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LOTR: Battle For Middle Earth II


Labeled With  the lord of the rings xbox360 ea
Written by Josh Lowensohn on Tuesday, August 15 2006

You may have thought the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) franchise was long gone—lost amongst the brief movie fads and tie-ins that create the “synergetic” marketing window that has since passed due to the trilogy’s cinematic conclusion. Now it sits, a series seemingly limited to the hardcore fans of the classic trilogy, or enthusiasts’ awaiting the forthcoming high-definition release next-generation optical media. Electonic Arts would like you to forget all of that nonsense, sit down with their newest title Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II, and once again be taken away to Tolkien’s magical universe to battle good vs. evil.

Before even delving into this game, it’s important to discuss the ambition EA has taken in attempting to port a real-time strategy (RTS) game to a console. The conflict of course being RTS’ by nature are meant to be controlled with a mouse and keyboard—or in other words, with a PC. In recent years, this has become less of a struggle with the inclusion of more buttons (the XBOX 360 has 17), but the difference between the two has sparked hot debate in the gaming world since the console controller’s inception. Regardless, LOTR’s designers have created a system that manages to work given the effort you must put in to learn it.

The basic premise of LOTR is to put you in command of gigantic armies (land, sea and air) that are completely at your control. You must put your command and micromanagement skills to the test against some pretty smart AI, and somehow survive battles where you are often attacked by surprise and limited in your resources.

LOTR puts you in some fairly large terrains, both interior and exterior (sometimes even mixed). Players move around the map using the two analog sticks, using the left stick for locational movement and the right for rotation and zooming in and out. Using a combination of button presses, you can select your units by type or whoever is on screen to move to selected locations or attack the enemies.




The unit types in LOTR are both diverse and specialized. Similar to most RTS games, you usually start out with a few units and must build role-type structures to create armies and fortresses. Units come in two flavors: troops and “siege” devices. Troops start out simple, but by upgrading your structures you can create stronger and more powerful units. LOTR lets you play as several different factions, so depending on whose side you’re on, your units will have certain specialties. For example, playing as the elves will give you some incredibly powerful archer units, whereas when playing as dwarves, your mid-range units throw axes instead. Siege devices can break down gates or walls, as well as hurl projectiles at enemy units and structures with deadly efficacy.

Knowing which type of units are your army’s strong suit becomes incredibly important quite early on, as you’ll need to build and match whatever the opposing armies are throwing your way. Having basic infantry go up against knights or spider goblins can be absolutely devastating, whereas meeting them with the equivalent or more powerful units neutralizes the threat. This means you have to build the right units and organize them correctly during battle to ensure minimal losses and optimal attack damage against opposing forces.

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Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II


 
 
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7.5
   GR Rating
 
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Player Support (1-4)

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Co-op multiplayer
Head to head multiplayer

Online
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