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FANTASTIC Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 118 / 145
Date: August 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

EDIT**: I've been playing the game for several days now, and I can say that it has lived up to all of my expectations (see preview below). While you can't control as mnay troops as in Rome:Total War (we may need to look for a LOTR mod in the future), BFME has its own little niche, and it's a very nice one at that. Inevitably the comparison to RTW will be made, but these are two very different games. In RTW, you can control thousands of low-poly troops, but in BFME, you control hundreds of very high poly soldiers, each with very detailed animations and emotions. Yes, the emotions are a nice part of the game.

The graphics are beautiful- they really bring the Middle Earth world to life, especially with the settings maxed out. Howard Shore's score also adds a great side to the game, with some additional remixing that sounded quite good. Voice acting was also pretty good, although you can tell in some parts that they didn't really use Viggo for Aragorn.

Gameplay; I like the new use of veterancy, which puts a crimp on players who rush to build every single building possible, and just pump out units. Cavalry in the game is very powerful, so you'll need to group your men into the right formation. Formations do give some help in BFME, although flank attacks and tactical maneuvers are unheard of, unlike RTW. All the battles are faithfully recreated, including a mission to defend the fellowship and Lothlorien from marauding Moria orcs (one of the scenes cut from the extended edition of FOTR). The Helms Deep mission is fantastic- it brings all the rigor, stress, and excitement as portrayed in the movie and books.

The heros are a hoot to use; especially Gandalf, who seems a bit overpowered. A pity the completed Sauron model cannot be played, and in general, it seems that the forces of Evil have fewer Heros than the forces of Light.

The single player campaign missions are very delightful; you can basically replay the steps of the Fellowship or of the Dark Lord, but of course with your own little additions. The multiplayer maps are wonderful, with maps taken from all the geographical locations in middle earth.

Conclusion: A very enjoyable RTS game, that fully immerses you into the ME universe. My only gripe is that the Command Points threshold is set too low, but you can mod the particular file to change that. However, the low command points number was probably set at that level to prevent gameplay lag; at the Battle of Care Andros, with several hundred troops on screen (and despite have 1 gb of PC-4200 ram) I experienced some lagging effects. Sprint, don't run to get your copy NOW! What are you doing wasting time reading my review? Get it! :P
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To say that Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth looks amazing would be an understatement; it looks fantastic and unbelievably good! I am highly anticipating its release on November 15th, and based on what the EA team has shown us thus far, it looks like all of their hard work has come to fruition. Based on an upgraded version of the C&C: Generals engine, LOTR:BFME brings you into the Middle Earth universe in glorious 3-D, with the capability to zoom-in onto the battlefield for those intense hand-to-hand melees. Of course, there will be those detractors who suggest that BFME is nothing but Generals ported into Middle Earth; in some ways, that's true. A lot of the great features of Generals are retained in BFME, and then some. The EA team has added unique touches, as well as a greater emphasis on tactics, rather than the massed tank rushes that most RTS players are used to. In addition, there are a multitude of unique features and immersive environments that make BFME really come alive.

First, the maps and general gameplay. Gone is the traditional style of RTS with big menus that take up the lower half of your screen. In its place is a context-driven menu, which takes up far less space, and allows the player to bask in the beauty of the BFME engine. It looks extremely intuitive; by clicking on a building, 6-7 options will form in a circle around your cursor, allowing you to just move the mouse slightly to select an option. Base building appears to consist of 6-7 buildings built on pre-fabbed sites inside a protective wall, with additional buildings being allowed to be built outside of the wall. Each of the buildings is true to the movie, and conceived in enormous detail that really lends to the atmosphere. For instance, the Orc slaughterhouse, Orc pits, Warg ranges, and Gondorian archery range. Zooming into the slaughterhouse, you can see the orc butcher cackle with glee and rub his hands together as he whistles for a cow to come up the ramp. He kills it, and carries the steak to hang on a rack outside. Or in the pits, you can see the head Orc prodding the mud with his rod, bringing up a `baby' Orc/Uruk-Hai that slides down the ramp and gets a sword and trudges out. Or at the Warg range, you see an orc clamber onto a Warg, and walk out of a corral. At the Gondorian archery range, the splendid architecture of the once Numenorians is visible in the smallest bricks. You can actually see Gondorian longbow men practicing inside the courtyard, shooting at targets and such. You can play as Rohan or Gondor or Mordor or Isengard; not sure about the Easterlings though.

