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A fun interpretation of Tolkien's world

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 28 / 29
Date: April 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

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

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 23
Date: March 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

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.

Great if it was a full length game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 19 / 26
Date: March 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

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....

DUDE OR DUDDETT, STOP WHAT YOUR DOING AND BUY THIS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: August 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

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.

Disappointed - more like a poor beta

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: March 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

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.

A lot better and a lot worse.................................

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: June 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

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

Compared with the first one, it stinks.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 32
Date: March 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Why it stinks?
1: there's only 8 missions per good or evil side, and no world map to choose where to go, you're trapped in the story.
2: The voiceovers are horrible compared to the old one, and just mimic the old ones, not very authentic at all, shameful.
3: The character pictures are done in cartoon, and substandard.

Why it's good.
1: There's trolls in it, we all love those, or love to hate them.
2: That's it, i've got nothing else. Someone shoot me for spending $60 on this sorry knockoff unworthy of even being qualified as an expansion.

superb

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

ONE OF THE BEST RTS GAMES THAT CAME OUT THIS YEAR,BETTER THAN STAR WARS,GRAPHICS ARE EXCELLENT BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE THOSE SUPERIOR GRAPHICS CARD YOU'LL BE EXPERIENCING LAG TIME ON BATTLES WITH MULTIPLE BATTALION CLASHING EACH OTHER, OH,WELL THERE IS NO PERFECT GAME,BUT THIS IS CLOSE,MONEY WELL WORTH IT..

ea does it again

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 18
Date: March 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

dude this game is friggin sweet. graphics are beter than the first and the storyline of playing the battle in the north rocks! I also like the create-a-hero mode i have a level 10 battle troll and a 10 human paladin, also a level 10 elven archer/warrior. it rocks. the war of the ring mode is also awesome.

bottom line, BUY THIS GAME!!!!!!!!! thanks ea for doin it again

This game does not get the credit it deserves

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 13
Date: June 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I recently played BFME 2 at a friends house and it was incredible! The war of the ring mode was extremely fun. Adding the handicap was a great idea by EA for people who have not gotten the hang of the game yet.

""Why it stinks?
1: there's only 8 missions per good or evil side, and no world map to choose where to go, you're trapped in the story.
2: The voiceovers are horrible compared to the old one, and just mimic the old ones, not very authentic at all, shameful.
3: The character pictures are done in cartoon, and substandard.

Why it's good.
1: There's trolls in it, we all love those, or love to hate them.
2: That's it, i've got nothing else. Someone shoot me for spending $60 on this sorry knockoff unworthy of even being qualified as an expansion.""

You sir, obviously are inexperienced and inept at grading and playing RTS games. The cutscenes are way better in cartoon, as it helps explain what is going on way easier. True, 8 missions are a bit short, but compared to BFME I campaigns (Which had over 30 missions, and took over 5 hours)

The gaphics and tutorials are excellent, the tutorial in BFME 2 is interactive and makes you do something so that you have a clear idea of what to do. Overall it is worth a lot more than these people sell it for.

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