"Much better than war of the ring!!!"

Finally gamers have a Lord of the Rings real time strategy (RTS) game that they can enjoy. This is the second attempt after War of the Ring to make a good LOTR RTS. Battle for Middle Earth is much better than War of the Ring.

SOUND - 10

The music in BFME is great. It comes directly from the movies and is good fighting music. When you defeat all the enemies in an area your soldiers cheer, which sounds really realistic.

Your units also point out to you when the enemy is approaching or there is a cave troll nearby by yelling “it's the enemy!” or “cave troll!” That helps a lot because you don't have to constantly look at the mini map.

GRAPHICS – 9

Let me say it now, the quality of graphics on this game is impacted by your video card. If you don't have a good video card they won't be as great as they can be. Also, graphics settings impacts load time. With that said…

I love the graphics in BFME. With graphics set to medium you can see archers practicing their aim, or animals killed in the slaughter house. Depending on the setting the graphics can be amazing, and fun just to look at.

GAMEPLAY – 9

Moving and attacking is the same as most strategy games. Select with left click, move and attack with right click.

There are 3 different game modes for BFME: skirmish, campaign, and multiplayer. Multiplayer is pretty much skirmish with other people, except you can't save…duh. Skirmish is a mode where teams can go up against each other and fight to the death. Campaign is a mode where you live the third age, and follow either good or evil forces in the battle for Middle Earth. In campaign you play classic battles such as the battle of Helms Deep and the battle for Minas Tirith. It's fun to reenact these battles as the game makes you feel like every move you make matters, (and it does).

REPLAYABILITY – 9

It is very easy to play BFME over and over without getting bored and multiplayer just adds to this.

Buy or Rent?

Definitely buy! You won't regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/05