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Almost perfect

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 202 / 210
Date: December 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The game has incredible graphics, I'll definitely give it that. EA had to write some new music to match the game better, but it blends seamlessly with the existing movie soundtracks. Loading times aren't too bad either, and are usually accompanied by a small introction to your upcoming mission.

Gameplay itself is very fun. At first when I heard about the minimized interface, I got a little nervous because I was worried about not having enough control over the units. To some extent this is true, but I've found it doesn't actually get in the way as much as I thought it would. For the most part it serves the purpose I believe EA intended - the player spends less time staring at the bottom of the screen and more time focusing on the battles.

The forces are fairly balanced for the most part. For example, a batallion of Rohan cavalry can be a serious force to reckon with against archers or infantry, but if they come across some Isengard pikemen they'll have met their match. Mumakil can do all kinds of damage, but aren't so strong against archers armed with the flame arrow upgrade. A lot of people say that Mordor is a little bit weaker than the other forces, and I'd have to agree to some extent. However, some good strategy can make up for it. Likewise, Gandalf can be a little too powerful once he reaches the higher levels of veterancy, but there are counters against him as well.

The one thing that really bugs me about the game is the population cap. In the movies, the armies are huge. By having a limit of 200 or 300, you can only have 20 to 30 batallions. That's really not so much, and definitely not enough to recreate to any degree the enormous battles of the movies. Fortunately, there are ways that more advanced users can raise the population cap, but it's still a very annoying thing to have to deal with.

Overall, this is a wonderful game. I would recommend it to anyone, even for the rather high price. Nevertheless, don't expect this game to completely give you large-scale feel of the battles in any of the movies.

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

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.

Addictive!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 16
Date: April 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Beware: should you decide to sit down in front of this one, you may not be seen for a while! It is that easy to get lost in this game. Everything is wonderful with it...well, almost.

The graphics are fantastic. Gandalf fights using the same manuvers as he did in the movies. Rocks thrown by the Hobbits arc as they near their targets. Orcs run with a limp. It's amazing. The opening scene of the game is remarkable in the way it copies the opening battle of LOTR:FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. I read in another review that you can actually see orcs butcher cattle in the Mordor slaughterhouse, though I haven't seen it myself (of course, my computer is outdated by a few years).

The game interface is well done. Controls are point and click. The instruction manual accompanying the game is well written and the game also offers a tutorial.

The campaign mode is the hidden treat. I have not completed the Mordor/evil campaign, but it does allow a look at an alternate ending to the events of LOTR. The 'Good' campaign is a blast. Each character from the movie is featured (well, kind of. Worm-tongue and Bilbo are absent, as is Lord Elrond) and can be utilized. Characters are allowed to gain special abilities as they increase in rank. The game does allow a little too much towards the abilities of Gandalf and Aragorn; Gandalf gains the ability to use 'Word Power' at level 10 (essentially the language of Mordor's effects, as seen in the extended LOTR:FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING) and Aragorn can summon up the army of the undead at will once he reaches level 10 (unlike the movie, where he got one shot at it). There are other liberalizations made with characters abilities, but all are done in the name of game play.

The Battle/skirmish mode is more like a fantasy version of Age of Empires or Cossacks. Start with a base, gather resources and kill all who are not your allies. fun, but gets reptitive. It's not quite the mad-rush from AoE or Age of Kings, but it's on that level. A plus is that the heroes from the campaign modes can be 'purchased' using resources. Gandalf, Sauramon, Aragorn, Gimli...even Gollum and the Nazgul are available.

Spells/powers are gained in both the skirmish and campaign modes through victory in combat. Each respective discipline (good or evil) has their own set of powers/spells that can be obtained this way, starting with basic abilities and working up to interventions by allies (Rohan, Elves, Eagles, Ents, and the Army of the Undead for the 'good' guys; basically the Balrog is your only ally for the forces of Evil and he is VEEEEERRRRRRYYY expensive, though worth it). One bummer is that pwers must be purchased in sequence. You can't just save up your points and get a Balrog without first getting the lesser powers (same with the good team. You can't just get the Army of the undead without jumping through the other hoops first).

I have read that some have been unable to run this program on their computers. I'm using a circa 2001 Compaq Pressario with a Pentium4 1.5 gig, 384 MB SyncDram, and an ATI Radeon 9600 video card and have had no problems to date (although it takes a few minutes for my computer to 'dump' this game before I can check e-mail or use the internet after playing).

The price is finally coming down on it, so save your gas money: stay home and play this instead!

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.

