[01/10/05] LOTR : Battle for Middle Earth

[L.S.D]

Game: Lord of The Ring: Battle for Middle Earth

System: PC

Emulators: None

 

Background:

Thanks to Peter Jackson and his vision, everyone SHOULD have or

at least know what Lord of THe Ring is all about. For those who really

don't know, Lord Of The Ring is a fantasy fiction by J.R.R.Tolkien

which has been around for decades. It has been touted the ultimate

fantasy book of all times (although the book only get the recognition

after his death). I will not go into the details of the story much but

the story will take you for one hell of a ride, introduce the hobbits to

the world and a very high standard for all future fantasy fiction to follow.

 

Early this year, EA announced that they will release an Real Time

Strategy based on the LOTR movies. And after some impressive

previews of what to come, here it is at last. Does it live up to the

hype? Pls read on.

 

Before I begin with my review, I must remind everyone that

I AM A FAN OF THE BOOK AND THE MOVIES. So, you might find my

review alittle biased

 

Graphics:

1st of all, I am using a GeForce2 MMX card only. And the graphics

still look really great! For the 1st time in RTS history (as far as I

can remember), the interface is keep at the minimum. The reason

is for you to enjoy all the graphics detail as much as possible. All

the characters inside are done with meticulous details. For example,

you can command Faramir, one of the Heroes (I will go into this

later), to draw his sword or his bow. You will really get to see Faramir

doing just that clearly! You will get to see each action up close and

personal. With the wheel button on the mouse, you can zoom in

onto any part of the screen, and you can still see that EA has make

sure that every detail are there. Every magic casted, every sword

slash, every explosion will be greeted with colourful and flashy

special effects. And they have make a small interface so that

you can enjoy the glorious graphics. The bonus is sometime when

you reach a certain part in the movie, you will get to see mini clips

at the interface which is taken from the movies. Example: When

you reach Balin's tomb, a small clip at the interface will show Gimli

running to the tomb and in the game, the character Gimli WILL

run to the tomb! Talk about details:)

 

Battle at Minas Tirith

 

I will give the graphics department a 10/10.

 

Sound:

What else can you complain when you have the original score from

the movies? The bgm are done with great effects and when EA is

not using the movies' music, they create their own scores which fit

perfectly into the game. The music is so engaging and atmospheric

(if there is such a word). Every time I use the Rohirrim riders to ride

to a place, they will shout "Rohirrim!" and proceed to ride to the

place with the Rohirrim music playing at the background. Wooooo,

a treat to the movie fans. And the sound effects are just as great.

The war cry of the Rohan's Rohirrim Riders, the growl of the Orcs,

the trumpets of the Mumakils(the giant Oliphaunts), all are greatly

done. They are using all the original actors' voices for the Heroes

(except Aragorn and Legolas). Gandalf...opps, sorry, Ian provides

the narrator's voice in the game, which is really good.

 

I will give the sound department a 10/10.

 

Controls:

A normal RTS will have one third of the screen dedicated to the

menu and interface. Not this game. It has make do with MOST

of the interface and minimise it at the bottom left of the screen.

And you can even hide it with a press of the F9 key, and you will

get to play the game with all the glory. It will definitly take some

time to get use to it. Left click will perform most actions

(movement, attack, cast magic etc etc) while right click is to

deselct anything you have selected. If your mouse cursor hover

above a certain unit or building, the health will be shown.

Heroes will be shown at the bottom of the screen with portraits

from the movies. Personally, I find some minor problems with the

controls.

Example: I have just create a mountain troll and I want him to

pick up a tree. So, I will click on the troll and then click on a tree.

The troll will move there AND just sitting there doing nothing!!

It will take precision clicking just to get the action done. Another

frustation is when we order the units to attack, it MIGHT instead

move to the place. Double click on a unit will select all the

same units but sometimes it won't happen. Minor but still

irritaiting.

 

I will give the controls department a 7/10.

(7 for getting my Mumakills killed due to the bloody

controls @@$#$%)

 

 

Gameplay:

Ahh! We have finally arrive to the main aspect of any game there

is. First of all, this game is an innovative RTS. You do not need to

harvest anything to get resources. Instead, you build a farm or

furnace and you will get the resource. The main focus will be on the

battle and the outcome of it. It will be how you plan the battle

strategy to outwit or outmuscle your enemies.

I must say that there are good and bad in term of the gameplay.

Let us start with the bad aspect. Picture this. You are using Rohan.

Your mission in that level is to destroy all Isengard forces. So, you

will set up camps and 3 minutes into the game, the 1st horde

of Uruk Hai arrives to torment you. You will defend your site furiously

while the Uruk Hai just throw themselves at you. You will laugh at

how your fortified walls with archers equipped with fire arrows

slaughtered the never ending onslaught of the Uruk Hai. Then, you

built up your Rohirrim Riders and Archer Riders, give them all the

upgrades and ride out in search of the enemies' camps.Your archers

will shoot at the camps from a distance while your Riders will

prepare to stomp out any enemies coming near. By the end of the

day, you will emerge victorious with most of your units upgraded.

In this game, all the units will be carried forward in your next

mission, so let us move on to the next mission. ANd the mission

is, yes, destroy all Isengard forces again. And again. And again.

Same goes with the Evil Campaign. Build base, send out the orcs

to be the sacrificial lambs ( to occupy the enemies' time), while

building the REAL forces (consist of trolls, Mumakills and Nazguls),

send out the real force to crush them litterally, repeat. Except for a

few outstanding missions, it could be really tedious and boring.

Another bad point is the limited choice of units.THere are only six

types of units available for each sides, with variants from each type.

Basically, you can't derive much strategy from the limited types.

As of now, mods have come up in the Internet to create more

troops for longevity. Another weird problem I found is this. I will

use my Rohan Riders to crash through a horde of Orcs from

behind. And my Riders still sustain damages! I heard Rome:Total

War has address this issue in the gameplay so I will check this out.

One good side is some of the exciting mission in the game. One

of the very best is of course, the Battle at Helm's Deep. You could

almost feel the frustations and the anxiousness when you are

battling the Evil side, while waiting for the reinforcement to arrive.

You could almost feel the fear when the Wall is breached just like

the movie. THe oncoming onslaught of the Uruk Hai where their

tireless march towards Helm's Deep, killing your troops one by one.

Oh, the triumphant moment when Eomer's reinforcement arrives in

time to slaughter the Uruk Hai.Yep, this game is just full of moments

like this, in which the fans will glady relish. Another thing is, this

game does not try to be AN ACTUAL RTS. You could just really

concentrate on the wars, which is like what the movies did

Skirmish mode is nicely done although you can only have four

sides to play with. I am smelling a sequeel is in the pipeline.

Overall, you might think that I might give this aspect a bad rating.

But I still find myself coming back just to see my Troll, Betty

send all the Gondor soldiers flying away in a swipe of her club

Yup, this game will be a hit with LOTR fans.

 

I will give the gameplay

8/10 (if you are a LOTR fan)

5/10 (if you are not)

 

Finally, I will recommend this game to any LOTR fans out there.

You will definitly enjoy this game. For non-fans, that will depend

on whether you are just playing for fun or looking for a real RTS.

 

Graphics : 10

Sound : 10

Controls : 7

Gameplay : 8 (for fan), 5 (for non-fan)

 

Overall score : 8.75 (for fan) ,8 (for non-fan)

 

I will still give this game a

Edited January 10, 2005 by L.S.D

[sf2_ryu]

seems like an ok game might be worth renting for me

[Wizard]

Rome Total War > This garbage.

[Agozer]

Rome Total War > This garbage.

this man speaks the honest truth.

[OverlordMondo]

Both men speak the honest truth.

 

I think I've seen those graphics somewhere before...where was it... Oh, now I remember! The 90s!

 

The score from the movie is way too dramatic for an RTS.

 

The controls seem to warrant a 1 on my scale, going from your description. I think people need to switch over to my scale, it makes more sense.

 

LOTR did NOT introduce Halflings to the world, I refuse to believe that without ample proof.

 

You don't harvest resources? They just arrive magically? That's not right... Only 6 units per side? That's not right. And you go on to say it doesn't even try to be an RTS. Obviously not, I can tell that just by reading the review.

 

By this mans review and general knowledge of gaming I give this game a 1 out of 5.

 

Unless you're a LOTR fanboy, then it's obviously the greatest game ever. Now go kill yourself for enjoying horse crap.

Edited January 10, 2005 by LordKanti

[L.S.D]

Unless you're a LOTR fanboy, then it's obviously the greatest game ever.  Now go kill yourself for enjoying horse crap.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

*go jump from top of building.......into the hand of Liz Hurley *

[Wizard]

EA ruined my LOTR.

[L.S.D]

EA ruined my LOTR.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nah, I still think they manage to capture the most important element

from the movies: the battle, the desperation, and the overwhelming odds, giving you the sense that you are on the losing side (Good side)

[emsley]

Im downloading rome total war now, and i also have this pile of cow splat, avoid like the plauge!!!

[Wizard]

EA ruined my LOTR.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nah, I still think they manage to capture the most important element

from the movies: the battle, the desperation, and the overwhelming odds, giving you the sense that you are on the losing side (Good side)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Read the books and then tell me what you think about the movie then. Because the books are much better in compairson to those movies.

[L.S.D]

EA ruined my LOTR.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nah, I still think they manage to capture the most important element

from the movies: the battle, the desperation, and the overwhelming odds, giving you the sense that you are on the losing side (Good side)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Read the books and then tell me what you think about the movie then. Because the books are much better in compairson to those movies.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I understand that. But be logical.

You think the movies can follow exactly like what the book are?

You will be bored to death!!

What Peter Jackson did was to make the books accessible to the

main masses. The only complain is the inclusion of the Aragorn/Aren

mushy mushy part and making Aragorn like a total wuss in return Of The King

Edited January 11, 2005 by L.S.D