The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth

It's not one RTS to rule them all--but pretty close.

Blizzard set the precedent for real-time strategy games with Warcraft, and since then games have spiraled towards ever-increasing complexity, having players manage labyrinthically complex upgrade trees and a frivolous number of resources. In a refreshing change, EA has stripped away the mundane chores, focusing on creating grand battles that faithfully reflect Peter Jackson's ambitious vision of The Lord of the Rings.

Not a Conjurer of Cheap Tricks

Despite advances in graphics and technology, most of strategy games have flat and uninspiring combat--enemies just move until they're within attacking distance and mindlessly whack each other until the stronger side wins. With Battle for Middle-earth, however, fights feel like scenes straight out of the movies. Flying chunks of rocks from trebuchets chip away at walls and smash warriors into the ground, pounding cavalry charges flatten orc conscripts, and massive trolls wave tree trunks of death, swatting away the unlucky sods nearby. The masterful immersion and seamless interaction between the objects and world blur the lines between cinematic storytelling and gameplay. Order Ents to pick up boulders and throw it on orc companies, or have Nazguls grab cowering swordsmen and throw them down--it's as though the player is creating his own take on the movie scenes of Isengard or Minas Tirith. EA has clearly raised the bar with BFME, and future RTS games will be undoubtedly judged against it.

Base building and resource management, the bane for the non-hardcore, has been toned down, allowing players to concentrate more on the fighting--critical since a mountain troll in the wrong place at the right time can instantly flatten an army. Instead of being able to build anywhere, there are set locations to build outposts--which although is nice for its simplicity makes base strategizing slightly more dull. The game only has one resource type to worry about (basically gold), a pleasant change of pace that surprisingly still has depth and requires skill to manage. In addition to heroes, units continually gain in experience and skill as well, making retreats an invaluable tactic.

The interface is the biggest downside--it's a tad too simplified, lacking some important information such as base armor rating, making the organization of your forces a needlessly cumbersome affair. Also, the units don't naturally align themselves correctly in large groups, for example archers automatically marching behind swordsmen as seen in Warcraft III. However, micromanaging battles is a genuine joy (and nearly essential) so it only becomes a minor annoyance.

There's Room For A Little More

Simplicity works both and for against BFME: on one hand it's appealing to the less hardcore, on the other it may leave those who enjoyed more complex games like Kohan II yearning for a bit more. Diversity of units is limited, partially due to the game restricting itself to only what was seen in the movie. Its RTS-lite approach may not garner as devoted of a following as a game such as StarCraft, but the overwhelming majority who has any interest in both RTS games and The Lord of the Rings won't be disappointed when buying it.

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WarioGarlic

This game is okay. I've beaten both the good and evil campaigns. Since I own it for a PC laptop (worst system ever because it's so slow and it can slow down gameplay and loading), it's always way too slow and I can stop it quickly sometimes. If you're not doing the campaigns, it might get boring.

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