Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 Collector's Edition

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Master next-gen unit control with smart formations, battle lines, and planning mode
• Build anywhere
• Control the entire war with a high level "Risk" style meta-game on the Living World Map with all new strategic AI
• Extend your battlefield with larger than life navy battles at sea

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000CA5GL6
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.8 x 1.5 inches
• Media: DVD-ROM
• Release Date: February 28, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,425 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #32 in Video Games > PC Games > Strategy > Real-Time
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, the sequel to the critically acclaimed RTS game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth you now have the chance to experience all that Middle-earth was meant to be.

Given a new agreement with The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises that grants EA the rights to develop games based on the books, in addition to a separate agreement that allows for games based on the New Line Cinema films The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II will introduce players to depths of the fiction never before explored by EA.

With all new content from J.R.R. Tolkien's original fiction, delve deeper than ever before and engage in new battles that go beyond the award-winning movie trilogy. Wage war in the North and assume command of the most storied civilizations in all of Middle-earth history--the Elven and Dwarven armies--or fight on the side of Evil with heroes and creatures that have never been seen in The Lord of the Rings films. Defend or overtake never before seen lands such as Dol Guldur, The Misty Mountains, and Mirkwood as you unleash powerful new weapons and abilities--summon dragons, cause volcanoes to erupt, or bring down a cataclysmic lightning strike.

But beware, with greater power comes greater adversity. Your enemies, commanded by a powerful new AI system, possess a greater tactical edge and more powerful spells. Will your armies have the fortitude to persevere?

New races, places, heroes, and battles from books & films

• Command all the races of Middle-earth with three all new factions including Elves, Dwarves, and Goblins.
• Win the war in the North single-player campaign with all-new story that takes you to places and battles of Middle-earth previously unseen.

Customization, Command, & Control

• Build your own landmark castle with fully customizable and upgradeable fortresses and walls.
• Create your own hero with all new customized RTS units that are your avatars in-game.
• Control battles with all-new enemy AI, melee combat, and flanking, adding unprecedented tactical fidelity.

This special Collector's Edition also includes:

• Exclusive Bonus DVD in High Definition (HD) Mastered in HD for the ultimate high resolution experience on your PC or HD TV
• Entire musical score features original music created exclusively for The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II
• In-game cinematics and trailers in high resolution and surround sound
• "The Making of The Battle for Middle-earth II": The story of the team behind The Battle for Middle-earth series including never before seen videos and exclusive interviews with key development team members
• "The Art of the Game": The ultimate collection of artwork created for the game, including hundreds of cinematic paintings and key pieces of concept work
• Exclusive In-Game Content. All new fire-breathing Dragon on the battlefield, this impressive unit can only be controlled by players who purchase the Collector's Edition
• Special graphic treatment for "create-a-hero" units identify Collector's Edition gamers during on-line play
• Multiple exclusive maps including signature locations from The Lord of the Rings films, such as Weathertop and Argonath
• Two-sided, 11-by-17-inch Exclusive Campaign Map Poster
• Gorgeous high resolution map of Middle-earth created exclusively for the game--"Good" side lists out all the campaign locations from the good campaign while the "Evil" side lists out its campaign locations and descriptions
• The perfect companion piece while playing the Good or Evil game missions
• A rebate coupon for savings on a new NVIDIA graphics card

Product Description

In The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II, the sequel to the critically acclaimed RTS game The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ you now have the chance to experience all that Middle-earth was meant to be. Given a new agreement with The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises that grants EA the rights to develop games based on the books, in addition to a separate agreement that allows for games based on the New Line Cinema films The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II will introduce players to depths of the fiction never before explored by EA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun interpretation of Tolkien's world, April 4, 2006

By 

Andrew C. (USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 Collector's Edition (DVD-ROM)

As a big fan of real-time strategy (RTS) games, I found this game to be a bit more than the average base-building, resource-collecting fare. To be sure, there is a lot of this kind of activity required in the game, but it is presented in a way that does not seem bland or too conventional. The game does not break a lot of new ground for the genre like, say, Dawn of War or Rise of Nations, but it does offer an interesting spin.

Gameplay: There are a few options here that should keep most players preoccupied for a while. First, there is the campaign mode that allows for play as either the good or evil side. Each of the campaigns have eight scenarios which for the most part are your standard base-building, land-conquering variety. Overall, the missions are well done and are a great introduction to the other gameplay options. Another gameplay mode is the War of the Ring. This is a mix of turn-based and real-time gaming in which factions try to take over a map of Middle Earth by moving armies around. It is a very well-done gaming mode that should allow for a lot of replayability. Thirdly, there is a skirmish mode as well as online play. The game comes with several maps, but unfortunately there is an overabundance of 2-player maps and a shortage of larger maps (only one 8-player map).

