LOTR Battle for Middle Earth

Dowly · 08-18-09, 06:15 AM

Finally decided to get my hands on this one after hearing good stuff about it (and because they just showed the entire trilogy on telly

).

My first and only question about it is; Why didnt I try it earlier?!

It's grrrreat! Possibly the best movie lisence game I've played (ok, maybe Riddick was a tad better). The use of the lisence is very good, from voice acting to well placed clips from the movies. I was abit worried that they would overuse it with lots of cutscenes being just clips from the movies but fortunately I was wrong. The little details like hovering your mouse over a party on the world map to see a clip from the movie on that little sphere thingy on the bottom corner showing appropriate scene from the movie according the position the party is in on the map is brilliant.

I wasnt expecting much from gameplay, but that surprised me abit too. Cavalry kills infantry in matter of seconds with one charge, archers are very deadly and the resource management and base building is very simple, letting you concentrate to the combat aspect of the game. The heroes are nice, but I could've done without them. See, if RTS game has multiple heroes, I usually just pick one that I take to battle, so I dont have to babysit all of them which then results in one of my guys being at it's highest level while the rest are sitting at lvl 1.

Ow and why I need to control the hobbits too? What can they do? Throw a damn rock at the enemy.

Graphically it's pretty nice for it's time, C&C Generals' engine was graphically IMHO already outdated when it came, so even after upgrade it only can go so far.

The voices give a nice immersion boost thanks to the original cast from the movies. Tho, there's few silly things with the Rohan cavalry, at times if you click fast enough when moving them they actually say "We are riding! ....away!!". Oh and nice to hear that dwarf and the elven git competing who get the most kills during the battles, nice touch.

Right, now, someone tell me how BFME 2 is?

Spike88 · 08-18-09, 12:28 PM

I've played BFME and BFME2. They're both awesome. I haven't played in nearly a year though, but I believe the major difference between 1 and 2, is that in 2 instead of having to build within your castle, you can build everywhere, like a traditional RTS.

HunterICX · 08-18-09, 12:32 PM

I too had great fun playing the first BFME, the campaign was really enjoyable...never bothered much with the skirmish but thats pretty much due the fact my Computer back then was not really able to run it decently.

HunterICX

kiwi_2005 · 08-21-09, 08:47 PM

Played BFME and BFME2, liked the first one better yeah and what spike said about bfme2 if i remember right you can also build the walls anywhere which I use to spend a bit of time creating my artwork, something about building walls in RTS games never get sick of it.

Are there still mulit player servers running? I still have the games gathering dust.

08-18-09, 06:15 AM	#1
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,052 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	LOTR Battle for Middle Earth Finally decided to get my hands on this one after hearing good stuff about it (and because they just showed the entire trilogy on telly ). My first and only question about it is; Why didnt I try it earlier?! It's grrrreat! Possibly the best movie lisence game I've played (ok, maybe Riddick was a tad better). The use of the lisence is very good, from voice acting to well placed clips from the movies. I was abit worried that they would overuse it with lots of cutscenes being just clips from the movies but fortunately I was wrong. The little details like hovering your mouse over a party on the world map to see a clip from the movie on that little sphere thingy on the bottom corner showing appropriate scene from the movie according the position the party is in on the map is brilliant. I wasnt expecting much from gameplay, but that surprised me abit too. Cavalry kills infantry in matter of seconds with one charge, archers are very deadly and the resource management and base building is very simple, letting you concentrate to the combat aspect of the game. The heroes are nice, but I could've done without them. See, if RTS game has multiple heroes, I usually just pick one that I take to battle, so I dont have to babysit all of them which then results in one of my guys being at it's highest level while the rest are sitting at lvl 1. Ow and why I need to control the hobbits too? What can they do? Throw a damn rock at the enemy. Graphically it's pretty nice for it's time, C&C Generals' engine was graphically IMHO already outdated when it came, so even after upgrade it only can go so far. The voices give a nice immersion boost thanks to the original cast from the movies. Tho, there's few silly things with the Rohan cavalry, at times if you click fast enough when moving them they actually say "We are riding! ....away!!". Oh and nice to hear that dwarf and the elven git competing who get the most kills during the battles, nice touch. Right, now, someone tell me how BFME 2 is?

08-18-09, 12:28 PM	#2
Spike88 Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 3,052 Downloads: 36 Uploads: 0	I've played BFME and BFME2. They're both awesome. I haven't played in nearly a year though, but I believe the major difference between 1 and 2, is that in 2 instead of having to build within your castle, you can build everywhere, like a traditional RTS. __________________

08-18-09, 12:32 PM	#3
HunterICX Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2006 Location: Malaga, España Posts: 10,750 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	I too had great fun playing the first BFME, the campaign was really enjoyable...never bothered much with the skirmish but thats pretty much due the fact my Computer back then was not really able to run it decently. HunterICX __________________

08-21-09, 08:47 PM	#4
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	Played BFME and BFME2, liked the first one better yeah and what spike said about bfme2 if i remember right you can also build the walls anywhere which I use to spend a bit of time creating my artwork, something about building walls in RTS games never get sick of it. Are there still mulit player servers running? I still have the games gathering dust. __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.