A brief summary of Rise of the Witch King's changes to the original Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth 2.
There are new units and new subhero units (very strong units, weaker than a hero), new maps, and a new faction, Angmar, which is unsurprisingly the Witch King's faction.
Then, there are new hero powers, appearances, and ring powers for Angmar, such as the oft-mentioned giant werewolf.
Tweaks to the system includes more balanced units and factions, smarter AI, heroes being able to move over 2 friendly regions, and more logical region layout/groupings. Also, any unit that survives after an RTS battle can now be recruited for a cost from your treasury in War of the Rings mode. This gives the War of the Rings mode much more strategic value, including more tactical management of your army's funds. I've always felt that it was quite stupid to rebuild my army again and again in RTS battles in the original Battle for Middle Earth 2, but now with the RTS recruitable function, the troops from previous RTS battles carry over, so I have more incentive to play RTS and battles start quicker since you get to bring your troops along. Finally, the auto-resolve function seems to be fixed. Before, the function was pretty much unusable due to the fact that you'll lose battles where you should win (say, 6 cavalry vs. 3 cavalry), but now, the auto-resolve is pretty balanced (6 cavalry wins vs. 4 cavalry) so it's a great alternative for those of us in a rush. However, since you get to keep troops now in RTS, it's often a very difficult choice between RTS and auto-resolve.
Definitely an 8 or higher for the game. Probably a 7.5 or higher for the expansion itself.
Log in to comment