Review: The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II game

More strategic swords and sorcery for Tolkien fans

Not so long ago it was Star Wars, now it's The Lord of the Rings that gets the real-time strategy (RTS) treatment. In many ways, Tolkien's battle-heavy Middle-earth makes for an even more appropriate setting for the genre than Lucas' galactic conflict.

As the title suggests, this is EA's second stab at a The Lord of the Rings-themed RTS game. The original Battle for Middle-earth was a highly enjoyable but in some ways limited strategy game that focused squarely on the epic combat from the three film adaptations.

Battle for Middle-earth II goes a lot further, providing locations, races and conflicts from the books that never made it to the big screen.

It's possible to play as elves, dwarves and goblins as well as the various forces of good and evil from Gondor, Rohan, Isengard and Mordor.

Single and multi-player action is available, with a variety of gameplay options ranging from drop-in skirmishes to full-blown campaigns and a War of the Rings mode that sees you battling for conquest of the entire Middle-earth map, quadrant by quadrant - either against the computer's AI or against a live online opponent.

Many of the features that made the original Battle for Middle-earth a success have been retained for this release.

That includes the heavy influence of the movie trilogy's art design, as well as the hero character system that allows you to call upon familiar faces to help your hoards in times of need. It now allows you to build your own custom hero, complete with RPG-style level-ups and experience points.

Those with an aversion to all things hobbit and/or strategy gaming are unlikely to be swayed by the prospect of this sequel. Tolkien fans who have been gagging to grapple with goblins or dice with dwarves, however, will be pleased at the increased scope of Battle for Middle-earth II.

System requirements:
1.6GHz processor
256MB of Ram
5.5GB hard disk space
DVD-Rom drive
Windows XP