Now, the fate of The Middle Earth is on your hands

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: April 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was very excited to get Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth, as this was the game I had dreamed about for years. Being a fan of both the Lord of the Rings books and movies, as well as being an avid strategy gamer set my standard high. Fortunately, Battle for Middle-Earth met and exceeded my expectations.
Battle for Middle-Earth makes excellent use of its license. The creatures and locations of Middle Earth are brought to life with beautiful graphics and unit emotions. Unit emotions are something rarely seen in RTS (Real Time Strategy) games, but Battle for Middle-Earth does them excellently. Your soldiers will cheer after winning a fight and cower when facing a huge monster. This is very cool and really helps to bring the world to life. The heroes of Middle Earth are constantly present, leading your troops and shouting lines from the movies. As you progress in the game, powerful monsters like Balrogs and the Army of the Dead enter the fray. The sound is the best part of the game; I am constantly turning the volume up, just so I can get the full effect. Battle for Middle-Earth truly deserves the Best Sound of the Year award it received from IGN.com.
Battle for Middle-Earth has multiple game modes including: campaign, skirmish, and online multiplayer. One interesting feature of the campaigns is that you can play as good or evil. Yes, you can play Sauron and command orc legions to pillage Middle Earth. This may be offensive to some, but the game does not force you to play evil and on the flip side playing the good campaign is exactly the opposite morality wise. The most offensive thing I encountered was that on one map, playing as evil, one of the bonus objectives was to hunt down and kill all the refugees. Yet being consistent with the good-vs.-evil world of Middle Earth, on one of the maps playing as a good faction, one of the bonus objectives was to rescue all the refugees. All in all, the game provides a very clear view of good and evil and their respective results.
The campaign is a mixture of plot battles and freeform play. You can pick a territory of Middle-Earth to conquer or defend, and then fight a battle in that location.. No matter which side you play, you will have to play several scripted battles from the Lord of the Rings storyline. But the game doesn't explain the plot so it helps a lot to know the story.
Skirmish games are only one map and can be played using any of the four factions in the game: Gondor, Rohan, Isengard, or Mordor. All four factions play very differently, and none have an advantage. User created maps can be used in skirmish or multi-player games. One skirmish takes about 30 min. to an hour. A campaign may take well over 20 hours.
Battle for Middle-Earth is very beginner friendly. It eliminates many complex features that confuse beginner RTS players, without removing from the gameplay. Like most RTS games Battle for Middle-Earth is based on battles. There is no blood, and it is very rare to have human vs. human combat. Yet due to the violent nature of battles it might be better to keep young children away from this game. Although, this is the least offensive RTS game I have ever played.
Over all I find Battle for Middle-Earth to be an excellent game. It has huge potential for reply, and a quick learning curve. It's a must for any Lord of the Rings fan.

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.")

Rewrite the war of the ring

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: October 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As Shelob the Spider webs up a helpless Frodo, Sam Gamgee emerges holding up his sword. Shouting, "Get away from him you filth!" Sam charges the giant spider, backed up by fifty Gondor soldiers and archers. During the same time, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are struck down by the fiery Balrog on the Pelennor fields, thus snatching away any chance of victory. Oh yeah, and after Theoden dies at Helms Deep, valiant Boromir commands the Rohirrim to victory against Saruman.

Fan fiction at work? Nope. Simply another day playing The Lord of the Ring: The Battle for Middle-Earth.

The Battle for Middle Earth (BFME) is a real time strategy game where the player commands either for the forces of light (Gandalf, Gondor and Rohan, etc) or the forces of Darkness (Sauron and Saruman). Throughout your playtime as either faction, you'll wage warfare against your enemies, conquer (or defend)territory, and get into lots of bloodthirsty hand to hand combat.

For those who want a tactical game basaed on the utterly fantastic Lord of the Rings movies without having it be an RPG will find almost everything they could want here. You've got large armies, many, many territories to explore (and conquer), and lots of "wow" moments that can take your breath away.

At it's core, BFME is a simple, effective strategy game, and while it may not have a lot of depth, it does pack a lot of fun. For most of the game, you'll be spending your time at various locations in Middle Earth, either defending or conquering the regions you are in (as a side note, the world map is one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen in a video or computer game. It's absoloutly breathtaking). At each location, you start out with a base, where you build various structures such as farms,armorsmiths, archery ranges, etc. When you feel ready, you set out across the map to destroy the enemy, thier bases, and achieve victory. Occasionally you get to play a special mission based directly offof the movie, such as commanding the battle against Helms Deep or leading the Fellowship through the mines of Moria.

The gameplay in these missions is very simple and simplified, most likely in an attempt to be as user friendly as possible. To keep things simple, you can only build your bases at certian-pre set locations, and within these bases, you can only build buildings at designated locations. With this system, you can quickly build your base, collect resources (via farms, slaughterhouses, or other buildings), build up your forces and attack the enemy. I personally like this approach, because it lets me go for all out combat rather then micro-managing my resources. Combat,though quite simple, does require some thinking. For example, horsemen are very effective against infantry, but if they go up against spear-carrying orcs (or other soldiers), they are in big trouble. Archers can take down enemies from a distance, but are exceptionally vulnerable to every other type of troop. When attacking the enemy, it's best to learn each unit's strenths and weakness, and adjust combat
accordingly.

