EA Confirms The Rise of the Witch King News

With the first details emerging from last week's Comic-Con 2006 event held in San Diego, EA today officially lifted the wraps from... get ready for it... The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II - The Rise of the Witch-King.

Promising to enhance every existing feature of the franchise and command the rise of evil, The Rise of the Witch King allows players to experience the battles that took place before those depicted in Peter Jackson's trilogy.

Despite fans' concerns that the game already has too many factions and balancing issues because of this, The Witch King will introduce a new playable faction, in the form of the Angmar. The expansion pack also includes a new single-player campaign following the domination of Angmar and the invasion of the great kingdom of Arnor; along with new units for each of the six factions already featured.

The expansion pack will also feature upgraded War of the Ring and Create-A-Hero features, with the former offering improved enemy persistence, a new siege dynamic and unidentified territories that serve as major control points; whilst the latter's Troll class boasts additional weapons and armour choices.

"The Lord of Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king" will transport players to a new time and place in Middle-earth while adding strategic depth to the innovative gameplay gamers loved in The Lord of Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II," said Mike Verdu, Executive Producer at EALA. "Fans will love exploring the evil side of Middle-earth as described in Tolkien's fiction and brought to life in the visual style of the New Line Cinema films. This game is set to deliver the ultimate RTS Middle-earth experience."

Thankfully the title of epic proportions and unfriendly to web-page designs and database constrictions, is currently marked as a working title so we're hoping for something a little easier on the tongue and slightly catchier from EA.