Tails
11th Apr 06, 6:52 PM
Year of release: 2006
Development House: EA Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Website: http://www.ea.com/official/lordoftherings/bfme2/us/home.jsp
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Game score: 80 / 100 (Overall Score)
Graphics: 4 / 5
Sound: 3 / 5
Gameplay: 4 / 5
Concept: 3 / 5
Execution: 4 / 5
Controls: 5 / 5
Enjoyment: 4 / 5
Replay ability: 4 / 5
Difficulty: 2 / 5
Learning Curve: 3 / 5
Patch version: v1.03
Bugs: 3 / 5
Modability / Community support: 3 / 5
Review:
Barely a year after Battle for Middle Earth was released, a sequel was announced. This seemed to be a hasty decision and it raised a few red flags about the effort and care that would be put into this game. The primary lure of this game was that it would encompass not only Peter Jackson's interpretation of Middle Earth, but would include much more that could be found in the Lord of the Rings books and additional literature. Although this game has some weaknesses and has been plagued by a few setbacks and bugs, the strengths of the game, coupled with the support it has received, has proven it an entertaining real time strategy in its own right.
The idea of the game is very similar to the original Battle for Middle Earth. Six armies are separated into two sides: the Elves, Dwarves, and Men of the good side, and the Goblins, Mordor, and Isengard of the Evil side. Each army has its unique forces, which generally fall into the categories of swordsmen, archers, pikemen, cavalry, and heroes. Each army also has its unique bases and structures.
There are generally two modes of play. There are the skirmish battles, which function almost identically to most other real time strategies. This mode of play encompasses the campaigns (which are astoundingly easy and short), human vs. CPU, and multiplayer games. Second, there is the War of the Ring mode, in which an interactive map of Middle Earth is turned into a risk board where the player commands and conquers individual lands of Middle Earth until all objectives have been completed. Battles in this mode can be auto-resolved or resolved via a real time skirmish. Lastly, the modding community creates custom maps which offer special types of cooperative play.
All units are built in batallions, and can be individually equipped with upgrades. There is a much larger variety of units than the first game, as well as many more heroes. This certainly adds a touch of complexity to the game, and fortunately, mirror matches are now an actual challenge (whereas in the first one, mirror matches were often crappy matches of attrition). A new feature in The Battle for Middle Earth II is the Create-a-hero option. Much like the Sims, you can pick a class for your character (such as wizard, captain, troll, etc.) and adjust points for power, armor, health, heal rate, and vision. In addition, you can choose special powers for your hero; for example, you can customize your wizard to throw fireballs, train allies, or teleport. The problem with these is that in multiplayer games, custom heroes often throw the game out of sync, or at least as of this patch anyway.
Unlike the first game, in which buildings were constructed on set plots on the map, Battle for Middle Earth II allows for structures to be built anywhere by using "builder" units. The centerpiece of any base is the fortress, from which builders and heroes are recruited, structural upgrades are purchased, and defenses can be built. Buildings may serve multiple purposes. For example, the dwarven mine shaft can generate resources and transport units. Also, buildings must sometimes be upgraded to access higher level units or upgrades. Lastly, scattered on most maps are special buildings which must be captured to use. Some offer resources, some special units.
Like the first game, there are Evenstar and One Ring points; these are points accumulated from killing enemy units which can be traded in like tokens for special powers, such as healing, weather conditions, reinforcements, etc. The only difference from the first game is that there's a whole lot more of them.
Multiplayer supports up to eight people. There is "tournament" play, where you are randomly paired in a 1v1 or 2v2 in a random map. There is also "open play" where players can host a game and set their own rules. Although the multiplayer is the funnest part of the game, it is also the most troublesome. As of this writing, there are still a few problems with game crashes and out-of-sync errors. Fortunately, the patches insofar have made the game much more stable than before.
The graphics are great, but like the first one they are extremely memory intensive. Textures are very impressive, but again, the camera dissappointingly has no "tilt" ability, which would have certainly added to the excitement of battles. The sound is good, but nothing particulary exceptional. The voice acting is eexcellent, just like the first one.
Indeed, I would say this game is better than the first, and would recommend it even more if you've never played the first one. While its servers are not as crowded as some other multiplayer games, it does have a decent number of players, with usually at least 300 people online at once. (After all, I'm sure our Homeworld crowd is used to having lonely servers.) The Battle for Middle Earth II is an accomplished real time strategy which is worth experiencing.
Good stuff: Good graphics, great gameplay, extensive choices and options, easy to control, balanced
Bad stuff: Bugs!
