The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II plays like most RTS games. You control an army of troops, ranging from regular swordsman, archers, cavalry, ents, cave trolls, spider riders and mountain giants. There are six different armies found in the game; On the good side you have men, elves, and dwarves; On the dark, you have Mordor, Isengard, and goblins. Each army has different units, advantages and disadvantages.

There are several game modes included in The Battle for Middle-earth II - Story, Skirmish, and War of the Ring. The Story and Skirmish modes are fairly self explanatory. In Story mode you basically follow the war of the ring, in which you start with the elves, then move on to the dwarves and so on. The first couple of missions with each race are kind of a tutorial mission teaching you how to play as that race. In skirmish mode, you create a game similarly to a multiplayer game. There are slots for you to put computer players, selecting difficulty and assigning handicaps.

Two new modes have also been added to the game, the first being the War of the Ring mode. In this mode you control massive armies across a map of Middle-earth that looks much like a Risk board game. The map is separated into territories, such as, Rivendell, Isengard, Minas Tirith, Mordor, the Dead Marshes, etc. This mode is turn based, and each turn is separated into three different phases. The first is the tactical planning phase. Basically you move your troops between territories, take over new territories, recruit new troops, and build structures in your territories. Now, just like in the regular game, you control heroes. For example, if you are playing as the elves in this mode, you can select from Elrond, Erwen, Legolas, etc. In order for you to take over neutral or enemy territories, the invading army must be led by a hero. Armies that are not can be moved between territories that you control only.

After movement is complete, the game moves to the second phase, combat. If you or the computer moves an army into a territory that is controlled by the opposite side, a battle is triggered. There are three different ways you can resolve this. The first is known as auto-battle. This basically means that the computer looks at the troops that both sides are using in the battle, determines the winner and calculates the losses that you take. The second is called real-time, where as you may have guessed, the game takes you to a map just like you had started a skirmish battle or multiplayer battle. You start the fight with the armies involved. For example, if your army has 2 archer units, you start with them as well as two builder units. The armies are then controlled just like in the normal game, all the way down to building up a larger army to annihilate the enemy. The third option is retreat, which would usually be used when there is an army bearing down on you and you know you are going to lose. What do you do? Well, you can duke it out and try and take some troops down with you or RUN AWAY!!!!! If you choose this option, you must choose a friendly territory to move your troops to.

There are several different types of modes in the War of the Ring game. There is the War of the Ring Basic mode, where the object is to capture the capital of the enemy army. When you do the game is won. In the Sole Survivor mode, all territories that are controlled by your enemy must be taken. Strongholds mode is where you must capture specified territories and hold them for three turns. And of course you must have the One to Rule Them All mode. This is where you must capture a specific percent of the map, once you do, you are declared the supreme…… oh *ahem* sorry, you are declared the winner.

The second new feature in the game is the ability to create your own hero. You can choose from a verity of hero types such as men, dwarves, wizards, Uruk-hai and more. After selecting the type, you customize their stats, armor, hit points, power, among other things, after which the various powers are chosen. Since a hero can get up to ten levels during game play, ten abilities, and even ability upgrades are chosen. Ability upgrades are a better version of the original ability chosen. Custom heroes can be used in multiplayer, skirmish and war of the ring modes.

Graphically the game is very good looking. A powerful gaming system will be needed in order to take full advantage of the game’s graphical capabilities. The individual soldiers and squads are very detailed, as well as the individual heroes. The maps are extremely well done and the terrain is some of the best looking I have seen in a while.

Control wise, it plays much like a standard RTS game. Select some units, right click where you want them to go, and they move there. Builders use shortcut keys in order to build structures. For example, a builder is selected, if you need money, you press “r” to create your financial structure, no matter what race you play.

The only complaint that anyone could have about the game is that sometimes the battles can get so amazingly big that it is very easy to lose track of what one is doing. Many skirmishes can take place across a large battlefield with many different types of units and the play can get confused very easily.

When the dust settles and the smoke clears The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II is a solid game. Many hours can be spent just on one facet of the game and you’ll still have many hours of enjoyment left. For those of you who are RTS fans, this game is a must have for your collection.