One Ring to Rule them all. (The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (PC))

Member Name: docpov

Product:	The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (PC)
Date:	08/04/06 (314 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great graphics and entertaining gameplay . It includes all the main characters in their own right.

Disadvantages: Tends to suffer from slowdown unless you have a monster PC.

Are you a fan of Lord of the Rings? Do you enjoy playing strategy games? Boy, are you going to be in for a treat.
The Battle for Middle Earth brings you both in glorious fashion.

Welcome to Middle Earth.

Imagine the Fellowship of the Ring approaching the gates of Moria. They enter the darkness; the only illumination is that of Gandalf’s staff, showing the area immediately around the fellowship. All they can see is the grey walls of the tunnel as they progress until suddenly there is the sound of drums in the deep. There, up ahead are two orcs on the other side of a bridge. Aragorn and Boromir charge forward to destroy them. There is a prize, an experience upgrade that unlocks special abilities.
Progressing deeper into the Dwarf mine further orc attacks hit our hero’s until they reach Balin’s tomb.
The door bursts open and in charge a host of orcs and a cave troll. It takes all our hero’s to win this battle including using their special abilities.
Once out of the tomb it is the charge down the stair to face the Balrog. Only Gandalf can face this deadly creature and it will take his magic to defeat it.
After that epic battle if all the Fellowship are still alive victory is yours.

When you have calmed down a bit it will be time to start on the second mission. This is different and follows a path more familiar to strategy gamers.
The 3D map of Middle Earth shows you where the various armies and the fellowship are and what your next mission will be (later you have a choice of which mission you wish to do next.)

For the second Act you take the role of Rohan in its fight against the might of Isengard.
This time armies and buildings are introduced now as you defend the homeland against the raging hordes of Sarumans orcs.
You must build farms to get resources to make your army with which to stand against the enemy that will soon be after your blood. Upgrade your troops with better armour and weapons to help them survive and make sure you use your hero (Eomer) wisely.

And so it continues, you play missions involving all the characters from the Lord of The Rings with Acts including the Ents as they smash Isengard. The legions of Gondor as they defend Minas Tirith all heading towards the epic final battle before the gates of Mordor. As you go through you will face all the creatures that Sauron has to offer including cave and mountain trolls, mumakil and the dreaded Nazgul.
The missions are all scripted to follow the book (or the film in this case I should think) and later you do have a choice of missions, like whether to take the armies of Rohan to either the Westfold or the Wold. The choice you make does have consequences, as it will decide where you go to next (my choices led me to miss out Acts 15-17 although I don’t know how) and each victory in a given region is worth different special bonuses.
Ford and Sam are not forgotten either, their adventures with Shelob and Gollum also feature. These missions do add a bit of variety to the gameplay.

How it works.

Resources.
Farms are what you need to collect these resources (you also can find treasure or collect treasure for destroying enemy lairs. The resource gathering is very simplified, just build farms and wait for the funds to mount up.

Armies.
These are made at barracks or stables in your stronghold and cost resources. The troops include mounted and foot soldiers. These troops are either ranged units (bowmen) or melee units (sword and spearmen.)

Upgrades.
There are a variety of upgrades available to make your soldiers better weapons and better armour. These are made at specialised buildings.

Veterancy.
As your troops fight battles they gain experience and their level is increased, with it they become better soldiers and are more likely to win a fight.
Your surviving troops are carried over from mission to mission, thus allowing them to gain more and more experience levels up to level ten. As the troops that you end a mission are the ones you start the next with it is advisable to try to build troops up to the maximum and give them all available upgrades as you near the end of a mission, if at all possible.

Hero’s.
All the characters gain experience too. This leads to more special abilities being unlocked as well as them becoming better fighters. These special abilities are varied and are in keeping with the individual hero’s characteristics. If by some misfortune a hero is killed in battle it is possible to revive them at your citadel. (Except first mission.)

Evenstar powers.
These are special abilities that are available to purchase depending on how many “power points” you have gained in missions. These special powers are varied and include the ability to summon squads of reinforcements for a limited time. These can be invaluable if you find yourself in trouble at any point.

So there you have it you have finished. Sauron is defeated and peace reigns in Middle earth. So that is the end. No?
Right, you can do it all again from the Evil point of view starting with Saruman and his fights with the Ents and the forces of Rohan before attacking Minas Tirith with the hordes of Mordor.

As it is under license from New Line Cinema (the company responsible for the Lord of the Rings films) all the character voices are the film actors voices and some cut scenes and other features are scenes taken directly from the films.

Other game modes.
Battle training. This is the tutorial mode that will teach you how to play the game. It is quite detailed and easy to follow although there is a lot of information to take in.
The main game is the campaign mode (either the good or the evil campaign.)
Multiplayer, either on the Internet or a LAN is available. I have not tried these yet so will reserve judgement until I do.
Skirmish mode allows you to play specific battles.

Technical Issues.

The Battle for Middle Earth is released by Electronic Arts in association with New Line Cinema.

To run the game you will need-
Windows 2000 or XP
1.3 GHz processor
256 MB RAM
3.5 GB Hard drive space
32MB Direct3D Video card
Direct X 9.0b and compatible sound card
Broadband Internet access for multiplayer.
8 speed DVD- ROM
It is worth noting that this game is on DVD and not CD.

This is the minimum requirement and I have to say I think that is very low. I have had a few problems running it on my 1.7 GHz system with a 256 MB graphics card.
In the big battles, when there are hundreds of characters on screen the action slows dramatically (on the Minas Tirith mission my PC crashed halfway through.) I have found that after a couple of missions, especially the later ones, I have to reboot my system to get it to run a bit smoother.

Graphics.

All landscapes and buildings are beautifully presented in fantastic detail with nice little touches like water splashes when horses charge through . Another plus is that soldiers behind walls are shown in shadow form so you never lose sight of any of your troops. The camera will also rotate to give a different viewpoint and zoom in and out so you always see what is going on.

Sound.

The sound is THX certified and is very good. All the characters have their voices from the films and say things now and again throughout the game, normally when they are about to do something. The background music is also from the films and does add drama as it changes depending on what is happening in the game.

Characterisation.

All the main characters are recognisable and well drawn and easy to pick out. Them speaking when they are clicked on help this. They are individually portrayed whereas the troops are shown in groups.

My opinion.

I have only touched on the main points of the game here and there are many things to master. Sounds difficult and complicated? Its not really, once you have picked up the basics you are well away and the learning curve as you go through the early missions is not too steep. If you are used to playing this type of game it is easy to pick up.
Setting aside the lag problems I think this is a fantastic game especially if you are a big fan of The Lord of the Rings like I am. The game plays well and there is enough variety of mission to keep the interest levels high.
As to the star rating I have a bit of a problem, from a gameplay and enjoyment point of view I would have no hesitation in giving it a full five stars and maybe if I had a higher spec PC then I would too. This is however a personal opinion and I have to use my experience and the slowdown is a real problem on my PC so that is why I have only given it a four star rating.
I have taken the liberty of writing this in a way thinking that the reader will already know something of the Lord of the Rings. If you don’t then The Battle for Middle Earth could be your introduction to the fantastic world of The Lord of the Rings.

Availability.

The Battle for Middle Earth is available in most good game stockists. As the new version is now out Amazon has this one priced at £6.99. A real bargain I think.

Summary: Great gameplay and good graphics