Login






-Hottest News
-Xbox 360
-Xbox
-Playstation 2
-Playstation 3
-PC
-PSP
-Gamecube
-Gameboy / DS
-Software
-Nintendo Wii
-Dreamcast
-Neo-Geo
-N-Gage
-Mobile
-Misc
-Film & Media
-Web
-Industry
-Game Media
-Event
-Arcade
Your Ad Here
Respected Sites

-Xbox Scene
-Vitalspeeds Hosting
-Final Fantasy
-Planet Xbox 360
-Free Games
-Buy Playstation 3
-Arizona Web Design
-Band Merchandise
LOTR: Battle For Middle Earth II


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

Despite the serious engine and hardware limitations this game faces, the structures you can build and those you must overtake in battle are very well done. Each one has its own personality and an incredible amount of detail. Spider lairs and evil fortresses crawl with bad guys; likewise the infantry training structures you build have their own guards or trainees working out in the facility, making it look that much more real.

Maps are given a fair amount of detail, with some beautiful pre-made cities and foliage. There is enough variety to keep you from thinking it took some map designer 15-minutes to put the level together, as well as saying “I’ve seen that tree before.” Terrains change from location to location, with some of the coastal and volcanic levels looking especially gorgeous. You might find the maps are almost too big in some cases, making it tough to keep track of what’s going on where. While there is a mini-map in the Palantir, it would still be nice to zoom out as far as possible to make it easier to synchronize split up forces.

Each level is bookended with a beginning and end cinematic, stylistically crafted with a storybook picture that becomes a cgi-animated sequence. While it looks similar to actual gameplay, these cgi sequences are given an extra level of flair and detail the game engine can’t seem to pump out on its own. These sequences help to pull you into the plot, as well as setup the importance of each battle you’re about to get yourself into. It would still be nice to have the game look as artistic as these cut scenes though, and it’s noticeably smoother and more detailed.

Music and sound effects in LOTR are just fantastic. Howard Shore’s epic score puts a tone and feel to every battle and every situation, bringing a sense of emotion and need into every confrontation. Victories are made that much sweeter with Shore’s sweeping melodies taking a cue from your efforts. Likewise, when evil forces come into your path, you can hear it before you even see it. The sounds of swords, explosions and battle are crystal clear, and sound terrific in Dolby Digital 5.1. One of the best things you’ll hear are the Ents (the giant, walking tree-creatures), which have deep and rumbling voices and frequently talk while throwing giant, rumbling projectiles at attacking forces.




The one benefit of being a big-budget movie tie-in is that the voice acting in LOTR is superb. Hugo Weaving supplies the narration, and you’ll hear Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Saruman (Christopher Lee) and Aragorn (Chris Edgerly) in there just to name a few. It adds a certain level of authenticity to the experience, and you might even feel a little bit better knowing Ian McKellen is on YOUR side.

LOTR seems like a game destined for Live Marketplace premium content. There is already a map expansion pack, and a full on campaign expansion is no doubt in the works. Players should find the core game is no short jaunt, as the good and evil campaigns should take you a fair chunk of time to get your way through. Finishing the entire game on “hard” is also no easy task, as the difficulty in later levels really ramps up.

The achievements in LOTR are well-founded and earn their name. There’s a good mix of completion-based achievements as well as online ranked objectives. Completion-based achievements are obtained by scoring all the level’s primary and secondary tasks. This can be difficult, especially if you must keep certain members of your party safe. The online ranked achievements are basic “win X amount of games” awards, given for play on XBOX Live. EA has even added the zero-point achievements for losing a certain amount of matches in a row or to somebody at a lower skill level.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Next Page >>

Related Articles:
 Gears Of War 2
 Dead Space
 Far Cry 2
 Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway
 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
 Pure


Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II


 
 
> rating

7.5
   GR Rating
 
> media
> game information

Player Support (1-4)

Local
Co-op multiplayer
Head to head multiplayer

Online
Co-op multiplayer
Head to head multiplayer

Options
480p
720p
1080i
Dolby Digital 5.1
Online rankings
> related reviews
> recent reviews
> Author Information

Josh Lowensohn

> Pages

1  2  3  4  5  >>
© 2005 GamersReports.com. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy