While the game has to play loose and fast with the lives of the heroes (the death of a hero in one mission doesnft mean they wonft be there kicking at the dust in the next; the game would be unplayable if a herofs death meant missionfs end) and some of the plot (you can save Boromir in the Amon Hen mission), it does put the jumbled storyline of the books and films into a very close approximation of chronological order. In this way it compliments and adds to the source material. The very impressive map of Middle Earth from where you choose the next mission is also highly illustrative, allowing you to get a good placement of the location of the various scenes and a better feel for the environments than the fleeting glimpses of parchment in the films was ever able to deliver.

Larger video: 1mb   HD

Presentation on the whole is impeccable. Most of the actors lend the voices to their characters while the art team had unrestricted access to all the models and computer files used during the actual film making. Of course the filmfs score is present and correct as are the sounds of battle, all lifted straight from the movies. During play little snippets from the films will play in the Planitar with the gamefs engine driving the rest of the numerous cutscenes. As well as the integration of media the game is well laid out and simple to use.

Unskipable cutscenes are used to advance the story, so itfs a good thing itfs not the most challenging ever as they could get rather annoying the fifth time through. On medium difficulty you would have to try to lose a mission and even the hardest difficulty level isnft going to trouble the mission restart button very much. BfME is a game that follows a modern trend, where games are designed to be easily digestible and where all but the most incompetent of players will be able to see their investment right through to the end credits.

Multiplayer is handled identically to Generals although, in a move that is sure to prove a boon to the impatient, therefs no need to have everyone click on ready before starting the game. Play itself suffers in comparison to Generals. Even with Gondor, which has the largest tech tree, it takes scant few minutes to max out on everything. I had all structures built and all upgrades bought within around ten minutes, leaving nothing else to look forward to other than Ring powers and vanquishing my foe. Play as something like Isengard and that number could be revised down to five. The focus on and combat over tactical considerations isnft nearly as much of an issue in the single player game as it is here. And while the massive battles are usually very entertaining to watch and mercifully simple to keep on top of therefs not too much to do other than lasso everyone together and send em in, maybe while letting off a Ring power or two while you are at it. Let me reiterate; the MP is fun and eventful but I can see it quickly becoming rather tired and unlikely to hold interest for very long. Unless collecting icons is your thingc

Play and therefs a slew of different medals and to collect, with the top accolade again only for those with no life, requiring well over a thousand wins. Again there are troubles with playing on the net from behind a NAT network. Why this problem hasnft been fixed in the 18 months or so that itfs been an issue is beyond me. As is EAfs insistence that another stupid bug is not really a bug. I had to spend considerable time trawling the net to find out why I couldnft play a LAN game. Turns out it wonft work if one of the computers is the internet gateway and is currently connected, something about looking on the net for games rather than local IPs. So to play my pal I had to unplug the modem from the gateway machine. Tiresome and easily patchable. Strangely, I only encountered problems that seemed to be legacy from Generals. BfME ran very well on its own and seemed practically glitch free.

Battle for Middle-Earth is an interesting game. For a cinematic LOTR experience you couldnft really ask for more. After re-watching the films while playing this game I was really impressed with the way the developers have managed to cram so much of the into their RTS game. But it is the simplicity of the gameplay that is both a boon and a curse. For while BfME will appeal to many causal gamers or LOTR/RTS fans looking for some light entertainment it will seriously disappoint all those people who have been patiently waiting for the chance to lead the forces of light against the hordes of evil in a satisfyingly deep and engaging game. So I find it hard to decide on a score for this game. It does what it sets out to do very well and with vigour, yet it falls short of the kind of compelling gameplay that the licence deserves from an RTS title. In trying to please the shareholders this game has ignored the committed gamer. Still, if you can accept it for what it is, a slick piece of enjoyable marketing, then there is much fun to be had here.

77%

77%

By Sam Gibson