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LOTS OF FUN

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: December 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is great! Unlike other expansions, this one really builds on the game by adding new, good ideas such as the new faction (Angmar) and upgrading the custom hero maker. The new maps are great, and the story mode is very good (from what I've played, anyways.) I also like that the makers of this game have changed some of the imbalancing qualities of BFME 2 (one army better than the rest, heroes too strong, etc) This game is a good buy and worth the money. I hope my review helped.

Very good improvements!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: January 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The expansion pack is very good. It was better than I expected. I for one love the campaigns, and it was interesting to have it fully based on the evil side. The changes are also very good, such as how quickly the opening screen works as opposed to BFME2. I like the new maps and the new added units. The Angmar faction is very different from the others.

The best of all four!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: December 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is the is the best of all four!!! I mean its excellent! the new heroes, the new faction: Angmar and it's cool powers, The new campaign story mode, the new ideas, the new "create a hero" options and it's new class: the trolls, and even more!! What i really like is that there is the new faction (Angmar). The snow trolls are special because their clubs are strong enough to kill Eowyn!! "That is if you have two packs of snow trolls". And Angmar is really good! if there are sixty groups of enemies, an avalanche could kill all of them in two rolls!!!
If you try inflicting fell wind on an enemy hero it gives you the chance to strike him/her while on the ground! The game is just so nice!!!

Really, this is a game that DESERVES five stars. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! IT'S WAITING FOR U OUT THERE!!!

"Awesome Strategy"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: April 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is really fun, and has great strategy. It also has unique units, buildings, and heroes for each of the seven races:
Elves
Dwarves
Men
Goblins
Mordor
Isengard
All New: Angmar
This game adds on to The Battle for Middle Earth 2, with all new heroes, units, and faction. It is a must have for any Lord of the Rings fan.

The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle Earth II: Rise of the Witch King

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: May 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Great Expansion, must Expansion don't give you much. But this Expansion made the game even better.

Read the book but don't expect all things to be perfect afterwards!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Though some tout about lack of book reference in games and moives, I see them as they are, Fun! Acording to the Fellowship book(not movie) though, the Witch Lord(or king here) was referred to as "the only other time Hobbits battled for humans and others ect. ect". The game is intriguing in that it references what is only briefly recapped on in the book, A witchlord and his rein of distruction before the "War of Middle Earth." This time you have an evil campain and you are the Witchlord(or King-or whatever) and in his hayday after the downfall of Lord Sauron and Isuldur's take down. These events take place in a more recent history(quite close to the Hobbit and tLotRs but beyond living memory) when the Shire is young and during the time Golumn(a character not referenced here) begins his transformation from Hu-hobbit to ghoul. Don't expect an epoch unabridged tale in the Battle for Middle Earth Games as a whole but do expect a lot of recaps on the history before the War as this is untold by Tolkien himself yet the permission for these games was granted to give them scope and content beyond LoR that is why the evil campains in BfME are so intriguing, they render an alternate ending. Unlike privious installmnets which were uninteresting and only adhering to the movies and nothing more than seeing the movie in "game" form. I will not review each individual game as this should suffice to represnt all, but I will say this is an interesting take on a history only breifly gone over in the books. I suggest "Overlord" for a truely evil campain or "Witcher" for an RP element-though what is "evil" anyway... Some of the comentary I've seen here(and on most cheezey DVD's I buy is just as evil!) I say drow and Haven both are Grey. HYPPIECRITS!

great expansion on a already great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Battle for Middle Earth was really good, and now with this expanison gameplay has been improved and all races now get more units as well as a brand new race. The single player is really fun and you get to see the ruins of the Lord of the Rings movies in their prime. Lots of fun, any lord of the Rings fan would love it.

My son LOVES this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game for my son, who read all the books and has seen the movies. He is 11 (yes he read the book series early). The graphics are incredible and he gets so immersed in the game. This particular game was an add on pack to one of the other middle earth games I believe. He loves all of the lord of the ring PC games I, II and this one. Most of the time I refuse to buy PC games because he has video games but this PC game is worth installing.