Reviewer System Specs:
CPU: Intel Pentium M centrino 1.60 GHz
RAM: 512 MB
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 (Run at 800x600)
Sound Card and Speakers: SoundMAX Integrated Audio (played on headphones)
Development House: EA Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Website: http://www.ea.com/official/lordoftherings/bfme2/us/home.jsp
**************************************
Game score: 80 / 100 (Overall Score)
Graphics: 4 / 5
Sound: 3 / 5
Gameplay: 4 / 5
Concept: 3 / 5
Execution: 4 / 5
Controls: 5 / 5
Enjoyment: 4 / 5
Replay ability: 4 / 5
Difficulty: 2 / 5
Learning Curve: 3 / 5
Patch version: v1.03
Bugs: 3 / 5
Modability / Community support: 3 / 5
Review:
Barely a year after Battle for Middle Earth was released, a sequel was announced. This seemed to be a hasty decision and it raised a few red flags about the effort and care that would be put into this game. The primary lure of this game was that it would encompass not only Peter Jackson's interpretation of Middle Earth, but would include much more that could be found in the Lord of the Rings books and additional literature. Although this game has some weaknesses and has been plagued by a few setbacks and bugs, the strengths of the game, coupled with the support it has received, has proven it an entertaining real time strategy in its own right.
The idea of the game is very similar to the original Battle for Middle Earth. Six armies are separated into two sides: the Elves, Dwarves, and Men of the good side, and the Goblins, Mordor, and Isengard of the Evil side. Each army has its unique forces, which generally fall into the categories of swordsmen, archers, pikemen, cavalry, and heroes. Each army also has its unique bases and structures.
There are generally two modes of play. There are the skirmish battles, which function almost identically to most other real time strategies. This mode of play encompasses the campaigns (which are astoundingly easy and short), human vs. CPU, and multiplayer games. Second, there is the War of the Ring mode, in which an interactive map of Middle Earth is turned into a risk board where the player commands and conquers individual lands of Middle Earth until all objectives have been completed. Battles in this mode can be auto-resolved or resolved via a real time skirmish. Lastly, the modding community creates custom maps which offer special types of cooperative play.
All units are built in batallions, and can be individually equipped with upgrades. There is a much larger variety of units than the first game, as well as many more heroes. This certainly adds a touch of complexity to the game, and fortunately, mirror matches are now an actual challenge (whereas in the first one, mirror matches were often crappy matches of attrition). A new feature in The Battle for Middle Earth II is the Create-a-hero option. Much like the Sims, you can pick a class for your character (such as wizard, captain, troll, etc.) and adjust points for power, armor, health, heal rate, and vision. In addition, you can choose special powers for your hero; for example, you can customize your wizard to throw fireballs, train allies, or teleport. The problem with these is that in multiplayer games, custom heroes often throw the game out of sync, or at least as of this patch anyway.
Unlike the first game, in which buildings were constructed on set plots on the map, Battle for Middle Earth II allows for structures to be built anywhere by using "builder" units. The centerpiece of any base is the fortress, from which builders and heroes are recruited, structural upgrades are purchased, and defenses can be built. Buildings may serve multiple purposes. For example, the dwarven mine shaft can generate resources and transport units. Also, buildings must sometimes be upgraded to access higher level units or upgrades. Lastly, scattered on most maps are special buildings which must be captured to use. Some offer resources, some special units.
Like the first game, there are Evenstar and One Ring points; these are points accumulated from killing enemy units which can be traded in like tokens for special powers, such as healing, weather conditions, reinforcements, etc. The only difference from the first game is that there's a whole lot more of them.
Multiplayer supports up to eight people. There is "tournament" play, where you are randomly paired in a 1v1 or 2v2 in a random map. There is also "open play" where players can host a game and set their own rules. Although the multiplayer is the funnest part of the game, it is also the most troublesome. As of this writing, there are still a few problems with game crashes and out-of-sync errors. Fortunately, the patches insofar have made the game much more stable than before.
The graphics are great, but like the first one they are extremely memory intensive. Textures are very impressive, but again, the camera dissappointingly has no "tilt" ability, which would have certainly added to the excitement of battles. The sound is good, but nothing particulary exceptional. The voice acting is eexcellent, just like the first one.
Indeed, I would say this game is better than the first, and would recommend it even more if you've never played the first one. While its servers are not as crowded as some other multiplayer games, it does have a decent number of players, with usually at least 300 people online at once. (After all, I'm sure our Homeworld crowd is used to having lonely servers.) The Battle for Middle Earth II is an accomplished real time strategy which is worth experiencing.
Good stuff: Good graphics, great gameplay, extensive choices and options, easy to control, balanced
Bad stuff: Bugs!
Reviewer System Specs:
CPU: Intel Pentium M centrino 1.60 GHz
RAM: 512 MB
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 (Run at 800x600)
Sound Card and Speakers: SoundMAX Integrated Audio (played on headphones)