Sauron’s
armies – seemingly vast, powerful and ready to throw numbers at the combined
forces of the free world without regard for loss of life – are once again on the
march. Arwyn, Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, and all the rest of the heroes of
Middle-earth stand ready to meet them. The history of the world is at stake, and
you have a major role in determining which side will win.
The Lord of
the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II is a real-time strategy game from
Electronic Arts that is rife with the personality of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy
world, melded into the image that Peter Jackson gave us with his movie trilogy.
The story
below is the same review that was posted for the regular version of the game. In
that regard, nothing has changed, but the collector’s edition does come with a
bonus DVD that contains some very cool material. The bonus DVD contains high-def
game trailers, cinematic movies, behind the scenes footage and interview and
all the game’s musical tracks. The latter is wonderful stuff. Windows’ media
player is all that is needed to open up and explore this disk.
The musical
score is not just wonderfully robust but also includes video backdrops from game
cinematics.
There is
game art that is fun to see, and there are in-game aesthetics (which do not change
the game) that can identify the gamer as the owner of the collector’s edition.
Do these aesthetics give you an advantage in multiplayer gaming? No.
As for the
game …
A few minor
problems with the camera and scroll rates notwithstanding, this is a title that
offers real-time strategy, some turn-based options, solid online play, some
story-driven directed play and an entertaining (and challenging) time.
Honestly,
fans of RTS titles, or gaming fans of the Tolkien series would do well to pick
this title up.
Battle for
Middle-earth II adds three new races to the series, new locations (there are in
excess of 40 maps available for gamers to play on) and new enemy AI that is
aggressive and relentless – not to mention smart, as in attacking weak flanks or
isolated structures. (In one scenario, the enemy brought three units into the
battle; two engaged the central defensive force while the third went right
through and began attacking resource structures that added to command points.)
Game modes
include solo play (with skirmish, war of the ring, the evil campaign and a good
campaign), multiplayer (replays, network and online play) as well as options
(you may wish to initially lower the scroll speed) and the ability to create
your own hero and add him or her to the legacy of the tale within the framework
of skirmishes or the War of the Rings turn-based experience.
The evil
campaign means you take on the role of Sauron’s forces. The good campaign
focuses the soon-to-be allied races combating Sauron. Both the campaigns are
directed experiences in that you are given a number of quests that must be
accomplished as you march along a timeline within the structure the era of
Middle-earth.
For the good
campaign, you begin by taking Glorfindel and a group of elves to Rivendell to
meet with Elrond and inform him of the approach of goblin hordes. In the evil
campaign you begin with goblins raising an army to raid the elven city, Caras
Galadhon.
The War of
the Ring mode is more freeform with approximately 43 scenarios, some for
multiple players. The cornerstone of this is the actual War of the Ring in which
you build up your forces, build structures to summon heroes, select your hero(es)
and begin to conquer the enemy and its capitals as you march across
Middle-earth. Not only can you select the maps, but you can also manipulate the
rules of the game, as in installing a tactical phase timer, auto-resolving
battles and give priority to battle types and auto-resolve displays. This,
though, is turn based in phases that follow a familiar pattern (building and
movement followed by combat resolution) with the battles either being
auto-resolved or played out in real time. This generally lacks the dynamic and
urgency of the campaign modes and feels more like Risk with recognizable Tolkien
characters. The auto resolve feature is less satisfying by a long shot and does
not factor in anomalies, tending to play it straight out, whereas you can
accomplish more in the real-time fights.
The
real-time battles can play out for a long time, depending on how aggressive you
are in conquering the mapboard. You do have time, though, to create barracks, a
fortress and more units, but let the builders die and structures be destroyed
and you will quickly run out of units or the ability to train up.
In the
create-a-hero palette, you can choose male or female, and from six classes –
hero of the west (human free people of the western lands), elf, wizard, dwarf,
servant of Sauron, or corrupted man (think assassins, greedy for gold and
power). You can customize armor and colors, though these have little to do with
what you have going on other than appearance aesthetics. It is in the attributes
that you can allocate, initially 30, points in five categories – armor, power,
health, heal rate and vision. These should fall in line with your character
class, and should you not have an idea how to allocate points, the game will
recommend settings. After you allocate attribute points, the game will give you
the opportunity to select hero powers. There are passive abilities and activated
abilities attached to the user interface, which in this case is called the
Palantir. You can slot five abilities to begin with and more abilities become
available as you level your hero.
