Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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.

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.

First of all, I absolutely loved Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth I. It is hands down the best game I have ever played. A year after I bought it, I still play it ever so often. So when Middle Earth II came out, I was the first in line to buy it.
The developers at EA did a great job making up for all the deficiencies in the first game. Like being able to build everywhere, and a larger number of forces to command. The graphics are also beautiful with many more structures to build and much more elaborate models.
So I was in heaven playing this game. Or I should say I was in heaven until I got to map 8 (of the good campaign). At the end of level 8 suddenly the cut screen comes up showing mordor exploding and a big celebration of the victors. So I'm just sitting there, kind of waiting for the next level and disbelieving what I just saw. This is the end? I've only been playing this thing for about 4 hours and this is the end? I've paid $60 (the most I've ever paid for a game) and this is the end?
Needless to say, my emotions quickly went from heaven to hell. The first game had around 50 levels and took weeks to complete. And this thing, which is reportedly 30% larger in disc size, has only 8 levels???
I should probably note that they also throw in this strategy war of the ring game, that involves nothing more than looking at the world map and taking turns with the computer in trying to outwit each other. But it's a total waste and so boring it's not worth the time of even trying to learn.
They will probably be those who say this makes a great multi-player game. Which is true, but I for one like, and expected, a great single player game.
I felt so ripped off after playing this incredibly short game that I was tempted to give it zero stars, but gave it two just for the sake of the multi-player possiblities. However, if you're not in to multi-player, pass this one by as it IS NOT worth the $60 price tag. Later....

In short, I cannot even recommend this game to someone I dislike unless they update it significantly or until it hits the bargin bin.

There are a lot of good points about this game: Excellent graphics & controls, nice single-player campaign modes, it is also multiplayer (though I haven't test that yet), and nice inbetween mission movies.

However, it gets a rating of 3 stars from me. This "final" version feels much more like a poor beta version where little to no actual playtesting has been done. Response from EA in their forums regarding the various problems has been nil.

The AI: non-existant. Playing EASY level the CPU will send the same units to be slaughtered in the same manner over and over again. There are tons of ways to out-wit your defenses, yet the CPU does nothing in that regard. Playing the next level up and you're attacked on a huge map within 90 seconds by overwhelming forces (which come out of nowhere). So far it seems they use the sad and pathetic difficulty level method of give the CPU more units at start, make it easier & quicker to build such units, and that's it. This has been discussed extensively on their forums with no response despite their advertising a New AI system built from the ground up. At this point it's subterranean if you ask me.

Base-Building: They spent a lot of effort and thought into this aspect of the game. However, given that its a very FAST paced RTS which falls down into build units & engage ASAP I've found little need for such base-building even though I enjoy building massive fortresses in each scenario anyway.

No useful pause in Single Player mode. I'll admit I'm a greybeard and not much of a fan for fast-paced RTS games. I prefer sitting back and planning each attack out. Having a simple pause where you can jump to the various battles to issue commands, then jump back to your base and build a little is essential to me. It's also common sense to have it in any RTS game. Missing this feature is "alright" at the lower levels, but as soon as I hit level 7 I was being attacked in three different places at the same time, and given a time limit to build my base. Sorry EA, but I play a game to relax not get annoyed.

Overall this game could and should have been a 5. However, it just feels like it was rushed out the doors and is sadly lacking a lot to make it worthy of its pricetag. There's a lot of other gripes from Tolkien fans regarding odd units not in the books & a number of unbalanced units from RTS gamers. From what I've read in the EA forums there's something in this game that seems to bother everyone. What bothers me the most is that EA came so close to making this great, but flopped it (IMO) due to poor playtesting and lack of common sense.

I think i got ripped, sure is dvd version but the extra mkaing of this game, and that extra charrare added still don't worth my extra 10 bucks, if plan to buy middle of earth game get the combo original and expsion toghter save u @@

One thing that sets this apart from most game if how the unit management is. Id stead of creating one unit at a time, the barracks make a battalion. Some as large as 20+ units. Then you can send the whole "unit" into batttle and watch them cause havok. Create a hero options. You can make your own hero to kick butt on the battle field. I find this to be a lot of fun.

