The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth II Review

J.R.R Tolkien and Peter Jackson continue to play important roles with videogame blockbusters, as the obsession with The Lord of the Rings continues to persist for EA. Coming uncharacteristically during the summer months, the latest takes the form of an adaptation of the popular PC RTS sequel for the Xbox 360; can it buck the trend and bring a worthwhile RTS experience to the home consoles; is it little more than EA desperate for a 360 release during a quiet period - read on to find out.

A result of last year's agreement between EA and Tolkien Enterprises, to expand beyond the original accord that resulted in adaptations of Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema cinematic trilogy, BFME2 takes full advantage of access to the full literary works by focussing on the war to the north. In customary tradition, however, EA have taken it upon themselves to take one or two liberties, with a handful of conflicts to Tolkien's work and the introduction of a couple of new characters, that is likely to frustrate the hardened fanatics.

RTS titles on home consoles are hardly a new experience; however, it's fair to say that past efforts have generally met with mixed success. Largely as a result of squeezing down the mouse/keyboard control setup to a restricted joypad and the limited resolution of standard definition TV, classics such as Command & Conquer, StarCraft and several others have always had a tough time in the past replicating their success on the PC to the console crowd. BFME2 could, however, be an exception to that rule. The benefits that HD bring ensure that the typical issues over text and maps have been virtually eliminated, but it's the time and thought that EA have spent on the control method that makes this almost as enjoyable as it was on the PC. Driven by context sensitive menus, BFME2 presents a flexible, robust and largely enjoyable solution, which although slightly daunting at first, becomes thoroughly intuitive and makes unit selection, building and carrying out commands a relatively stress-free experience.

Much like its sequel BFME2 presents a "Good" and "Evil" campaign for players to complete, with eight missions on each side. Curiously on its way to the Xbox 360, EA have removed the Dynamic campaign mode that was featured on the PC version, instead including maps from both BGME2 and its predecessor in Skirmish options. Embarking on a quest that takes you through the Misty Mountains and ultimately onwards to lay siege to Sauron's Dol Guldur on behalf of the "Good" campaign, those siding with Sauron will conquest many Elven and Dwarfen territories alongside an attack on The Shire. Although the mission objectives provide far more variety, and therefore more enjoyment, then its predecessor, BFME2 on the 360 suffers from the same problem as it did on the PC, it's all over a little too quickly and there's not much of a challenge unless you start with the Hard difficulty (which is recommended to RTS fanatics).

Because it's a faithful port of the PC adaptation, many of its qualities and faults persist. Based heavily around its predecessor, which in turn took influence from the mediocre Command & Conquer: Generals, BFME2 presents an enjoyable experience if you're not too fanatical about your RTS titles. It's a game that makes no attempt to offer any innovation in the genre, with the same old "tank-rushing" strategies often being enough to win the day. The traditional "infantry-archers-cavalry" take on the "rock-scissors-paper" dynamic is a little underwhelming, but provides a stable core to base all of the units within the game around. Each unit can be upgraded with a variety of extra weapons and abilities,

Hero characters are also an unsurprising element to the game, though one that is very important to this game, given their ties to iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli along with more mysterious characters such as The Mouth of Sauron and Tom Bombadil. Often these characters seem to be too powerful in terms of balance, and can often win earlier campaigns on their own.

Tied in with Heroes, Powers can also be unlocked and earned through a traditional Tech-Tree system, based upon the various factions you'll take control of. It's not exactly rocket science, but it does provide a level of depth as you customise your strategies based around those available to you.

The typical bane of RTS titles in terms of path-finding often rears its ugly head with BFME2, particularly when using the otherwise handy formation command. Essentially a technique to easily bring all of the varying units into a smart offensive formation (archers behind infantry, cavalry to the side), utilising the technique is narrow sections will often see some units assemble on a cliff top and be miles away from the action when it all begins; it seems a shame that you're not given more control over the design, instead having to rely solely on a line formation.

The only area where the Xbox 360 actually dares to improve upon the PC version is via the Xbox Live multiplayer options, which presents five different modes to enjoy: Versus, King of the Hill, Capture and Hold, Resource Race and Hero vs Hero. Admittedly there's nothing particularly new about any of the modes on offer, however, it's here where you'll be spending the most of the time, after the somewhat shallow single-player campaign has ended. One particularly novel idea for the 360 is the ability to unlock Heroes for use in the multiplayer mode, via the Achievements that you've managed to attain - a clever use of one of the 360's most important features to date.

On the visual side BFME2 remains a faithful port of the PC version, which is slightly disappointing given its next-generation credentials. Those who own HD TVs will benefit with a game that presents a reasonable amount of detail, but one that doesn't look convincingly next-gen, with some slightly dubious shadow effects and an overall lack of gloss. Unfortunately if you don't own a HD TV we wouldn't advice picking up BFME2, as the lack of resolution really drags the experience down into a mish-mash of undistinguishable characters, text and icons - it's almost unplayable, unless you're really straining to pick things out.