The Hobbit trailer

Back in seventh grade, a dog-eared copy of 'The Hobbit' served as my primary reading. I read and reread that book a dozen times when I was a kid, gorging myself on Tolkien's first adventure and starting my love of everything from fantasy literature to role-playing games. Later, I discovered The Lord of the Rings, and Peter Jackson's fantastic film trilogy based on them. To this day, Middle-earth is one of the greatest fantasy settings of all time, and Peter Jackson's films are timeless classics.

Next year, we get to go back.

Old Review- The Battle for Middle-earth 2 (PC)

My Review- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth 2 (PC)

The original Battle for Middle-earth is easily one of my favorite strategy games, and it’s still probably the best of the games based on the Lord of the Rings films. The original game already covered the majority of the film’s material, though, so I don’t think anybody really expected a sequel. However, EA managed to secure a LOTR book license in addition to the original movie license, opening a wide range of content from Tolkien’s masterwork. Do the added content and tweaked mechanics make BFME2 a better game than the original?

STORY

The original BFME featured a watered-down version of the film’s plot, putting the player in control of the major battles from the films. BFME2, being based more on the books, instead focuses on The War in the North, a separate campaign of the War of the Ring that was mentioned in the appendices of The Return of the King. The idea is that, while Gondor and Rohan were fighting Sauron’s main army at Minas Tirith in the south, there was another huge war going on with the Goblins of the Misty Mountains and Sauron’s other army from Dol Goldur, fighting against the Elves of Rivendell and Lothlorian and the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain. BFME2 makes the most of it’s dual licenses, combining the look and feel of the films with several locations and characters from the books.

Old Review- Battle for Middle-earth (PC)

The original BFME was my first RTS, and it's still one of my favorite PC games.

My Review- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (PC)

The Battle for Middle-earth is a real-time strategy game based on the LOTR films. Like The Third Age, it is a well-done game despite being a licensed product. The Lord of the Rings films are really a perfect for a strategy game, and BFME succeeds both as a LOTR game and as a quality RTS.

STORY

BFME’s story is split into two campaigns- the Good campaign, which more or less follows the events of the films, and the Evil campaign, which is an alternate scenario in which Middle-earth is conquered by Sauron. The story is conveyed through movie clips and short in-engine cutscenes before important battles, but otherwise, it’s pretty simplistic. The game assumes that you are familiar with the LOTR world and provides little background save the opening sequence, which is narrated by none other than Sir Ian McKellon. You progress through the story is a slightly nonlinear way- occasional story missions occasionally must be played to progress further, but you are otherwise able to choose which territories to conquer across Middle-earth and which of your armies to do it with. The game also takes a few creative liberties with the story, such as Boromir surviving the battle of Amon Hen and Gandalf successfully slaying the Balrog without dying. This doesn’t really bother me because the game is fun, and doesn’t sacrifice this fun in order to be more true to a story we already know.