The Palantir
contains all the vital information you will need to work through the game,
including – aside from unit and hero information – a mini-map, objectives and
the like.
There are
two types of objectives, main and bonus. The bonus objectives are optional.
The gameplay
is excellent, for the most part. While you can fly over areas touched by the fog
of war, units will not move directly through it – it seems – until you actually
move to it and uncover it.
Fortresses
can be built. They can allow you to create more builders and a lord (in the
tutorial, the particular lord mentioned was Boromir – but is he trustworthy? We
all know how that turned out).
Command
point limit is essentially the number of units you can have. With enough farms
to produce sustainable resources to support an army, and a barracks, you can
build up your army. You can build a variety of units from warriors to cavalry to
archers. Build an archery range and you can create even more skilled archers and
Ithilien rangers.
What you
build and where you build can be limited by terrain and enemy units may target
objects build too far beyond the immediate reach of your units. Speaking of the
latter, they are bolstered by decent AI that will allow them to auto-engage the
enemy, without having to have each movement directed by the controlling player.
(Be prepared
to surrender a healthy chunk of hard-drive space. This game eats up about five
gigs for the typical install. This includes a lot of CGI. Load times are long-ish.)
The graphics
have strong ties to the film series, using the actors’ images for the heroes’
images, and the general look of the game mirrors the film’s territories, and
characterizations of races, monsters and combat styles. Unfortunately the camera
angles are too close during the real-time combat, and while you can rotate it
left or right, getting enough distance to see much of the battleground can prove
difficult. Learning to rotate the camera is essential because you will have
builders go behind the buildings and unless you are very familiar with the
hotkeys, you may lose track of where they are.
The sound is
underscored by snippets of the music from the films, and there are some
voice-overs that border on silly, like the intonations of the Mouth of Sauron,
but the narrative is generally very well done. There are the repetitious phrases
from those taking commands that seem to be stock for RTS titles, but you can get
past those easily enough.
The online
requires some patches to begin playing, but these do not take long to acquire.
And multiplayer games through the online mode include tournament play, open play
(with your created hero) as well as the War of the Rings matchups. Even in the
middle of the afternoon there were more than 900 users logged in with more than
500 games taking place.
As
mentioned, there is a fair amount of CGI in this title, which is not bad, and it
plays out well. Generally, this is a title that obviously had a lot of serious
interest in not only the genre but the works of Tolkien. It sparkles with the
flavor of both the books and the films. Some liberties have been taken to make
for better gameplay, but that is to be expected.
The Lord of
the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II is a joy to play. There are so many
options to create an experience that continues to evolve and challenge.
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Gameplay:
8.5
There are some
generous load times and it is much easier to learn the hotkey layout so that you
can get around the map quicker.
Graphics:
8.2
The landscape and
environments are amazing. The game does have repetitive unit animations. Other
video elements are somewhat stock for the genre. Of course, there is a fair
amount of outstanding artwork.
Sound:
9.0
Strong narrative,
typical combat sounds (with repetitious battle cries – but that is par for RTS
titles it seems) and the wonderful musical score, featuring some familiar
selections from the films, make this an audio treat.
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
You stand a much
better chance of winning a battle in solo play (War of the Ring mode) if you
play it out rather than allow the computer to auto resolve the issue. There are
three difficulty settings.
Concept:
8.7
There are so many
options in this game, so many maps, and the game play is, for the most part,
intuitive. Well designed, a bit of a challenge with no quarter given or asked
for.
Multiplayer: 8.5
This is a really
solid element, with players who know what they are doing, for the most part. You
have to think fast and move quicker to win here.
Overall:
8.7
What
self-respecting Tolkien fan can be without this title? While the game does have
a few stumbling points, this is a well-done RTS that enables players to
experience the turmoil of the fantasy world, or just to create their own legacy
within this fantastic realm. EA has done a very good job with this game. It’s
love for the world is obvious in the look, sound and feel.