Second, the units are true to the movie and fashioned in great detail. Buildings can be upgraded with earned points to achieve veterancy and thus pump out more advanced units. The Gondorian archery range can produce regular longbow men, but as the building is upgraded, it can produce say Faramir's rangers (which are a bit like the American pathfinders in C&C: Generals), and what look like upgraded rangers with stealth ability. The Gondorian barracks can produce regular footsoldiers on level 1, but when upgraded to level 2 and above, can procure the more elite Fountain guards. The forces of evil are generally like the Chinese in Generals; infantry is either really cheap, or free, and orcs are continually coming out of the pits with no extra help from the player. There are of course, hero units as well! Units seen so far include Gandalf, Eomer, Theoden, Faramir, and Aragorn. No word yet on evil heroes.

Third, the EA team has decided to add a bit more of a tactical element than was present in Generals. While a group of Gondorian infantry can easily defeat a horde of orcs, (and when they do win, they break out into cheers, thus giving a +1 to their attack), they run away or quake in their boots at the mere sight of a mountain troll picking up a tree to smash them into the ground. That fear subtracts a -1 from their attack. Even the elite Fountain guards with their pikes are no match for the mountain troll and his ad hoc tree-club. But you can group your men into having the archers stand on the inside, while surrounded by Fountain Guards, and thus easily take down a troll. It also looks like you can fully recreate the sieges at Helms Deep and Minas Tirith, and play on the Fields of Pelennor.

Fourth, one item that is a nice carry-over from Generals is what appears to be Generals points. If playing as Mordor, and you kill 100 Gondor soldiers, your catapaults can fire the heads of those unfortunate men at your enemies for an added attack bonus. Or, you can call in Eagles or Nazgul to pick up hapless infantry and dash them into the ground. Probably the most interesting Generals unit is the Balrog, which looks extremely powerful at the moment. Not only can he stomp around and crush the peons, but he can crush a unit into ashes, shoot fireballs from his mouth, and with his very appearance, burn everything around him to a crisp.

If you're a fan of the movies and RTS games, this is definitely one game that you do NOT want to miss! Place your pre-order today! And no, I'm not a plant, just an overly excited fan with too much time on his hands.

Bottom line: GET THIS GAME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 84 / 114
Date: August 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Battle for Middle-Earth is a game that I have been looking forward to, since the day they announced they were starting development on it. It has all the features that I would like to play, including skirmishes, and multiplayer online. I don't know much about the multiplayer feature because EA has kept relatively quiet about the feature. But I do know lots about the other features. You get to play as good and evil, (for good: Gondor and Rohan for evil: Mordor and Isengard) Each side will have their own strengths and weaknesses, for example Gondor will be more focused on defense and therefore, their maneuvering capabilities will be slower. On the other hand, Mordor will be able to produce free troops at no cost but each individual soldier (ork) will be weak.

