A refreshingly original fantasy RTS
Battle For Middle Earth II (BFME2) is a real-time strategy game developed by Electronic Arts (EA), and is a sequel to the earlier Battle For Middle Earth game by the same company. Based on the immensely-popular Lord of the Rings franchise, BFME2 seeks to improve certain mediocre aspects of the original game while retaining and building upon the latter's impressive gameplay structure.
Plot (7/10)
The episode of The Battle For Middle Earth II runs concurrently with the events in the Lord of the Rings trilogy - albeit the whole affair takes place in the north. While Frodo, Gandalf and company departs south in a heroic quest to destroy the One Ring, Lord Elrond of Rivendell assembles an army of elven and dwarven alliance to counter the vile army of the Dark Lord Sauron swarming in from the northern regions (do note that the War of the Ring does not only revolve around the Fellowship, but rather spans the whole of Middle Earth, hence the title of this game). If you play as the Good side in the campaign mode, you will oversee the elven hero Glorfindel and his dwarven counterpart Gloin's valiant attempts to thwart the northern invasion with their respective elven and dwarven armies, and drive the forces of evil out of the north. Siding with the evil faction will put you in charge of the orc and goblin factions (led by the Mouth of Sauron and the goblin king Gorkil respectively) as they lay siege to the northern lands.
Since both the plots of the good and evil side run contemporaneously and are not a continuation of one another, contradictions with the original story is unavoidable. In this case, the storyline of the evil campaign clashes with the tale of the Lord of the Rings trilogy; suffice to say that the ending of the evil campaign results in Sauron being triumphant and the Fellowship, despite succeeding in destroying the One Ring, is ultimately defeated. The Good campaign, on the other hand, does not oppose the original LOTR storyline.
Hence, the overall plot might not sit well with ardent fans of Tolkien's LOTR series of books who believe whatever is inscribe in the Trilogy novels to be the one and only chain of events that ever took place in Middle Earth. More pragmatic followers of Tolkien's works, however, might find the twist in the storyline refreshing and rousing. And as for strangers to Tolkien and his inspirational works, this game can very well double as an introduction tool to the world of Middle Earth.
When taken by its lonesome, the plot of BFME2 is credible and does not offer many avenues for players to gripe about, though there are other minor inaccuracy issues like the fact that Glorfindel's hair, which I understand to be originally gold in colour, is portrayed as white in the game; and that Lorien archers, who are generally regarded as having superior bow mastery over the Mirkwood archers in Tolkien's world, is the weaker of the two archer types in the game.
Gameplay (8/10)
This is the category where BFME2 matters most. The RTS game that is BFME2 plays like any other respectable RTS titles out in the market: you collect resources, expand your base, generate an army and wipe out the oppositions' base. However, BFME2 also scores in the originality department. BFME2 probably boasts one of the greatest number of sides than most other RTS: with six factions composing of men (known as Men of the West), elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs (Mordor) and uruk-hai (Isengard) to choose from (each logically containing its own potencies and flaws), it is not surprising for players to be spoilt for choice over which division to specialize in.
Having a large faction number, if anything, also boosts the fun factor and replay value of the game.
Next is the fact that the majority of units in BFME2 come in battalions of ten or more instead of by its lonesome, thus allowing seemingly large-scale battles that would take RTS heavyweight Starcraft around a half hour to take place, to occur in minutes. Now imagine the scale of the melee that would transpire when BFME2 is played for half an hour!
BFME2 also features a unique resource acquisition concept: workers need only to build 'resource buildings'; such structures will automatically generate resources for you at every regular interval, so workers do not have to continually poke mine axes into mineral ores to obtain those coveted materials. Furthermore, there is only one resource type in the game. These factors enable you as a player to focus more on producing units of warfare and formulating battle strategies rather than concentrate on resource gathering. However, there is a catch: resource structures will only function at its optimum if it is built on a large expanse of land, i.e. there are no other structures in a certain radius surrounding the resource building. The more cluttered the region around the resource structure, the fewer amount of resources it will generate at every interval. This forces you to choose between spacing out your resource structure organization at the expense of defence - for it is surely harder to protect your buildings from enemy assault when it is spaced further from one another - or pack them close together and limit your resource acquirement at the advantage of security.
Point number four: Heroes. 'Well games like Warcraft III and Starcraft also have heroes', one might counter. True, but in this game heroes are about as significant as regular units in terms of their existence: For the most parts of the campaign, the game does not end with the death of a hero; slain champions can simply be revived at your fortress. This again forces you to regard the combat mechanics of BFME2 as a whole instead of reserving the majority of your attention on the heroes and making sure they do not perish, for they are about as expandable as your other units.
