Preview: Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II
Finally, the franchise casts off the consumer-friendly training wheels from the first installment.
The crude clash of cavalry and crossbows gets a welcome upgrade in Battle for Middle-earth II, with the franchise finally casting off the consumer-friendly training wheels from the first installment.
Expanding licensing rights to Tolkien's books, the larger scope of BFME2 means the single-player feels less like a dreaded movie-game. Agent Smith--er, Elron narrates the original single player story, expanding on the events of the war of the north (which weren't covered in the films). For playable races, the humans have been thankfully consolidated to one faction, and two new factions have been introduced: Goblins and Monsters, and Dwarves. Departing from the simplistic building plots and resource management from the first installment, you can build where ever you want, which includes walls and wall upgrades. Trick out your humble keep to an impenetrable fortress with giant trebuchets, fiery arrows and boiling oil. No longer a simple war of attrition, flanking units now provides a decisive advantage; units have limited rear vision and incur a serious penalty when getting ambushed from behind. Franchise fans will get a kick out of a new Ring-based multiplayer mode, where you can snatch the ring from Gollum and summon Sauron or the freaked-out version of Galadriel, depending on which faction you choose. You can even make your own hero, customizing not only appearance but also special abilities.
Amazingly, the game has only been in development since March, yet already looks astounding. Sort of like Peter Jackson's crash-diet makeover.
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