There will also be heroes in the game, including Faramir and Gandalf for Gondor, and Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Theoden (king of Rohan) Eomer and even Eowyn for Rohan. (Therefore having lots of heroes is a strength for Rohan) For Mordor, there will be The Witch King and the Nazgul as heroes for Mordor and for Isengard there will be Saruman and Lurtz. When heroes die, they will be able to be revived at the Citadel. (Heroes can also be created at the Citadel in multiplayer or skirmish modes, in missions they will usually be given to you) The Citadel is in the center, and is the main building, of your base. Each hero will have special powers that they can use, for example, Saruman will be able to use a special power that will be able to convert an enemy unit to his side, or Frodo will be able to become invisible by using his Ring (but not for long, because the Eye of Sauron will come searching for Frodo, and once the eye of Sauron finds him, he will be exposed to enemy troops) There are also special powers that can be used by killing enemy units or buildings and increasing the power of the Ring-if you're playing as the forces of evil, and increasing the power of the Evenstar-if you're playing as the forces of good. This will allow you to get new powers like the eye of Sauron, which can swoop across the land wherever you want it to, and expose enemy troops and put more courage and might into your own troops. You can also summon freezing rain (like in the Battle of Helms Deep) to take away bonuses that enemies have, like heroes that put courage bonuses into his allies. And one other thing you can do as the evil side is summon the Balrog (incase you were wondering, the Balrog is the huge flaming monster that chased the Fellowship through Moria) As the good side, one thing you can do is summon the Army of the Dead to aid you in your battle. (They're the ones who saved Minas Tirith from falling to the 300,000 Orks) The Army of the Dead are practically invincible but can only be summoned for a short amount of time. (Call in the dead people if you got a Balrog on your tail) Even though this is an RTS game, there are levels like Shelob's Lair where you will be able to go as one hero (Sam) and fight the Shelob one on one. I think they've done a great job of creating a new Commandoes type of element into the game, making the game more fun by having different ways of game play, not just the army versus army type, that all the other RTS games have.

Some of the levels in the game include Minas Tirith, Helm's Deep, Battle at Isengard, Battle at the Black Gate, and even the Battle of the Last Alliances (as a fun tutorial to start off the game, and you will be able to play as Sauron in that level!) I'm pretty sure there will be 25 levels in the game for the good side. (I don't know about the evil side)

You would think that this game is all about the battle but really there is a whole new element that EA has pulled into the game, and that is the world of Middle-Earth. The people at EA really respect the world that Tolkien created and have decided to pull that in as well. So what they've come up with is a full 3-D map of Middle-Earth, where you will actually be able to move units around on. They have also decided that the creatures and things you control and don't control should interact with the environment and even each other. For example, a troll can grab a tree out of the ground and use it as a deadly weapon against opposing soldiers, or ents can pull rocks out of buildings and hurl them at the little orks. Now when I said units interacting with each other, I meant a whole new emotion system that they have incorporated into the game. For example, when the troll picks up the tree, and walks towards the Gondor Soldiers, they get afraid and put their shields in front of them, step back a couple steps and they show real emotion, now you might think this might be a bit hard to control if you order the Gondor Soldiers to attack the troll and the soldiers just run away, but no, EA has made it so the player can always override the emotions system. Except if the creature has a special power that makes the gondor soldiers run away. For example, the Nazgul has a special screeching power that makes enemies flee in fear. This all brings a whole new era into game play and a whole new realism that will make this game rock.

Another feature in the game is formations. For example, a group of archers on it's own is fairly vulnerable to a group of charging orks. So if they don't manage to kill all the orks before they get to the archers, they're in big trouble. But now with the new formation system (Which you will be able to upgrade), Gondor has a new trick. For example, when an Elite Gondor Unit gets blown away by a troll, they're not much good, but they can surely beat the orks that came charging over to the archers. Because a single Gondor Soldier (not elite) on average, can beat two orks, so on a scale, 1 Gondor Soldier = 2 Orks. Anyway, say there is a troll and a bunch of orks charging at you, with the new formation system, the Elite Gondor unit can form a box around the archers, crouching down, while the archers kill the troll with arrows and then when the orks get close, the Elite Gondor Unit gets up from their crouching position with their shields tucked into the ground in front of them so the archers can shoot out at the enemy, and defeats the orks with ease.

Some other great things about this game is, well one thing is the cinematics or the cut scenes between or before the missions, now usually, games have a loading bar and you have to wait quite a while before the game play or cut scene begins. But not with this game, because the cinematics play OVER the loading progress, so you don't have to wait at all for that boring loading bar. What a great idea EA has come up with. I had bought the War of the Ring and I guess I liked the fact that it was based on the Lord of the Rings, and that it was an RTS, but the actual game play and cartoony graphics didn't really impress me much. The difference between the two games is that Battle for Middle-Earth gets their game license directly from New Line Cinema, therefore, it is more based on the movies, but will definitely not disappoint Tolkien fans. Now War of the Ring gets their game license from the Tolkien Estate. So it is more based on the books. I definitely think I will be more impressed with The Battle for Middle-Earth. They have definitely put more time into the game and will give you a much better game experience for both experienced and non-experienced gamers.

