen.

I See You!

The presentation has that EA polish that you would expect. From the characters, the locations, and especially the soundtrack everything has an authentic Tolkien vibe to it that I really do appreciate. The production values of this game are sky high and it makes you feel like you are in these heated battles. The only disappointment I have is the create a character option. While you can level up your character and improve them and make them a formidable warrior. The aesthetic options are sadly greatly lacking in this mode.

Good or Evil?

Battle For Middle Earth 2 features two blockbuster single-player campaigns for you to sink your teeth into. You can play the good campaign which centers around an attack on an elf sanctuary and a bad campaign where you are helping Sauron destroy the forces of good. Each campaign will get you heavily invested in what is going on thanks to its great storytelling. As a big fan of The Lord of the Rings, I found both campaigns to be very enjoyable, but I did prefer the good one, but only just.

Taking A Risk?

There is another really cool game mode that is called The War of the Ring. This is like the board game Risk where you have a large map and you are trying to conquer it. The game still has the RTS battles, but there is more going on now. I had a blast playing this with one of my friends as we had a game that lasted for ages as we both were trying to take control of the land. You can also play this mode in single-player and I even found the AI to be a fun challenge as well.

What You Would Expect

I will say that the core gameplay has not been radically changed. You still have your various factions with a few new ones added in. You can build various things on the battlefield such as bases which is much easier to do than in the last game. The actual battles are a great deal of fun you have your units, heroes, and so on, and deciding what to do and when to do it really is the key to giving yourself the best chance of victory. Overall, I found the gameplay to be challenging, but also very rewarding. It does have a fair bit of a learning curve, but I felt that the game did a great job of explaining everything to me as I was playing.

Pros:

• It captures the world of The Lord of the Rings perfectly
• Lots more content over its predecessor
• Two awesome campaigns to play
• The War of the Ring mode is awesome
• It is a ton of fun to play with a friend

Cons:

• It does have a bit of a learning curve
• I wish the campaigns lasted just a tad longer

How Did It all go so wrong? Just 15 months ago we were extolling the virtues of The Lord Of The Rings; The Battle For Middle-Earth, one of the most entertaining and accessible RTS games we'd seen for years, a strategy game that tried something a little different and succeeded admirably in almost every department.

A sequel was of course, inevitable, welcomed, highly anticipated, an opportunity to take this bold new RTS franchise to even greater heights. Tragically though, that hasn't happened, as TBFME2 not only lacks the original's charm, but also fails to live up to its potential on virtually every level.

Before its release, we were promised that TBFME2 would have two big selling points: the unification of the book and movie rights under one banner (both of which are utterly under-used), and the ability to build your base anywhere on the map, a feature that manages to strip this follow-up of its predecessor's uniqueness. Not the best of starts, then. Still, it's early days yet.

Elves And Dwarves

The two story-driven campaigns (good and evil) take place in the north of Middle-earth, where dwarves and elves battle the forces of Sauron. Aided by heroes - most of which you won't recognise - you lead your forces through eight piss-easy missions that feel so scripted they make WWE seem spontaneous.

Here's the thing. The beauty of the original was its freeform nature and strategic depth, two attributes that this follow-up is utterly bereft of. More often than not, missions lead you by the hand from point A to point B, where you have a scrap with some enemies, before moving you on to point C for a slightly bigger ruck. And that's about the size of it.

Sure, there are some tactical subtleties to employ, such as flanking and height bonuses, but with battles often proving to be utterly one-sided affairs (in your favour), most missions just end up feeling like strolls across a map with a few fights thrown in for good measure.

So how about the new enemies - of which there are plenty - surely these guys should spice things up a bit? Well, not really. As visually impressive as they are - in particular Sauron's new servants which include spiders and dragons - they're all still pretty easy to beat and often display the tactical awareness of an under five's football team. And don't even get me started on the naval battles. There isn't a word in Elvish, Entisli or the tongue of man that could do justice to how just bad they are.

In The Battle For Middle-Earth II's defence, there's still plenty to enjoy despite the shortfalls. The game sparkles with EA's usual veneer, with some impressive visuals and truly gargantuan battles adding real beauty and bite to the proceedings. The story - what there is of it - is fairly entertaining, while heroes have an excellent array of visually spectacular skills that can be used to turn the tide of battle.