*Some more awsome stuff*:
Horses run over enemy units at full gallop.
Fire arrows set units on fire and cause more damage.
Catapults have units loading and pushing them, (unlike AOE 1 and 2)
Graphics are really nice in high detail.
Works well on not so good PC's.

*What you get with this bonus edtion* (which I got for less then $20 from a UK shop)
A bonus disk with behind the scenes, music tracks, bonus maps,moves, and more.
A dragon that rocks! haha
More create-a-hero options

I really recomend this game if not the edition. Have fun!

This game is addictive and fun especially if your a fan of the classic Tolkien Ring tomes. With all the characters of Middle Earth represented and the ability to create your own characters (within limited parameters) the game can really suck your time away. Even more so if you load it on a laptop and take it with you when you travel. I'm a big fan of the Skirmish mode that allows me to customize different scenarios. Unfortunately, after playing several Real Time Strategy (RTS) games, I have discovered a rather annoying common trait they all have. The key to every game is to attack. This is the shallow, weakly conceived characteristic that is all too common in RTS games.

At first, you can understand the mandate. But now, as video games have progressed, you would think that the architects would develop something a little more "multi-dimensional".

You are given all the abilities to waste your resources on cool structures, upgrades, and war machines - but, if you actually take the time to build them, you're likely doomed to lose the game versus the computer. For instance, why take the time (and considerable currency) to build a Fortress with flaming arrows, Númenórean Stone, and catapults if the whole thing can be destroyed with 4 or 5 enemy catapult hits? Why spend 1000 gold pieces to build an upgraded sentry tower if a Balrog can wipe it out in one hit?

I'd like to see an RTS game that allows you to maintain a successful DEFENSIVE strategy for once. Not ones that always require quick and sustained attacks. And while BfME II is good fun, it suffers from the one dimensional strategy theme that all other RTS games do. Attack or die. C'mon guys, let's have more options than that.

Without going into into great detail as has already been done, 1st the things I don't like about it:

1. Single player campaign is too simplistic, small scale, feels like it was designed for grade schoolers...

2. In multiplayer even after a few patches worth of balancing it's still pretty much a base rush fest with too much focus on gathering silly resources and upgrades to win games rather than tactics.

3. Heros are overpowered. A hero can take out your base and your buildings single handedly, coupled with a few good units it makes siege weapons obsolete, as a side note don't waste too much time or money on walls they just get torn down if not by units then by powers.

I don't want to be too critical, it does have a lot of life to it just like the first game. The graphics are great, animations good, sound effects awesome, voice acting excellent. All in all if you take it for what it is, the latest and probably one of the greatest in the long traddition of top down cam, click happy RTS games you should enjoy it. Otherwise if you haven't bought it yet and you're runnin a pretty heavy rig, you might just save your dollars for something on a much grander scale such as Medieval II: Total War or WarHammer: Mark of Chaos.

By the way the collectors edition comes with some nice extras like interviews and art plus a dragon you can call on in game.

The game works beutiful and smooth (On my 3.8 Ghz AMD dual core proceser!HE HE)So i shouldn't have a problem with that but you guys love the game if you have the computer i have but the first bfme is hell and the second one is heaven if you compare them.To sum it all up i'm ganna say i love what they added to the second one such as build anywhere,goblins,elves,dwarfs,more powers,more units,better graphics,better AI,more buildings, War of the ring mode,Create-a-hero option that allows you to build your own hero and choose what powers it has make it evil or good and after,use it in games. Overall this game is AWESOME!!!!!!but sadly,sometimes lags,and the game is easy,OF COURSE NOT EASY ON HARD AND BRUTAL i'm not even gonna start with that.Final rating 4.99 stars out of 5 stars i hope i won't give away game lol..BYE,c ya