Astonishing level of detail given to terrain, story line, and characters makes this game a winner

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The level of detail that went into the planning of this game is extraordinary.

I haven't played the War of the Ring, so can't comment on that. Frankly, for *me*, it's too massive and time consuming, and I just don't have the requisite time/energy/desire to take it on. But anyone can see from the reviews posted here that it's a remarkable feature of the game. (Which just makes the game seem that much more incredible to me.)

What I can comment on is the Campaign, and the Skirmishes, and how true to Tolkien's Middle-earth the game is.

The Campaign is that of the Witch-King's successful attempt to destroy the realm of Andor, a northern kingdom in Middle-earth. One of the lead reviews posted here mentioned that even on the "easy" setting, the Campaign was extremely difficult. I'd have to agree with that. I slowly made it through on the easy setting, and I won't be going back for more. It was interesting, but not quite interesting enough to do what I would think of as torture--try and try again to beat a game that will always beat me.

The Campaign is interesting in that it presents a new faction: Angmar, and the Witch-King is a major character in many of the tasks that comprise the Campaign, although he seems to be (in the Campaign and the Skirmishes) a bit on the weak side. More so as a hero in Mordor, where he rides the winged beast (he has the option of dismounting), than in Angmar, where he sits a horse. All of the new additions are carefully thought out, and while they all don't follow the canon of LOTR, the direction of the Witch-King's assault on the kingdom of Andor does, and that in itself is impressive. In the Angmar faction, the "heroes" are not canon, with the Witch-king's notable exception. The others have clever backgrounds, that do reflect canon, but they're fictional-fictional creations. One, Morgomir, is said to be one of The Nine (he's not), and when using him as a hero, he is, at times, much more effective than the Witch-king himself, with "powers" that have a more direct impact on the game. That's mostly true if you're playing against the computer, but if you're playing against another person, who would ostensibly know how better to deploy heroes (i.e., send them out with troops, have them fight alongside troops, and try to stay alive to level up and reap the benefits of higher-level powers, as opposed to acting like kamikazes), then the Witch-king's major power, a resetting of all heroes special powers to "used", is actually a major power.

Along with Angmar come new troops: Thrall Masters, Black Numenoreans, Dark Rangers (who fire bolts of ice, rather than silverthorn or fire), Dire Wolves, Snow Trolls, Hill Trolls, Seige Engine, and, the newest introduction to the entire BME universe, Sorcerers who, if used correctly, can be devastating.

Also, the walls that Angmar builds are strong. They can be upgraded with "ice", and once done are very difficult to knock down.

All of the other factions received upgrades/changes; most importantly, they each received elite infantry units, with limits to the number you can have on the field. For the Elves, there are Noldor Warriors. You can have three units on the field at a time. They come fully upgraded with banners (though one isn't visible), silverthorn arrows, and armor. They can also switch to fight with swords at close range. Used correctly, and leveled up, they are a mighty force.

The Men of the West get Knights of Dol Amroth. Only three units can be on the field at a time, and if you pair them with other units on horseback, and, say, Eomer as a hero, once the knights level up appropriately, they lend extra experience to surrounding troops and can make for daunting cavalry.

Dwarves get Zealots. I haven't played the Dwarves, so can't comment on them.

Isengard gets Uruk Deathbringers. Played correctly, they are fearsome.

Mordor gets The Black Riders. Only one Black Rider at a time may be in play. In reality, it's six horsed men in black--the Nazgul--and again, they become more and more terrible as they level up.

Goblins get Fire Drake Brood. Only two may be on a field at a time, which amounts to 6 individual fire drakes. Like others, they are more effective as they level up, but are too easily dispatched. Best to pair them with a summoned Fire Drake from the Goblin fortress.

There are other additions and changes to units and buildings, but that's a long enough list.