And finally, the interface is a new system, which allows you to view more of the gigantic battles that are taking place with hundreds of soldiers on the screen at once, because normally, an RTS game has a big bar at the bottom of the screen, which only allows you to see a small bit of the action going on, plus, RTS games usually have you focused down on the bottom bar and you don't get much of a chance to see the action going on because you're rushing to build units and buildings, and also finding a building unit to construct it. The EA team has limited the places you can put your buildings by making icons on the ground where you can make your buildings. I think it is a good idea because then people can't put buildings in totally odd places like in the middle of Pelenor Fields (if your playing as Gondor) when all your soldiers are inside defending Minas Tirith, it just takes the authenticity and realism away. And it's also a good way to keep your eyes away from the usual RTS bottom bar. Once you click on an icon on the ground, marked differently for the individual armies, (for example: Rohan-a horse and Mordor-an eye) a bunch of little new circular icons pop up that stand for different buildings, then you click on one and it starts building. A couple great things about the buildings is that it really feels like a real, existing building because (for example) when you make a slaughter house (as the orks) you can see, the ork calls the beast up into the hut and within seconds pulls meat out of the other side. (He must be pretty good at his job) The different sides have different resource gathering facilities that they can build, for example, Gondor has farms and forges, and Mordor has Slaughter Houses, Forges and Lumber Mills. (You can also get resources from killing enemies and destroying buildings) And the second great thing about the buildings is veterancy. Say you make 60 archers out of an archery range (that's another great thing about the game, you can make tons of men at one time with one click as in other games you have to click tons of times to make lots of units) well that archery range is now a level two archery range which can make units faster and cheaper and can even defend itself. Also, then, you have access to new types of units, i.e, a porter that distributes fire arrows out to the troops. (I'm not sure if this is a unit made from a level 2 building though) It's not just click a button and there are your fire arrows, you have to get the porter to go to the nearest troops. Which brings more realism to the game.

This RTS uses an advanced version of the Command and Conquer: Generals Game Engine and EA has managed to pull tons more great features into the game, which will make it an amazing game to play. I just can't wait till it comes out on December 7, 2004!
Bottom Line: GET THIS GAME

Middle-Earth is yours to Command!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 69 / 92
Date: June 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

(...)Experience Middle-earth like never before in The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth, the first The Lord of the Rings game that puts you in command of a real-time, open world. Control the legendary heroes, massive armies, and epic campaigns of Middle-earth in over 25 missions based on all three films of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. From waging all-out combat among the vast forces of good and evil to controlling your favorite heroes and characters to managing the troops and resources of your side, the fate of a living, breathing Middle-earth is in your hands.

Key Features-Fight the epic, sweeping battles from the Academy Award-winning The Lord of the Rings film trilogy from a whole new perspective-as commander of hundreds of soldiers and creatures. Control massive armies and interactive battlefields across the vast world of Middle-earth. Lead the forces of good or evil by controlling one of four unique groups, from the Riders of Rohan to the forces of Sauron, each with its own playing style, resource management, and base-building techniques. Take command of strategic territories across a highly detailed, 3D map of Middle-earth and turn the tide in the battle to control The One Ring. Forge new heroes, customize their abilities and powers, then lead them into battle where they'll gain experience and rank in their quest for victory.
Watch your armies come to life as they express emotion-from anger to fear to triumph-when reacting to events and their surroundings. Make smarter and faster decisions in the heat of battle with an all-new intuitive, streamlined interface that gives you contextual control of your forces and structures. Challenge fellow rulers online in massive multiplayer battles."-From eagames.com
Check out sweet screenshots and videos at eagames.com

The four playable sides with info on their weaknesses and strengths are as followed:
"Gondor
Strengths: Defense, economy (lots of economy upgrades and get money within the safety of their castle, lots of allies they can summon to their aid), knights, rangers, army of the dead, eagles.
Weaknesses: Not as strong at offense, more reliant on castle walls, fewer troop numbers, low mobility - have knights but unable to quickly exploit enemy mistakes.
Resources: Farms, blacksmith, gold from killing enemies.
Heroes: Gandalf, Faramir.

