Xbox 360 Games : The Lord of the Rings
THE BATTLE FOR MIDDLE-EARTH II
Game Features | Game Preview | Specs | Latest Prices
 

Command the epic battles of Middle-earth from your living room couch in The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II for Xbox 360™. To add to the intensity of the experience, the Xbox 360 game is the first game in The Lord of the Rings series that will be playable over Xbox Live®. Challenge friends online and engage in intense, action-packed, real-time battles.

The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II brings you into the heart of Middle-earth to live the battles seen in the blockbuster New Line Cinema films and classic J.R.R. Tolkien literary fiction. The game boasts a new and intuitive console-specific control scheme that lets novices enjoy the game’s signature strategy gameplay while giving experts the flexibility needed to engage in a deeply complex tactical experience. Directly control hundreds of units in an attempt to defeat enemy armies, conquer new lands, and seal the fate of Middle-earth.
 

Salient Features

Awesome environments
The Middle-earth you have never seen is brought to life on Xbox 360! The unification of the book and film rights have unlocked the entire world of Middle-earth—new races, places, heroes, and battles from the books and films are yours to experience.

Epic engagements
Command the most epic battles of Middle-earth from your living room couch. Directly control and manage hundreds of units and engage in intense, action-packed, real-time battles.

Online opponents
Challenge friends online and battle it out via Xbox Live. The game features exclusive new multiplayer games including King of the Hill, Capture and Hold, and Hero versus Hero.

Xbox 360 exclusive
Play the first Lord of the Rings strategy game for any console system and the first game in the Lord of the Rings series for Xbox 360.

Control scheme
The new and intuitive console-specific control scheme makes it possible to experience and enjoy the strategy genre on Xbox 360.

Customized fortresses
Choose to build anywhere—craft your own landmark castle and create signature units including naval ships or Elven and Dwarven heroes.

Voice talent
Hugo Weaving reprises his role as Lord Elrond, lending his voice and likeness to the game. Weaving offers the game’s overarching tone by guiding players in and out of each good and evil mission within the single-player campaigns.
 

Game Preview

Electronic Arts is bringing the much-heralded PC-centric genre of real-time strategy (RTS) to Xbox 360™ with The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II, and with it comes the promise that the console can not only handle the task, but add to the genre as well.

For those wondering about the control scheme, feel free to check out our feature covering the transition from PC to Xbox 360. For those curious about just what content and gameplay is offered, read on.

Let the epic battle begin.

RTS Explained
First, for those unfamiliar with the genre, a quick explanation is in order. Real-time strategy games put you in charge of virtual armies. You build bases, mine resources, recruit and upgrade troops, and wage tactical battle against your enemy, all in real time. For strategy fans, there is no more intense gameplay, especially when given the scope and depth of the Middle-earth world.

This game proves that a home console can not
only handle the RTS genre, but enrich it as well.

All of Tolkien
The Battle for Middle-earth II is inspired not just by the New Line Cinema movies, but by Tolkien's works at large. EA has been able to secure not only the movie rights, but also the rights to use content straight from Tolkien's literary works.

Fans of the novels will immediately understand the impact, as the sheer depth in Tolkien's writings are both intricate and enormous, providing a nearly endless well of content to draw from. The license could hardly come at a better time, either, as the RTS genre provides a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the new license.

Foundation
The game pits the forces of good (elves, dwarves, and humans) against the forces of evil (goblins, orcs, and other minions of the dark lord Sauron) and features both sides equally, as separate campaigns exist for both camps. These battles rage during the War of the Ring, but they focus primarily on lands to the north, a mostly virgin territory that EA Los Angeles plumbed thoroughly.

Cavalry wins the day.

There are six base factions you can play with. They are:

• Elves
• Dwarves
• Men of the West (Rohan and Gondor combined)
• Goblins
• Mordor (Sauron's forces)
• Isengard (Saruman's forces)

Unique to Middle-earth
Like all RTS games, the balance of building structures, adding and upgrading troops, and managing resources are the key strategic components, but Battle for Middle-earth II provides two extra elements to vary the experience and add to the depth.

Heroes
The legends and stories that surround Middle-earth focus on the heroes of the time, and Battle for Middle-earth II is no different. While they alone won't win conflicts, the heroes at your disposal can turn the tide in the midst of battle.

While you certainly run into some familiar names from the movies, you also encounter slightly lesser-known heroes more familiar to those that read the books. For example, early on in the good campaign, the elf lord Glorfindel and the legendary dwarf Gloin fight by your side.

In gameplay terms, the heroes are able to level up and gain access to more powerful abilities, making their judicious use throughout a mission vitally important.

Fortresses
Most RTS games offer a basic structure and leave it at that. You may be able to eventually upgrade them, but essentially they remain the same. However, Battle for Middle-earth II provides a much more customizable approach. You can build and add to fortresses as you see fit, adding bits and pieces while constructing nearly impenetrable walls around them for one-of-a-kind structures.

Let the fireballs fly.

HD Benefits
Visually, The Battle for Middle-earth II is stunning from the standard isometric view and even holds up well when zoomed in for in-game cinematics. Most impressive is the volume of intricate action carried out at one time, with explosions, spells, arrows, crumbling buildings, fiery catapults, and skirmishing armies all streaming across the screen with nary a hitch.

Most importantly, though, the detail that high-definition brings actually boosts the gameplay. Because RTS games offer so much simultaneous action, the ability to recognize different units and structures immediately is very important. It's here that high-definition resolutions ensure that mistakes aren't made mid-battle by accidentally confusing a platoon of archers for standard foot soldiers.

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth IIproves that a home console can not only handle the RTS genre, but enrich it as well. With full-featured Xbox Live® support, a bevy of achievements to boost your gamerscore with, and opportunity for downloadable content via the always user-friendly Xbox Live Marketplace, there's a lot to love here for the hardcore or casual RTS fan.