In the first Battle for Middle Earth, the Campaign was much more exciting, as it followed the story of The Lord of the Rings reasonably well--it certainly followed the movie. The skirmishes were less exciting, as the terrain didn't change much from one place to another, with minor exceptions, and that's where BME2 and BME2RWK really shine.

Just as in writing, it's all in the details.

When you skirmish in Lorien, the colors of the forest are gorgeous and alluring, as in the Shire and Rivendell. The maps, and the lands portrayed within the maps, are much so more detailed than those in BME1, and your ability to customize the terrain to your liking (choosing where to build structures, how many you want to build) is greatly improved.

Good is represented by Dwarves, Elves, and Men. All have their good and bad points. With the elves, you can upgrade to "silverthorn" arrows, and once you have an armored group of archers with silverthorn arrows, the game turns in your favor pretty quickly. Elves are the premier archers of the game. They have three different types. Lorien archers, Mirkwood archers, and Noldor warriors. The more elite the archer unit, the further back the archers need to be to hit their targets. (Compare this with goblin archers who seem to need to run up to the enemy and French kiss them before firing.) With elves, if you develop your archers quickly, get them the silverthorn upgrade as soon as possible, and purchase Haldir as a hero, pretty soon you'll be ruling the battlefield. The drawback to the elves is that it's difficult to raise resources. Other factions have ways to generate extra resources. Mordor and Isengard have lumber mills in addition to their main resource generator, and Isengard has a power that, when selected, allows you to raise the output of a slaughterhouse by 300% for the duration of the game. Add that to the lumber mills, and you're raising money quickly.

But the bad guys need the extra resources, because they can't heal. Their bannered units don't replenish as quickly as the good guy's bannered units do, and there's nowhere for them to go (no Mirror of Galadriel, or Well of Healing) to quicken their healing. If you're playing the evil side, and find yourself run over by a bunch of horsed lancers, your forces take a serious hit. The harder the game selection, the more forces will be thrown at you, so you don't have idle time to wait for your troops to heal. You need to create new troops, purchase new banners, armor, arrows or weapons, etc.

Evil is represented by Isengard, Goblins, Mordor, and Angmar. If you play the Goblins, watch when you build a tunnel--you'll see two goblins kind of playing catch, although they're supposed to be working. One is throwing rocks out from inside the tunnel, the one on the outside is catching them. When the goblin on the outside loses track of what he's doing, the one from the inside comes up, smacks him on the head, and they resume their tasks of throwing and catching rocks. Like I said--details.

If you capture the ring, you get to call out Sauron himself. He's pricey--10,000--but has an insane amount of health, 15,000, and must be wearing armor that's stronger than mithril. He's nearly impossible to hurt if he's being utilized correctly, and if you're playing an evil group and get the ring, make sure you bring Sauron out. He is the one character in the game--the only one--who can change the tide of a battle. I was playing level 1 Goblins against level 4 elves, and while not being soundly trounced, I was definitely losing. That is, until I captured the ring. As soon as Sauron came out, the tide shifted, and I won. He's not terribly quick on his feet, or speedy with his mace, but once that mace connects to anything, watch out. He can cause whole battalions to become airborne.

Compare that to calling out Galadriel, who is the hero that the forces of good can call upon when they've captured the ring. Her health is 5,000. You can custom-make heroes that have more health than Galadriel. She's not a game changer. She has some cool powers--fear, and a wicked tornado that picks up virtually everything, and that, when positioned over an enemy's fortress can cause severe damage--but the way they've drawn her character she looks more like Stevie Nicks throwing karate kicks than the Queen of the Elves.

My only real beef with this game is that patches to the original version weakened some heroes. Gandalf, for instance, wouldn't stand much of a chance against the Black Riders of Mordor, and we know from the books that he's more than a challenge for any of them. He also can't stand up to the Witch-king, which is absurd. (If all you know is the movie, what happens between Gandalf and the Witch-king in Gondor in the Extended Version of ROTK could not possibly have happened.) Gandalf is better matched against the Balrog that the evil forces can call upon, but even the Balrog is weaker than it should be. Remember: Gandalf, the Balrog, Saruman, and Sauron all share a similar origin. They are all Maia, essentially angels (or fallen angels). No man should be able to withstand Gandalf's wrath, especially when he returns as Gandalf the White. Yet many can.

