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The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle Earth II: Rise of the Witch King Review (continued)
More User Submitted The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle Earth II: Rise of the Witch King Reviews
Date: 2007-01-25
This game gave me anger problems
this game could have been so much better, this game is SO umbalanced. the new faction Angmar is easily the most powerful faction in the game next to the drawrves which makes me so mad because, this is a pretty good game other than these problems, the other problem is the worst AI known to man, (next to superman 64) it will completely ignore your units and go for your resource buildings (espicialy on brutal) maybe... just maybe a patch will come out and fix the bugs and if so get this game
Date: 2007-01-05
Very good improvements!
The expansion pack is very good. It was better than I expected. I for one love the campaigns, and it was interesting to have it fully based on the evil side. The changes are also very good, such as how quickly the opening screen works as opposed to BFME2. I like the new maps and the new added units. The Angmar faction is very different from the others.
Date: 2006-12-28
Insanely hard campaign highlights a mediocre expansion
BFM 2: Rise of the Witch-King is an expansion pack of mixed emotions on my part. This expansion focuses on the Witch King's rise to power just when everyone thought EA had covered all of middle earth. I get this game for christmas and begin to start the single player campaign. The first mission is alright in which you have to win over the trolls and the black numenoreans (evil men). At the end I am surprised with 2 minutes to prepare for a large army of black numenoreans attacking my ill-defended string of citadels. This surprises me but there is more to come in the 2nd mission. In this mission, after securing the aid of the wild men you are forced to attack two arnorian citadels armed to the tooth. The soldiers are fully armed and at rank 3 with tons of trebuchets. You have a wild band of wild men and are expected to attack 2 castles that often go on the offensive. You are forced to frantically defend your land in return. I find this campaign to be ridiculously hard even on easy. If you look at other modes of the game, the hero mode is very over-hyped. The price system and troll class are decent additions but don't make the game spectacular. If your a fan of the War of the Ring mode (unlike me) you'd get more enjoyment from this game as i've heard its very improved. The nice thing is the additions to each faction, making skirmish play more fun and the factions more complete. Despite good additions, a good chunk of this game is a disappointment in my eyes. If your a die-hard war of the ring player then buy this game. If not, you should take a pass on this one.
Date: 2006-12-23
The best of all four!!!
This game is the is the best of all four!!! I mean its excellent! the new heroes, the new faction: Angmar and it's cool powers, The new campaign story mode, the new ideas, the new "create a hero" options and it's new class: the trolls, and even more!! What i really like is that there is the new faction (Angmar). The snow trolls are special because their clubs are strong enough to kill Eowyn!! "That is if you have two packs of snow trolls". And Angmar is really good! if there are sixty groups of enemies, an avalanche could kill all of them in two rolls!!!
If you try inflicting fell wind on an enemy hero it gives you the chance to strike him/her while on the ground! The game is just so nice!!!
Really, this is a game that DESERVES five stars. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! IT'S WAITING FOR U OUT THERE!!!
Date: 2006-12-18
Good expansion for a classic game
This is an expansion pack that does what all expansions should do: it improves upon the original game and adds new content. While RotWK does not revolutionize the basic gameplay of BFME2, it is a worthwhile addition.
Gameplay: The expansion simply adds more to the intense, visually stunning RTS that is BFME2. The single-player campaign introduces the story of the Witch-king's rise to power and allows you to play the bad guys, which is fun in this instance. There are 8 mission, plus an epilogue that allows you to play the kingdom of Arnor (a carbon copy of Men of the West). The campaign, at least on normal difficulty, can be quite hard in places, and you might be surprised to find yourself repeating a few of the missions. Overall, it is an adequate diversion, which will take about 5-6 hours to complete.
The create-a-hero system is much improved. Now, you can create your own in-game avatar using a power-purchasing system that makes sense and will allow for some diversity in the game. You can make a "cheap" hero, who can be afforded during the early game, or make an expensive one that will almost rival Sauron. A few new powers have been added, along with a troll class and some more clothing/armor options. Truthfully, the new power-purchasing system should have been added with a patch, so that people with the original game could receive this fix. In any event, the new system here is much welcomed and makes player-made heroes more balanced and interesting.
The best improvement of the original gameplay comes with the changes to the War of the Ring (WotR) mode. Now, the armies that you create in the RTS skirmishes carry over to the strategic map and can be moved around with your 4 heroes. There is an upkeep cost that keeps this army persistence feature from getting out of hand. Also, you can build more things from the strategic map, such as siege maps and unit upgrades. Finally, the AI plays a bit smarter. For example, it will retreat when it is losing a fight. Also, AI opponents put up a better fight than before and will build walls occasionally. The WotR mode also has about 10 new territories added to it.
The major addition to the game is the new Angmar faction, led by the Witch-king. It is a mixture of fallen men, trolls, and sorcerers. It's distinctive enough to be truly considered a separate race. The most fun unit is the thrallmaster, who can summon a squad of units on the fly to fit most any situation. The sorcerers are interesting too, but fragile and require some close micromanagement. Angmar's heroes are decent, with the Witch-king and Rogash (a powerful troll) being the best ones. Each of the existing races get a couple new units, including an elite "mini-hero" horde, which is not always worth the high cost (compared to just recruiting a new hero from the fortress).
Graphics: Basically the same as BFME2, which is to say that they are quite good. On a good computer, you'll be able to enjoy some beautiful textures, convincing unit animations, weather effects, and other nice graphics.
Sound: The music is based on the movie soundtrack, which is great. Voice acting is pretty decent. As with BFME2, the ambient sounds, unit acknowledgements, and combat audio are well done.
Stability/technical issues: The game has been quite stable on my machine. I used to get a crash or two on the WotR strategic map, but no more. The manual does a decent job explaining the new faction and improvements to gameplay.
Replayability/Value: With the improved create-a-hero system, more persistent armies in the War of the Ring Mode, new units for existing races, and the new Angmar faction, this expansion gives the original game even more longevity. The single-player campaign, though a challenge, is largely forgettable. However, it's the skirmishes and the WotR strategic game (finally fixed!) that will keep you coming back to this great game.
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle Earth II: Rise of the Witch King Reviews Page: 4 of 5 Prev<< 1 2 3 4 5 Next>>
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