"Fight with the armies of Middle Earth!"

Ever since the first Lord of the Rings movie was release, many games containing the Lord of the Rings title have come out. Most have been okay, others bad. And as time went on, I think people have greatly desired a real time strategy game set in Middle Earth. Now we have one.

I know another RTS with Lord of the Rings came out awhile ago. But, simply put, it was awful. If you were wondering whether this was similar or worse, I can tell you, it isn't

GRAPHICS - 9
The graphics in this game are great. Everything looks very well detailed. You can zoom in all the way, and the units still look very nice, which is rare in a 3d RTS game. The animations of the units are very well choreographed, and everything is fluid, and well done.

The graphics are great, but they aren't groundbreaking and awe inspiring. A pleasure to watch.

SOUND - 9
The sound is also very well done. The unit's voice acting is well done, and isn't corny or poorly developed. The grunts and explosions you here in almost every RTS are still here, but they sound better than what you'd here in say, Starcraft.

The hero's voice acting is well done as well. Most of the actors from the movies did the voice-overs for the characters with the exception of Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen who were Legolas and Aragorn. But over all the voicing is very well done.

The music in the game is the same from the movies and is enjoyable to listen to, but in the game, you will rarely notice it, as you are concentrating on winning.

Overall, it sounds great, and unlike some RTS games, adds to the atmosphere and enjoyability of the game.

GAMEPLAY - 10
In a RTS, you have to have good gameplay if you are to succeed appealing to people. This game has great gameplay, and is unique and more fun than most RTS games. There are three play modes: Campaign, Skirmish, and Multiplayer. Skirmish and Multiplayer are self-explaining. Campaign is where you complete certain missions which give bonuses to the over size of armies. It isn't that great, and multiplayer and skirmish is where most people will be anyway.

First off, this game does have basebuilding, but building is very different. You start each game (in skirmish) with a castle, which contain many building points on which to build. But, once you run out, you have to seek out outposts and camps to gain more spots to build on. What this does is encourage expanding and attacking, and helps prevent camping in your base waiting to gain a huge army.

Second, the resource gaining technique is must different. There is only one resource, are gained by building certain buildings. Resources then are added to your total every few seconds, depending on how many buildings you have.

And, as you have a limited amount of spaces in your castle, you have to search out more settlements to build more farms. It really is brilliant! Also, resources can reduce the cost of some of your units. For example, if you are Isengard, the more slaughterhouses you have, the cheaper your Warg Riders become.

Each of the four races play very differently, and have unique units and heroes. The game offers many tactical options. For example, Rohan gets a lot of horses, so if you are Isengard, you might want to get a lot of pikemen which are strong vs horses. It gives you many options of what to get and what to use to counter your enemy, which RTS depend on.

The four nations also have heroes, which can be recruited expensively, but which have powers to turn the tide of battle. Speaking of powers, you also have universal powers, which are gained by fighting. You can get everything from a heal power, to being able to summon the Balrog or the Army of the Dead. Great fun!

Balance of the units is sometimes off (ie cavalry and wargs can trample which can wipe out an army really quickly), but there are ways counter this, so it isn't a huge deal.

Overall the gameplay is excellent, and is what makes this game so great.

OVERALL - 10/10
Personally, I would have like to see this Lord of the Rings RTS have nothing to do with the movies, and be something new in the LotR universe, but it's not a big deal. The game is wonderful, and great fun, and is a must own for any LotR fan.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/05