Each of the six playable races (men, elves, dwarves, Mordor, Isengard, and goblins) feels unique enough to offer a range of gameplay options. Each has several units, many upgrades, unique powers, various heroes, and other perks. Also, the game ships with a "create-a-hero" template that allows you to create your own in-game hero. This options, while a good idea, is rather limited in regard to the appearance of your hero. Heroes are better implemented in this game than in other RTS games (like Warcraft 3) and can level up without having to hunt down "creeps" or perform other distracting tasks. I assume that a future patch will adjust some of the heroes so that they are better balanced against each other.

The gameplay itself is very frenetic and engaging, and on medium and higher difficulties, the fighting starts early. The game's AI is generally good and will make it a point to destroy your buildings at every opportunity, along with your units. Occasionally, I've witnessed a few lapses with the AI, such as cases in which enemy units were not immediately noticed and attacked. Otherwise, the AI holds its own in most fights. I've only noticed a few flaws in the game, but they are worth commenting upon. First, buildings and walls are far too weak and easily destroyed. Since games are won or lost based on your resource and unit output, it's a shame that a few infantry units can destroy an upgraded fortress in seconds. Of course, lesser structures like farms go down even quicker. Also, the game is not really geared toward epic siege warfare, which was one of the great things about the movies. Walls are not only weak but they are far to expensive to be practical and are difficult (perhaps impossible?) to repair. Additionally, the resource model encourages you to spread your farms apart for maximum benefit, so there is little possibility of having a compact, well-fortified, walled-in base. A patch could correct much of this (such as the strength and cost of buildings and walls), which would allow for more strategic and tactical possibilities such as siege warfare (requiring actual siege weapons) and turtling. There is naval warfare in the game, which is generally done well. However, very few maps allow it.

Graphics: This is a great-looking game. Lots of attention to detail in the environment as well as in the models. Unit animations, explosions, magical effects, weather, and other visuals are very convincing. The cutscenes for the campaigns are based on the game models and some wonderful paintings. The animations are not quite as dramatic and visceral as those of Dawn of War, but they are nonetheless quite good. And there are a lot of them. It never gets old seeing Tom Bombadil punching foes in the face or summoning the terrible wrath of a Balrog. Even common occurrences, such as Roharrim cavalry mowing down infantry, are always good for a smile. The game does require a decent computer to get the most out of the visuals. I have a mid-range machine (P4 3.0ghz, 1GB of RAM, Geforce 6600GT) and still get a bit of lag when there are a lot of units fighting on screen. However, EA went the extra mile on graphics, and it really paid off.

Sound: Everything is in order in this department. There are a lot of spoken sound-bites for each of the races, along with appropriate sounds for monsters, weapons, building construction, explosions, magical effects, and so on. The epic music from the movies plays in the background to set the atmosphere. All of the auditory elements of the game serve their purpose well.

Replayability/Technical Issues: The game should have a decent shelf life for RTS gamers, assuming that EA supports it with patches and an occasional bonus map. A map editor is available for download at the official website (www.bfme2.ea.com). The manual that comes with the game is decent, but the in-game tutorials are better. The game has been pretty stable for me with no installation issues. It did crash twice between turns in the War of the Ring mode. However, this was no big deal since I had been playing for several hours and had recently saved the game.

Overall, if you like RTS games, this is a good purchase. The Collector's Edition comes with a bonus DVD that has vignettes about how the game was made, cutscenes, the soundtrack, and a few other things. Also, this edition includes a few bonus items such as a dragon and extra maps. It's probably worth the extra dollars for anyone who liked the movies.

Overall rating: 4.25 stars

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great game, March 5, 2006

By 

Travis W. Ma "Modo" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 Collector's Edition (DVD-ROM)

This is a great game. Probably one of the best RTS games I've played in a long time, especially if you're a true Tolken fan.

The War of The Ring map is pretty decent but if you try to set the bases up properly with 6 players (elves in Rivendale, Isengard in Isengard, Men in Minas Tirith, etc) then the game is very short lived because the bases are so close to one another so if you're buying this game for the War of The Ring map, be prepared to ignore the actual locations for the most part and start the teams on the opposite ends of the map or else the game will be over in 3 or 4 turns. Also, the computer on medium level is pretty varied. On a map or 2 I would easily win, then on some other maps I would completely get my butt handed to me without a hope in the world. I guess its all about your ability to survive the first rush, which happens soon and is very strong.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DUDE OR DUDDETT, STOP WHAT YOUR DOING AND BUY THIS, August 7, 2006

A Kid's Review

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 Collector's Edition (DVD-ROM)

Let me start out by saying that i bought the first one and fell in love with it. Ive read all the books and seen all the movies and i just couldnt stop playing it. Then when i found out they were making a sequel well... lets just say i didnt sleep very well because i couldnt wait for it to come out. And when I first played it i was in shock. It didnt crash and its graphics blew the first one out of the water. The ai improved and the War of the Ring was ausome to play with. I also couldnt stop making heroes. To sum it up. More units, better graphics better multiplayer and better campagin maps.