Heroes do not lose levels when they die; when resurrected, all heroes retain their level and experience as when they were last slaughtered in battle; on the other hand, the experience and levels of regular units naturally disappear with their death, for there is no way to revive them. In this respect, normal units are somewhat more valuable than heroes. However, heroes have far more hit points than the average unit as well as abilities like self-healing over time, leadership bonuses and special attacks that make them more precious than regular battalions in the eyes of players who value these qualities, so the worth of an average hero and unit battalions is roughly balanced.
Furthermore, while in most other games heroes are only present in campaign modes, in BFME2 you can also employ heroes in skirmish games; they can be 'trained' just like any other unit (from the fortress). This makes heroes part and parcel of a skirmish match, adding more flair and vivacity to battles. And no, allowing heroes in Skirmish is not an 'optional' matter; there is no way to disable it. It is, as mentioned, a natural part of the gameplay mechanics that make up BFME2. The choice of churning out battalion after regular unit battalion or saving up for a regal hero is entirely up to you.
In addition, you also have the opportunity to create your own custom heroes. By selecting your race, gender, appearance, colours and skills, you can effectively construct a Legolas-like elven bow master, an extremely hardy dwarven veteran or an epic wizard with prodigious spells that would make both Gandalf and Saruman envious. Your custom heroes can also be brought into online games, allowing you to exhibit the potency of your heroes to your rivals.
My eighth point is with regards to the power tree. Kills by your units will grant you skill points that are used to purchase powers from the power tree. Powers come in four tiers, with the first one being the weakest and the fourth the most practical. You have to buy first-tier powers before you can acquire those from the next tier, and so on. Also, whichever power you bought on a tier will determine the type of powers you will and will not have access to on the following tiers (which is why it is called a power tree). Power effects range from granting an armour and damage bonus to your troops, to immobilizing enemy forces, to a straight-out annihilation of enemy units and structures in an area. Renowned creatures form the LOTR books and films, like the abominable subterranean kraken (aka the Watcher in the Water), the vicious balrog and the majestic giant eagles of the elves (similar to the one that saved Gandalf from his fall in the beginning of The Two Towers) can also be summoned using their respective powers.
BFME2 also utilizes the standard rock paper scissors-style of strength and weakness concept for its unit types. In general, all units belong to one of 6 types: swordsmen, archers, elite archers, pikemen, cavalry, siege units or monsters. Swordsmen are your standard and usually the cheapest foot soldiers and probably the first unit type you will produce, and are considered strong against pikemen and siege units (since the latter cannot attack enemies at close range). The ranged archers have a natural attacking advantage over swordsmen and pikemen, while the 'elite' variety that some factions possess also have a damage bonus versus monsters. Pikemen are natural cavalry- and monster- slayers; cavalry trounces every unit type except the pikemen, certain siege units and monsters; siege units, besides excelling in demolishing structures, also shine in taking down enemy archers because the former out-ranges the latter; and monsters, most of which also double as siege personnel, trash everyone apart from the pikemen and elite archers. This strength-weakness concept adds a fresh dimension to gameplay tactics and forces players to generate a wide variety of army types in preparation for switching battle schemes on the fly to counter the various unit types of the enemy.
My next point (really, I feel that BFME2 introduces a whole bunch of innovative concepts to RTS that I have to touch every one of them) is with regards to neutral structures, which are present in certain maps and must be 'conquered' by a unit battalion or one of your heroes to exploit its benefits. There are four kinds of outposts: Inns, which can produce units to aid your side for a price; Signal Fires, a flaming tower that when captured speeds up the recharge time of your powers; outposts, which generate extra resources for you (1 outpost is equivalent to a minimum of 2.4 resource structures) and shipwrights, which allow you to construct ships for naval warfare. All these buildings are key to wining battles since they provide an obvious advantage to you upon capture, and on maps where some or all of these structures are present, most battles are usually fought for control of such buildings. Neutral structures thus serve as secondary objectives in skirmish battles that players scuffle over for control in a bid to gain the upper hand, which I feel is a nifty concept.
My last factor deals with the famous War of the Ring (WOTR) mode that EA so dynamically promoted prior to the release of this game. WOTR is principally a conquest game (very similar to the board game Risk, it is said, but I've never played that before). The idea is quite similar to standard RTS gameplay - you expand your base (or in this case, territory) and attempt to overpower your enemy - only that in WOTR your conquest takes on a world scale. Although this feature seems like a side attraction for players, I think that there are many who prefer the WOTR mode over the standard RTS game due to the former's encompassing, sweeping concept.