Rohan
Strengths: Powerful versatile fast offense - horsemen, best and most heroes in the game, magical allies like ents and elves.
Weaknesses: Low numbers, only moderate defenses.
Resources: Farms, gold from killing enemies.
Heroes: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Theodin, Eowyn, Eomer.

Isengard
Strengths: Large numbers of tough urak-hai, powerful magical spells (like change the weather and exotic technologies), bombs, ladders, balistas.
Weaknesses: Poor defenses, weak heroes, high resource consumption.
Resources: Slaughter house, forge, lumber mill, gold from burning down enemy buildings.
Heroes: Saruman, Lurtz.

Mordor
Strengths: Free troops encourage wave assault tactics, sacrifice your own troops for veterancy and cash.
Weaknesses: No defenses, weak individual soldiers, no ability to upgrade troops except for veterancy.
Resources: Slaughter house, forge, lumber mill, gold from burning down enemy buildings.
Heroes: Witch King, Nazgul."-From gamespy.com

A delight for the gamer's eye and for any LOTR fan.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 46 / 79
Date: July 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Command and Conquer meets Tolkien...
Age of the Empires meets Middle Earth...
Rome Total War meets Minas Tirith...

Move so many units you can't even count them (finally), feel the battle, use your heroes to rally your men...

Middle Earth is perfectly recreated through all armies, units, and heroes. Graphics and sound are impeccable.

See Balrogs come to life, sprout fire and destroy armies with one swipe of their flaming sword. Use Gandalf to unleash magic on horror struck orcs while boosting courage in the defenders of Gondor.

View a full screen. Only a tenth of the screen is covered by maps and command options, giving you a very large view of what is going on (normally up to a 1/4 is covered).

Commanding your armies and directing units is easy and swift. Units readily respond and do not defy your orders as happens in so many other games.

As an RTS fan I will surely buy this one as soon as it comes out...
no wait, I think I'll just go ahead and preorder it now.

(Attention, at the moment this review is being written the game is still not released, thus this review is based on two hours of gameplay experienced at a local convention. Therefore consider this a "first impression.")

Coolest Game I've ever seen

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: December 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Whenever I go to the game store, I don't find anything of interest. And when I do, my parents don't allow me to get them. Wwhen I spotted this super-excting game, my first thought was: Buy!!!!!!!! My parents made a rare exception. For the first time, They let me buy a pc game! First thing I did when I got home? Play the game. LOTR: Battle for Midde-earth is an exciting game in which you can can control the forces of good or evil. In campaign mode, you can can choose between the forces of Rohan, Gondor, Isengard or Mordor. Stunning 3D graphics will make you feel as if you are really in command of an army. The many powerful monsters which you can control( e.g. Balrog)makes it worth all the money. You can control troops and command them to attack an enemy. To complete the level, you must complete all of the objectives. You can also go to a "Battle School" To learn the basics of the game. For those who faint at the sight of gory stuff, don't worry. There will be no spilt blood at anytime during the game. I give this infinite thumbs up!1

Ignore the nay-sayers. BFME is fun, strategic, and beautiful

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 23
Date: December 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Before receiving Battle For Middle Earth this Christmas Eve (gotta love that darling girlfriend), I had read quite a few dismal reviews for it. In case you've read the same BS, I'm going to attempt to clear some things up for you so the nay-sayers don't bump you away from a great game. So.... The biggest complaints people have had about BFME are:

1. Not enough unit types
2. No strategy

Heh. Wrong and wrong. ---- First off: There are plenty of units spread out between the four playable races in Battle For Middle Earth. If people have a problem with exactly how many units are in the game, they should take it up with Tolkien Enterprises and not the game's developers. EA was only allowed to play off of characters that were in the movies. And I'd say they did a damn good job mustering all they could with a limited rights license. // Mordor and Isengard are crawling with different units, but low on heroes. Gondor and Rohan may not be the most well rounded when it comes to troop variations, but let me tell ya: Gondor has Gandalf (his powers are truly awesome to behold in this game ) and then Rohan is chock full of heroes. They have Theoden, Eowyn, Merry, Eomer, Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas. So it all evens out. I don't care who says what about 'shortage of units'. - They're all there. There are plenty of formations and combinations to try when it comes to the troop equation.