When building your armies, you have lots of choices for what kinds of soldiers you'd like to have. Gondor has good infantry, while Rohan has kick-ass horses that can mow down the majority of troops they come across. Isengard has fearsome berserkers, wargs, and cheap yet strong Uruck-hai. Mordor has access to
strong mountain trolls and the fearsome and formidable Mumukil (those giant elephants). No one unit is invincible, and all can be defeated by other units using the right strategy. For example, Mordor's trolls and mumukil are very strong, but both are extremly vulnerable to arrow fire (and they are pretty much dead if those arrows are on fire).

Along with your infantry, you also have exclusive "hero" units that are stronger and more efficent in battle. All these hero's are from the movie, such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir (who lives!), Saruman, the Witch king, etc. Even Gollum is avaliable (though he's pretty much useless). Each hero has exclusive powers that can help them turn the tide of battle in an instant. Saruman, for example, can temporarilly control enemy units using his oh-so-charming voice. Legolas can unleash a very fast and furious birrage of arrows at a set target. And Gandalf...wow. one move, and he can destroy an entire army. At one point, Shelob the spider is controllable as a hero! (But only if you are playing the shadow campaign). If you wish to succed at BFME, you'll need to use your hero's efficently.

And as if those heros weren't enough, you also have exclusive powers that can help turn the tide of battle in an instnat. By killing huge amounts of enemies (or conquering regions), you can power points, which can be used to buy new powers, such as being able to summon allies (eagles, ents, elves, etc), being able
to get more resources quicker, or summoning almost invincible allies, such as the balrog and the army of the dead. Some of these powers are incredibly useful, and amazingly cool.

While the normal missions are fun, the real fun comes from playing the movie-based missions, such as Helms Deep, Minas Tirith, etc. All of them give you the chance to play these battles in a different way then what happens in the books or the movies. When defending Minas Tirith for example, it's possible, though difficult, to go through the entire battle (which lasts roughtly forty minutes!) without losing a single soldier! Likewise, Saruman and his forces can either blow up the wall at Helms Deep, or they can work thier way through the keep and behind the wall.

Indeed, some of the best parts of the game are "what if?" moments where you can change the story. When Saruman burned down the door of Mirith Tirith and ran inside, followed by the Balrog, I just couldn't help but grin like a madman. Likewise, having Treebeard crush Saruman into a bloody pulp at Isengard brought another smile to my face. And having Shelob kill Frodo and Sam will have you grinning like the evil dark lord that you are.

As a further element of challenge, each faction in the game plays differently from each other. In general, the forces of light have stronger units with strong defenses, but have smaller armies. Likewise, the forces of shadow have weaker units and defenses (Mordor in paticular, has very weak foot soldiers), but have the advantage of sheer numbers and a few powerful units. I'd say that the shadow campaign is harder, especially when playing as Mordor, but it is certianlly possible to win even when playing as the harder factions.

For those who are not interested in going through an entire campagin, BFME features a skirmish mode, where you can select your army, the territory, the enemy army, and then jump in to start killing each other. With the wide range of possible battles, it's easy to come up with some great "What if" scenarios. For example, in one battle I had Gondor fight Rohan in Fangorn forest, with Boromir leading the forces of Gondor (He killed Eowyn by the way). It was a long battle, but eventually Gondor was triumphant. Likewise, In another battle, I pitted the forces of Mordor against...Mordor? The result was an hour long battle against two perfectly matched foes. Eventually however, victory was mine, thanks to recruiting the Nazgul.

Though BFME is a fun, enjoyable, and long game, there are some significant issues that need to be addressed. Probably the greatest issue is it's simplicity. The game can pretty much be boiled down to: build base, build forces, attack enemy base, destroy enemy base, conquer/defend territory. Select next territory and repeat. Doing upwards of ten of these missions in a row can get a bit repetititve. No matter how varied the enviornment, you're still doing the same thing over and over. Thank goodness there are movie based missions to help break up the pace.

Many people have pointed out that the armies in the game are pathetically tiny compared to the movie, and i'm afraid I have to agree with them. When playing as the forces of light, the absoloute maximum amount of units I controlled was about seven hundred. But it's not a huge issue because the battles are just as chaotic as the movies. Another issue I have with the battles is the edge of the maps. In the cinematics you see endless fields, mountains, sky, etc. Yet in the actual game, when you reach the edge of a map, it just stops, with a huge span of darkness beyond it. It's very jarring and unrealistic, and it is especially obvious at the black gate of Mordor.

I'm also not so sure about the replay value. When you finish either campaign, you get a fast twenty second cinematic, followed by the campagin totals, and the credits. A bit unsatisfying, and it doesn't really leave one wanting to play again. The replay value is there, but it's not one of those "Jump back in right away" games.

Another quibble that I have is the issue of replays. The game automatically saves a replay of multiplayer missions, but not of single player missions. Why? So if you play an incredible, last ditch defense, save the day mission, you can't save it. You'll never be able to see what happened in that mission ever again. It's a big disapointment that EA did not include this feature.

But in the end, BFME is a fun, exciting game that will bring a lot of satisfaction and fun to a lord of the rings fan, even if they are not big on strategy games as I am. If you have a powerful enough computer, then I highly recommend this game.

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