Okay, enough of the praises, now let's talk about the wretched elements this game has to offer : ) . First of all, the campaign mode is short. There are only 16 missions in total: 8 each for the good and evil campaigns. Even though certain missions are indeed testing, it does not make up for the lack of gameplay hours for the campaign, which can be completed within two days at the highest difficulty setting for the hardcore gamer (I finished it in four). Furthermore, not all the six factions in this game are featured in the campaign; you, sadly, will not have the chance to play as the resourceful Men of the West or the devious Isengard faction in the campaign, though you do have the opportunity to spar with them during the course of the missions.
My next gripe is with regards to enemy AI. Even at Brutal level (highest difficulty setting), the AI is disappointingly abysmal. When facing the computer, it is almost as though you are playing against a player who is both blind and deaf. Sneak up on a group of enemy melee units with your archers, and the former will just remain motionless getting shot (since the computer seems not able to see that his units are getting slaughtered by arrows nor hear their death grunts) until the computer decides, "Okay, it's time to mobilize my units for an assault on the enemy base", at which point whatever remaining units of the battalion that your archers so happily butchered will start marching towards your base….but of course they would be slain before they even got halfway near it since half their squad has already been decimated. Also, the AI seems to prefer targeting structures over units, often having the tendency to march past and ignore my legion of troops, intending to take out my resource building….and of course getting themselves massacred in the process. To wrap it all up, the AI programming is really depressing and anyone seeking a true challenge would be much better off venturing online instead.
Lastly, there have reportedly been programming faults with this game that prevents it from running normally on certain computers or graphic cards, which (at the time of writing) EA states it is trying to rectify. However since I have not encountered such problems it would not be appropriate for me to draw on the above complication to lower the overall review score of this game.
Challenge (9/10)
Overall I would rate the difficulty level of BFME2 as being moderately challenging. The main struggle you will experience in campaign mode stems mostly from a couple of tricky missions; once you become familiar with the layout and devices of the enemy, and consequently begin to develop winning strategies for the said missions, the entire campaign will become a breeze even at the highest difficulty setting, and you should have no trouble overcoming it time and again.
The single-player skirmish aspect does not fare too well in the challenge department either. As above, master the stratagem of the enemy AI and consider the battle over. As mentioned above, the computer has some notoriously self-destructing tactics like ignoring your combat forces and not moving its units away from dangerous areas (like an zone of fire) that, when exploited, will spell the enemy's doom faster than it can say 'good game'.
War of the Ring mode, I feel, is what significantly jacks up the challenge rating of this game. Since WOTR is a turn-based issue, it is logically easier to program the AI and as such, programming blemishes present in the AI in skirmish battles are not found in WOTR. The difficulty itself too is superb, for it is virtually impossible to beat the AI in Brutal setting unless you are an awfully competent player exceptionally well-versed in such 'board game' stratagems.
So…a mediocre campaign and skirmish mode and a comparatively better WOTR feature. But does that warrant a 90% rating in the challenge department? My answer is no; or at least, no until you take into account the fact that both the skirmish and WOTR aspects can be played online - that is where the real challenge begins. The reason is pretty obvious: human difficulty levels know no bounds. Since you never know if you are going up against an untried newbie or a seasoned veteran, you will be constantly under pressure to improve your skills or be 'left behind'; and certainly no one wants to be left in the dust. So once again: the true reason why this game reaps such a high challenge score is simply due to online play!
Graphics (8/10)
The visuals in BFME2 are for the most parts rather credible. All units in the game are rendered brilliantly, from the coarse, jagged texture of the troll's hide to the timbered and grassy bark-like skin of the Ents. Also, all units are portrayed in such a distinct manner that it is all but impossible to mistake a particular unit for another one, a problem that sporadically occurs in certain second-rate RTS games.
Next, unit animations are also rather fine, though not the best I've seen. Most units in the game only possess one attack animation, making battles, especially large-scale ones, seem decidedly unrealistic (a bunch of swordsmen executing a similar slashing motion with their blades in a synchronized approach cannot possibly look rational).
However, one plus point with unit animation is that, when left inactive for a period of time, certain units will slip into 'idle mode', where they will perform certain (usually amusing) acts. For example, leave a group of orcs unused for some time and two of them will start brawling with each other, at which point the rest of the orcs will form a ring surrounding the two combatants and spur them on. Two trolls near one another who have been left inactive will start slapping each other in the face, while certain other units left stationary will pace about restlessly after some time (or so I have heard).
This game also does not disappoint when it comes to environment art. When playing in maps with fine weather you can see leaves from stout trees swaying with the occasional wind, little animals native to the lands scurrying about occupied with their own agenda, and the many structures that are built reflecting off the golden rays of the vibrant sun in multi-faceted glory. On maps with a depressing and gloomy atmosphere, like that of popular LOTR locales Minas Morgul and Dol Guldur, dust and debris resulting from centuries of unwashed land can be observed swirling to intermittent zephyrs, haze from the murky sky blankets certain areas in a foggy blur, and in particular areas with a high degree of dirt accumulation you can even see foot imprints being left on the ground by units. On winter maps, all structures are creatively coated with a layer of snow that subtly modifies their overall appearance to marvelous effect, evoking a deeper 'frosty' feel to the game.