The second blundering re re misconception that some reviewers have had, is the whole "Yeah it looks cool, but it's light on strategy" tripe. Dear reader, please listen: This game has every bit as much strategy as Rome: Total War, Age of Mythology, or the beloved Warcraft III. These three aforementioned titles are the games that people keep comparing BFME to when complaining about what they deem to be "lack of strategy." In BFME, you need to use the same kind of strategies that you would use in R:TW, Warcraft, or Age Of etc. - You need to strategically choose which troops to attack which sortie with, you need to choose where and when to use magical abilities, you need to balance your base between fortification and upgrades, you need to decide when to launch severe assaults and when to buckle down and build up, you need to put your troops in different formations for different attacks, and you need to decide when and how to expand throughout the map and take various outposts in order to attain more resources etc. I don't know about you but I'm seeing plenty of strategy here. I`ve even heard several geniuses say, "Yeah, well in R:TW you can flank, but in BFME you can't." **Attention** Just because Battle For Middle Earth doesn't have a fancy 'Flank Button,' doesn't mean that you don't use the technique of flanking. God forbid if everything isn't pre-programmed for these people. Its called Move your troops around your enemy with queued mouse clicks, and then hit them from the side or behind. Not exactly rocket science. And, I'm sorry, but what the hell is so strategic about Warcraft 3? - You fight using large forces of troops supplemented with magical abilities... gee, that sounds familiar... It's the formula for just about every RTS game that's ever been made. BFME follows this formula too and it's a lot of fun. And BFME is also the first RTS game I've ever seen to successfully employ a fun siege feature. In BFME, you'll find yourself holing up in your base with an opening and closing gate while the enemy tries to scale the walls and knock in the doors with battering rams etc. You need to place defenses on your walls, man it with archers, and choose when to open up and bring the fight to your foes. Now I have to say, on EA's part, they did some damn fine designing there. And most importantly: they made it FUN.

The game's graphics, as I'm sure you've heard, are great. The only thing you need to worry about there is updating your drivers, getting the patch that's coming out in January, and not cranking your settings too high. This game is a resource hog. I'm playing it on a Pentium 4, 3.0ghz cpu with 512mb 2700 ram and a geforce fx5200 card. I have it on 1024 resolution with the detail set to medium. It looks great and it runs great. Even though my computer meets and exceeds the requirements, the frame rate gets demolished in the bigger battles if your settings are too high. So that's something to keep in mind. But even so, on medium setting, there is nothing to complain about. Gorgeous and fun effects. Gee, there's that word fun again.

The sound/music is great too. Top notch. The din of battle is great in this game. Clanging, thudding, explosions, cheering and screaming etc. They really did a great job of capturing that chaotic clamor of the movie battles. - And the music is pulled straight from the films as well, so you know it's awesome. Remember in The Two Towers when Gandalf arrives with Eomer at Helm's Deep and they charge down the hill into the waiting sea of Uruks? Well the really beautiful and bittersweet sounding song that's played at that part in the film is called Forth Eorlingas. What's cool, is that in BFME, you'll be charging into battle and that song will come on... you know - the long drawn out and eerily beautiful vocals? Yeah, well, that song will sometimes start to play as you charge towards the enemy ranks throughout the game. It is rather chuff and inspiring, if I may say. This game is fun and oddly moving in a way. Especially if you're big into the films. Nicely done.

As for the actual gameplay: You traverse the storyline from the side of good or evil and follow the events of the movies. But the cool thing here is, you get to play ancillary (secondary or extra) battles where you get to build up armies and villages and fight skirmishes. The storyline from the film is played out in full, but interspersed with all sorts of fun additional battles along the way. BFME is a long game. There is at least 20-30 hours of gameplay here with the storyline alone. And after you complete the story modes, you get to go back and fight skirmishes with the AI and also with other LOTR geeks like myself, online.