Still, that's not much of a beef.

When playing equal sides, level 1 Goblins against level 1 elves, it's usually a cake walk for the goblins, with me playing the goblins and the computer playing the elves, for example. It's not quite so easy playing it the other way, playing the good guys. But that's fine--that's canon. Evil was stronger than good, and the "forces of good" really had to dig down deep to pull out a victory.

All in all, a terrific game.

Good expansion for a classic game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 30 / 34
Date: December 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is an expansion pack that does what all expansions should do: it improves upon the original game and adds new content. While RotWK does not revolutionize the basic gameplay of BFME2, it is a worthwhile addition.

Gameplay: The expansion simply adds more to the intense, visually stunning RTS that is BFME2. The single-player campaign introduces the story of the Witch-king's rise to power and allows you to play the bad guys, which is fun in this instance. There are 8 mission, plus an epilogue that allows you to play the kingdom of Arnor (a carbon copy of Men of the West). The campaign, at least on normal difficulty, can be quite hard in places, and you might be surprised to find yourself repeating a few of the missions. Overall, it is an adequate diversion, which will take about 5-6 hours to complete.

The create-a-hero system is much improved. Now, you can create your own in-game avatar using a power-purchasing system that makes sense and will allow for some diversity in the game. You can make a "cheap" hero, who can be afforded during the early game, or make an expensive one that will almost rival Sauron. A few new powers have been added, along with a troll class and some more clothing/armor options. Truthfully, the new power-purchasing system should have been added with a patch, so that people with the original game could receive this fix. In any event, the new system here is much welcomed and makes player-made heroes more balanced and interesting.

The best improvement of the original gameplay comes with the changes to the War of the Ring (WotR) mode. Now, the armies that you create in the RTS skirmishes carry over to the strategic map and can be moved around with your 4 heroes. There is an upkeep cost that keeps this army persistence feature from getting out of hand. Also, you can build more things from the strategic map, such as siege maps and unit upgrades. Finally, the AI plays a bit smarter. For example, it will retreat when it is losing a fight. Also, AI opponents put up a better fight than before and will build walls occasionally. The WotR mode also has about 10 new territories added to it.

The major addition to the game is the new Angmar faction, led by the Witch-king. It is a mixture of fallen men, trolls, and sorcerers. It's distinctive enough to be truly considered a separate race. The most fun unit is the thrallmaster, who can summon a squad of units on the fly to fit most any situation. The sorcerers are interesting too, but fragile and require some close micromanagement. Angmar's heroes are decent, with the Witch-king and Rogash (a powerful troll) being the best ones. Each of the existing races get a couple new units, including an elite "mini-hero" horde, which is not always worth the high cost (compared to just recruiting a new hero from the fortress).

Graphics: Basically the same as BFME2, which is to say that they are quite good. On a good computer, you'll be able to enjoy some beautiful textures, convincing unit animations, weather effects, and other nice graphics.

Sound: The music is based on the movie soundtrack, which is great. Voice acting is pretty decent. As with BFME2, the ambient sounds, unit acknowledgements, and combat audio are well done.

Stability/technical issues: The game has been quite stable on my machine. I used to get a crash or two on the WotR strategic map, but no more. The manual does a decent job explaining the new faction and improvements to gameplay.

Replayability/Value: With the improved create-a-hero system, more persistent armies in the War of the Ring Mode, new units for existing races, and the new Angmar faction, this expansion gives the original game even more longevity. The single-player campaign, though a challenge, is largely forgettable. However, it's the skirmishes and the WotR strategic game (finally fixed!) that will keep you coming back to this great game.

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