There's Still Hope

What's more, you can also harness the power of the One Ring or the Evenstar (depending on your allegiances), with a multitude of defensive and offensive spells available to you, including meteor showers that turn enemy units into paste and humorous yet deadly appearances from Tom Bombadil.

Perhaps The Battle For Middle-Earth II's biggest problem is that it feels rushed. The two story-driven campaigns seem hollow and overly scripted, and at around five hours each, are far too short. Battles seldom feel like desperate struggles or brutal skirmishes and rarely require much strategy. You also can't help but feel that the game's been somewhat dumbed down, as though attempting to appeal to a mass-market audience with its sheer simplicity.

What's more, the dual licences feel utterly under-used, the voice-acting is a shadow of the original's and the build-anywhere feature just makes the game feel like a myriad of other mildly entertaining yet eminently forgettable RTS games that have come and gone over the last few years.

The Battle For Middle-Earth II may look impressive, and its basic, by-the-numbers RTS approach is fun in a mindless sort of way. However, in no way is it anywhere near the game we hoped for. What a waste.

Your Turn

Everyone else is doing it, maybe we should too

With Rome: Total War and Star Wars: Empire At War proving just how effective a marriage between turn-based campaign and real-time battles can be, EA LA obviously thought it'd better try its hand at doing something similar.

So, it set about dividing Middle-earth into some 40 provinces, and you must conquer them all (or just a specific few if you're pushed for time) and become the supreme ruler of Middle-earth. Sounds great in principle, but once you start playing, you quickly realise just how unwieldy and ugly the campaign map actually is. In fact, it's so clumsy that it feels more like an afterthought than a well-planned feature. Quite frankly, EA LA shouldn't have bothered.

The Lord of the Rings is one of those franchises that you can't help but think of in videogame terms. Thus, I am compelled to say: Lord of the Rings + RTS = Awesome

Unfortunately, Battle for Middle-earth, the first Lord of the Rings RTS game, was not so awesome. Fun to a degree? Sure, but it left many fans disappointed in the midst of the flourishing movie franchise.

But, hey, that's what sequels are for.

Battle for Middle-earth II, unlike its predecessor, does most everything right. It takes a beloved franchise rife with potentially great videogames moments and transforms it into a fleshed out, fully formed RTS experience. Half of what makes for a solid RTS, for example, is a rich world to draw upon, and that's something Battle for Middle-earth II certainly doesn't want for. The missions are well crafted both objective-wise and setting-wise, utilizing the vast lore of The Lord of the Rings books to make more some really memorable experiences.

The logistics of the game are all pretty sharp, too. Battles feel truly epic, with hundreds of characters on screen at once, and better yet, the chaos feels controlled though always intense. The emphasis is squarely on the action, with a plethora of units and heroes (similar to the Warcraft series) at your command. But, with such an emphasis on action, the strategic element of the game runs in the shallow end. For RTS purists, that can be a bit of a downer, but for the more mainstream audience that doesn't usually delve into heavy strategic games, this is a pretty big boon.

Strategy enthusiasts aren't left completely in the dark, however. Included in Battle for Middle-earth II is a Risk-like turn-based strategy game called War of the Ring. It's a bit rough around the edges, but if you prefer a little bit more depth mingled with your action, it's definitely a fun diversion from the main game.

And, if nothing else, Battle for Middle-earth II sure does look nice. The scope of the game is pretty huge, and with battles fielding a huge number of units, it'll induce a few moments of nerdish awe. But, like most RTS titles, it looks really nice far away, but when you start zooming in, all the flaws shine through. This would be a negligible if it weren't for the fact that a majority of the cinematic use in-game graphics, highlighting many of the game's imperfections.

Like, love, or loathe Lord of the Rings, there's simply no denying that Battle for Middle-earth II is a solid RTS. It helps all the more if you can recognize the subtle genius in zerging an enemy base with a battalion of LothlA?rien elves, but even if you can't, it's still worth a long look.