Best RTS I've ever played...
User Rating: 9.5 | The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II PC
I've played through Starcraft, Warcraft (I II & III), and others I can't remember right now, but I have to say this is the most enjoyable RTS I've ever played. The good and evil campaigns are good, but the real meat of this experience is in the War of the Rings mode, where you pick a race, team up with an online buddy, or the computer AI, which was challenging to me, and try to take over Middle Earth. You are able to create your own hero, design their appearance, weapons and abilities. My favorite was Krulgar, a troll hero I created that could call bands of trolls to aid him. Well known heroes from the trilogy lead your war bands, Gandalf, Aragorn, the Witch King, Saruman, just to name a few. The voice acting and graphics are terrific, and with each race you have to learn which abilities and strategies will best serve your purposes. The balance is a little skewed toward some races, but with a change in strategy you can compensate for weaknesses.
The only thing that could be improved upon (and I've read that this was upgraded in the expansion pack) was the lack of your RTS battle actions on the battle map. If you create new units in the RTS battle, they won't show up on the overall battle map. So, room for improvement, but overall I have to give this game a huge thumbs up. I've played and replayed, almost every race, just a great RTS experience.
