Battle for Middle-Earth II
I’ve been playing Battle for Middle-Earth II, and I have mixed feelings about it at this satge. I am perhaps 5 missions into the Good Campaign - the single-player missions as the forces of good (in this case Elves, and on occasion, Dwarves).
I haven’t played the original, so I can’t comment as to any advances that have been made from the first version.
Impressions:
- Resource Management
Resource management is nicely handled by single structures that provide income. Elves need Mallorn trees and Dwarves need mines. This fits into the world really nicely and removes the need to harvest. Personally not a fan of that style of play. Very similar to Warhammer: Dawn of War, although in Dawn of War, the resource structures can only be built on strategic points on the map, making territory much more strategic. BfME does not seem to have a similar focus. - Heroes
I am in two minds about Heroes. So far I have played with Glorfindel, Gloin, Haldir, Arwen and Elrond, as well as some Eagles. Heroes are really powerful. Much more powerful than standard units … so much so that a single hero can easily take on battalions of regular units. This is obviously in keeping with the world (and the movies). However, having to manage the heroes is a real pain … having single extra units to manipulate just adds to the management difficulty. Dawn of War has similar powerful units but you can attach them to regualr units. I may well be missing some interface nicety here. - Formations
Groups of units can be arranged into formation, simialr to the Tactical Map in Rome: Total War. Handled in a similar way, drag the mouse to adjust the width and depth of the line. It’s smart enough to place the units in some form of order - archers at the rear, swordsmen at the front. But, so far, it doesn’t really seem to matter. - Combat
Battles descend into click-fests really quickly, and I haven’t real seen any evidence that says this is not the normal state of play. Battle is fought in time-honoured RTS tradition. More resources, bigger army, victory. Not much scope for cunning.
Overall, it’s defnitely fun, but the combat model is pretty standard fare.
The room for cunning is in the skillful deployment of your hero and palantir powers. Both can only increase through combat and both have cooldown periods. Setting the stage for Tom Bombadil’s intervention, knowing when you need to get Theoden on that horses, etc.
This is my favorite game of the year so far and is probably one of the best RTS ever.
Troy Goodfellow | 12:40 pm on the 11th of September, 2006
I finished the good campaign last night. The heroes really seem to add to the click frenzy, and I never really quite got the hang of things. Still fun, and I am going to persist with it.
Toby | 11:35 pm on the 11th of September, 2006