BFME is a fun ride. You get to relive 3 great movies through some great RTS action/gameplay. Plenty of strategy and plenty of fun. Lots and lots of fun. Once again EA proves to us that it's possible to take a massive movie license and make a great game out of it. Anyways, take my word for it: This game does not disappoint. Order this bad boy and go have yourself a bloody-guts good time in Middle Earth.

BFME delivers most of what you expect from an RTS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: December 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

For the record, I do own this game. I purchased it this afternoon, the first day it was available in stores. Just to let you know that I'm not copying a publisher's review from EA's Web site like some people seem to be doing....

Anyways, you're here to read a review of the game, so here is mine. The Battle for Middle Earth seems to be the first successful project to bring Command & Conquer/Age of Empires-esque style gameplay to the Realm of Tolkien. Personally I wasn't very impressed with War of the Ring. It seemed to have been put together in a relatively short period of time and I don't believe it lived up to many people's expectations. However, BFME promises to be the LoTR RTS game that we all expected it to be.

Although the game's appearance at first glance calms the devout RTS player, the game does introduce new (haven't yet decided whether they're better or not) gameplay functions and strategies. The first and most glaring difference is the fact that there are no builders. Instead, there are a small number of construction sides located around your central citadel upon which you may construct your buildings. This can become annoying because of the limited space, and somewhat forces the player into either an economic or militaristic mode very quickly. I was somewhat relieved when I discovered that you can capture new citadel points around which you can build another castle with yet more building plots, but you still have much less freedom than you're probably used to.

I have also failed to run across or build the massive armies that the game description boasts of. Because of the limited building plots, it is difficult to gather enough resources while training a decent-sized army. I believe the campaign battles are going to be the biggest battlefields you will find, because the armies have been pre-assembled, and there is no need to attempt to balance military and economy.

Both of these characteristics seem to be contributors to EA's attempt at altering the face of RTS games. Indeed, the game's design does make it difficult to hoard, mass, and attack, like we're all used to by now, and instead puts more emphasis on strategy, careful unit/structure production, and defense.

Many people are probably looking at this game mostly for the single-player campaigns which are based off of the movies. My impression of the campaigns was not as favorable as I had expected. The initial feeling of excitement when seeing digital Middle Earth for the first time quickly wears off after breezing through the first few scenarios. Each of the heroes you control has at least one special power, and it is very difficult to make use of them when you have 9 in the same room. Nevertheless, the heroes (especially in the Fellowship) are so strong that it really doesn't make a difference, you still slaughter the enemy. Even the Moria Balrog doesn't seem to be able to kill Gandalf. Also, you are given very little freedom to explore in places like Moria. You are given a set path to follow and the camera only follows that path, which I found quite disappointing. It felt like EA tried to turn it into a FPS leading me around like they did.

My last point of contention is the fact that the unit graphics seem rough and unfinished compared to the environment. All the trees, water, grass, etc, is wonderfully rendered and animated, but the units still look like unrendered polygons. It's not a big deal, but I would have expected them to spend a little more time with the units.

Pros:
*A great RTS-style LoTR game, what more can you ask for?
*Environment graphics really immerse you in Middle Earth
*Combines the core RTS gametype of C&C/AOE with the heroes, unit levels, and spells/powers of Warcraft III

Cons:
*Strategy can be difficult for experienced RTS players to figure out
*There aren't that many different units
*No Elven civilization

Overall, great game, I am impressed with what EA was able to turn out and believe it will meet or exceed most people's expectations.

My review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: February 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun,believe me. I could play it all day! It's cool the way a Nazgul will swoop down, grab a enemy unit, and drop it.The voices are excellent imitations.The troll ability to eat an orc is fun to watch.Mumakils look real!This is one game you will definitly want to play!

One of the best RTS games ever created.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: February 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing RTS games for years. Warcraft 1, 2, 3, Starcraft, Settlers, etc..

This game ranks in the top 3 "best RTS ever made".
Make sure you've got a good graphics card because my Radeon 9700 Pro & P4 2.53Ghz barely handled the games at 1024x768!

The game of a lif time.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 13
Date: January 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is the best kind of game. it is even better becasue it is more reilistic.

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