Battle for Middle Earth

[Assassin]

Oh my... Just... Oh my... A very nice RTS game. Less micro-oriented than most RTS out there, but the battles are just awesome (and the sheer amount of multitasking/things to do). Unfortunately, the game does have some weak points, the most prominent that I'm finding is the lack of enough different units (there are maybe 6-8 different units per 'race', including upgrades to units and not including heroes/summonable creatures). Also, the battles mostly consist of me ramming as many guys into the enemy's throat as quickly as possible.

However, the games are still fun, and they've divided the types of units differently and made different units strong/weak against various units. The heroes/calvalry/trolls are insanely good, but that's a bit to be expected, given their cost. Resource management is still key, though unlike most RTS, there is an infinite amount of resources on the map, making it impossible to simply starve someone out. Oh, and every resource is gathered into a single resource pile instead of making different types of resources. The reason why you still have to grab as much resources as possible is because the units/heroes are fairly expensive (most of the 'basic' units are 200-300 resources, except for Mordor, who get Orc Warriors for free, though they will get outclassed later on in the game. And the buildings that produce resources make them in chunks of 15/18/20). More money = better troops.

Buildings, regular troops, and heroes can all gain ranks depending on the amount of kills. But something that really bites is that you can only build certain buildings on certain parts of the map, meaning that even if you can hold a lot more land, you're limited to the amount of lots available. Ah well; at least troops are produced 5 at a time and move around in that same original 5.

Anyone else care to share their experience with this game? I've noticed that there hasn't been anything about it here yet, so I might as well be the first one to post something on it.

[ 12-22-2004, 04:16 PM: Message edited by: Assassin ]

[johnny]

I have my eye on this one for a while now, as far as i know it's not available just yet overhere, but as soon as it is, i'll check it out for sure.

[Szass-Tam]

I read the PCG review and it was not good. 73% although good is not what you'd expect from such a game.

[Sir Degrader]

Look, it's just an AOE2 clone w/ orcs and prancing men. 73 is pretty good. good eye candy and a unique concept are difficult to combine well, and especially since 73 is a "Good" score this game should be looked at.

[Kestrel Daystar]

Yeah, from all the reviews, previews and screenshots, this game looked bloody awesome. From all those I am suprised at that score, and yes, while not bad, it isnt I personally expected to see either.

I was wondering whether to get it. Anybody who has it recommend it?

--Kestrel--

[aleph_null1]

Originally posted by Szass-Tam: 73% although good is not what you'd expect from such a game.

When does PCG ever rank an RTS as it deserves? It is without a doubt a genre unappreciated by the masses, even more than the RPG.

I've got it, and would recommend it to those who don't usually go in for the RTS. Assassin's weak points are actually positive things for those who don't like to learn each race's 42 unique ranged units and would rather have relations with Margaret Thatcher than try to coordinate those units in battle.

It's simple, pretty fun, and someone without previous RTS experience can start doing well in a short time.

Those of us who spent six years playing Warcraft II on Kali will get bored quickly, but still have a good time.

[Sir Degrader]

I just played it, and I must say it's pretty good. I didn't like the graphics(the units don't look good IMO), and I thought the AI was retarded.
One of the elephant units (mumakil, mumkil?), for example, was attacking a building. 2 archers shot at it. Once the elephant was done with the building, did it go on to attack the archers? No, it stood around and got it's head shot off. The same happened with a bunch of orc units of mine in a river.
However, in the good side of things, this is probably the best AOE2 clone made, (I don't consider RoN an AOE2 clone), and has an excellent LOTR feel to it, with the use of the movie actors voice (take note rocky legends!) and music from the movie.
In conclusion, this is an excellent game, just don't expect, as stated previously, the next WC3.

[ 12-30-2004, 08:29 AM: Message edited by: Sir Degrader ]

[Chewbacca]

I understand it's built from the modified C&C Generals engine. How does it compare to Generals, anybody know?

[Zink Whistlefly]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: I understand it's built from the modified C&C Generals engine. How does it compare to Generals, anybody know?

Apologies for the thread necromacy, but I realised there was an unanswered question here, and I have a few cents to add to the discussion about BFME.

I love it! I'm a big fan of RTS games, love LoTR but hate all other LoTR games made. This one stands out though IMO. On ultra detail the game really does look good, and the engine seems to cope with massive battles without slowing down to a crawl.

As pointed out previously, the game is quite simplistic with relatively little variety, but unit upgrades, formations and hero's are what make this game so great. Being able to build a hord of Uruks, equip them with forged blades and heavy armour and then send them out in a tightly packed formation to dish out a whooping is very cool indeed - as is amassing an army of Rohirrim and then trampling the opposition in a stampeed of heavily armed cavalry.

All units and hero's gain ranks starting at 1 all the way up to 10. Increasing rank increases HP and damage. Hero's get some cool special abilities which get unlocked at various ranks, e.g. Gandalf can mount Shadowfax at rank 6 or something, and Aragorn can eventually summon an army of undead.

You have a resource multiplier, power points to spend and a command point value. All of these increase as you advance through the game conquering various parts of the map. Increasing your resource multiplier basically means you gather resources faster, power points let you buy special abilities - some which charge up and can be activated when ready (e.g War Cry for evil guys, Summon Elven Allies for good guys) and some of which are passive powers, which range from bonus resource gathering to abilities like Gandalf the White (gandalf's special abilities charge faster) and Anduril to give Aragorn a damage boost. The command point value determines how large your army can be, so if it was say 400, you could control 20 squads of Uruks (needing 20 command points per squad).

The game feels extremely polished, and looks and sounds beautiful. PCG's 73% and PCF's 78% are a little low IMO - I would give this game a score in the mid 80's, but that is just MO.

Comparing it to C&C generals - generals offers better multiplayer and skirmish modes (although these are still good in BFME) but the campaign feels much stronger for me in BFME and makes me want to play it again on hard difficulty. The fact that you can pretty much conquer your way around Middle Earth as you like (although you are steered in a particular direction) using any army of your choice gives you that non-linear freedom you don't get with most other RTS games.

[ 05-18-2005, 04:58 AM: Message edited by: Zink Whistlefly ]

[Sir Goulum]

So this isn't like the Two Towers/Return of the King games, where you just followed to the LotR story and was bored out of your mind? [img]tongue.gif[/img] I might have to think about this one, then. It doesn't cost extreme amounts, does it?