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The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-Earth II (PC)

• Developer:
• Publisher: EA
• Genre:
• Official Website: http://www.ea.com
• Score: 5 of 5: Purchase

After the success of the original Battle for Middle Earth RTS game, it was obvious that EA would make a sequel. Many people anticipated that it would be the same thing as the previous game, something that has sadly been associated with the EA brand name. Thankfully, those people were wrong. BFME II is not only an excellent sequel but a greatly enjoyable RTS based on the Lord of the Rings franchise.

Though it is undeniable that the Lord of the Rings books and movies were some of the best pieces of literature and film making, it was getting tiresome to play as the Fellowship of the Ring. In BFME II, players get to play as the other heroes/villains who lived during the War of the Ring. The game centers around these people and hardly on the Fellowship. In fact, they are only featured in one level during the Evil campaign, where you must kill all of them. Some characters, like Sméagol, are never featured in the game. I personally think that it was a wise choice to leave the Fellowship alone for a while and explore the other areas of the War of the Ring, such as the Elves' and Dwarves' conflict against the Goblins.

There are numerous game modes. There are two campaigns, an evil and a good one. Both of them feature eight missions, which can be completed between 20 minutes to an hour. Though these playing sessions may seem short, the battles in these levels are always epic. The stories, as mentioned above, focus on the other heroes/villains of the War of the Ring. In the good campaign, you play with Dwarves and Elves and fight against the Goblins and other Mordor forces. In the evil campaign, you mainly play as the Goblins and occasionally as Mordor forces. Men of the West (Rohan and Gondor forces were combined in this game) and Isengard forces, who were in the spotlight of the first BFME game and other LOTR games, are primarily featured in the War of the Ring mode and skirmishes.

In the War of the Ring mode, the game plays on a real time map of Middle earth, much like how the campaigns of the first BFME played. Turns are taken, and the player (as well as the opponent) make moves in turns, just like on a real board game. There are various ways to play this game. "War of the Ring" mode is like Capital Assault where you need to take over the opponent's capital. "Sole Survivor" is an Elimination type where you need to capture all of the territories. "One Ring to Rule Them All" is a World Domination mode where your objectives are to take over all of the specified territories. Last but not least, "Strongholds" is a Conquest type mode where you need to take over the specified areas and hold them for at least three rounds to defeat the enemy. These modes are sure to keep you playing after completing the campaign. Of course, skirmishes and multiplayer are available if you still want to play some more.

Creating heroes is a new and welcomed feature. You get to create your own heroes or villains. These heroes could be used in all of the game modes except in the campaign. You can choose between Men of the West, Elves, Wizards, Dwarves, Servants of Sauron, or Corrupted Men. Each of these categories has two or three subcategories. With Servant of Sauron, you can have Uruks, Trolls, or Orcs.

Something that really bugged me, and probably everyone else, is that in the first BFME game, you could only build in selected areas. That is no more. You can now build anywhere you please, making the game experience much better.

BFME II is not only an excellent LOTR adaptation but an excellent RTS as well. Boasting many improvements and new game modes, fans of the franchise or the real time strategy genre will not be disappointed. An expansion pack based around the wicked Witch King is already out; expect a review of that soon. I have to point out that even though I am primarily a console gamer, I recommend that you get BFME II on the PC, not the Xbox 360. The controlling is awkward on the Xbox 360, and the expansion pack is not available for it.

Feb 27, 2007 | 4 comments
Mate Bors