Also, the water graphics has been vastly improved from the prequel. Instead of just exhibiting slight waves intermittently, sea waters now display churning surfs and frenzied water movement. Sea waves also sort of realistically 'recoil' when it crashes against the base of ships, and naval vessels that have been struck as such will rock to and fro temporarily, reeling from the force of the capricious waves.
Audio (8/10)
The music composition of BFME2 is one of the more impressive ones I've heard so far. Comprising of scores ranging from the hauntingly serene tune reflecting the atmosphere of the elven community during the hours of dark to the brusque, jocular melody typical of dwarven tradition, the music of this game is an inspirational blend of radiance and iniquity, of grace and coarseness, which will leave you craving for more of such stirring tunes during gameplay. However, that said, it must be noted that the music will not be heard playing for every second during the course of the game, as it appropriately should not. Typical junctures where you can hear the music of BFME2 being played is during the start of a match, as well as on occasional intervals in the middle and nearing the end of a game. The music is composed in such a manner as to charm you with its simplicity without affecting the overall mood of the game, which is what I feel makes it stand out from that of this game's competitors.
The sound effects department of BFME2 did not disappoint either. Every unit comes complete with varieties of its own distinctive voice when it first emerges from the structure of its arrival, when it is being selected and when it is ordered to advance, attack or retreat (any move order that takes a unit out of a certain proximity surrounding your fortress is classified as an 'advance', and the reverse is a 'retreat'). Voice-acting, most notably the melodic vocals of the elven units, is also brilliantly done, replete with the appropriate emotion, intonation and volume. Background sounds like the crashing waters of a waterfall can also be heard.
Controls (9/10)
Controls in BFME2 are pretty much similar to other RTS titles. Left-click and drag to 'lasso' unit groups together, double left-click to select similar units on the screen, right-click to move your forces, etc. You can also assign hotkeys (from 1 to 10) to particular battalions. Choosing a unit and tapping E twice will select all similar units throughout the entire map, pressing Q lets you take command of all offensive units throughout the battlefield, and hitting O puts you in control of all your heroes; all of which are really basic practical stuff. Controls are for the most parts unoriginal and standard with little innovation being introduced, but as long as it functions soundly I'm not complaining.
Fun factor (8/10)
Well a game of this magnitude and promise is always fun. Even though the single-player aspect of this game is emphatically below-par and might not keep a gamer glued to his computer screen for long, the online feature would probably make up for it. If you are concerned that below-par online latency (which is another negative factor in this game) will ruin your game performance, you can always venture into the turn-based War of the Ring mode where battles can be auto-resolved and the whole match can be played at a more relaxed pace.
Replay Value (10/10)
This is an RTS game, and RTS games, unlike its role-playing cousin, typically has a high replay value due primarily to its timeless skirmish feature that allows a player to jump into a match with minimal fuss. Battle for Middle Earth 2 is in my opinion one of the more remarkable RTS games of all time (not forgetting the fact that there have not been any other recent RTS games released), and as such its positive qualities should attract and cling to both fans of the genre and to a lesser extent general gaming enthusiasts for a significantly long while….until a better RTS game comes their way.
Best Part of Game
For me, the best part is when you triumph over an opponent with a higher skill level than you in online play.
Since this is a war game, the only logical avenue of player satisfaction lies in vanquishing your enemy. And it does not take a genius to figure out which of the two enemy types – enemy AI or online players – offer more kick. If that is the case, it is no fun if you thrash the hell out of an inexperienced amateur; beating someone with a comparatively similar skill level as you will certainly yield contentment; but overwhelming a player who is noticeably more skillful than you is the real deal. Just try to keep your buoyancy in check after the glorious victory and make sure it doesn't venture into the 'over-confidence' zone.
Conclusion
A definite must-buy for any RTS, Tolkien or general fantasy fanatic….if you are absolutely certain the game can run on your PC. Being one of the most commendable RTS games in history - as well as the best fantasy RTS game produced in recent times (after the mediocre Armies of Exigo released earlier last year), BFME2 dazzles with its quality gameplay, concrete graphics, polished audio and introduction of numerous fresh concepts that certainly merits this game as being one of the most original productions to date. However, BFME2 is nevertheless marred by technical glitches (that would most probably be fixed with future patches.) so it is vital that you have a machine that can meet the strenuous (and at times even unreasonable) demands of this highly-rated real-time strategy game.