Middle-earth collector's edition unearthed

With The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II set to hit stores next month, Electronic Arts has revealed that it will do so in two flavors. A collector's edition of the strategy game in development at the publisher's Los Angeles studio will be made available along with the standard version.

The collector's edition will be mastered in HD for players with HDTV and HD PC setups and will include bonus videos and music tracks, as well as bonus pack-in materials like a color poster of the game and a coupon for an Nvidia graphics card. The special edition will also include exclusive in-game content, such as new skirmish maps, a special graphical treatment for online play, and a new fire-breathing dragon unit playable only by those who purchase the premium pack.

The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II will be the sequel to the 2004 real-time strategy game that used assets from Peter Jackson's award-winning motion pictures based on the fiction of novelist J.R.R. Tolkien. The sequel will leverage Tolkien's expanded written lore along with the movie rights to include new battles and characters not featured in the films.

Mike Verdu, the game's executive producer, took some time out to answer a few questions for GameSpot.

GameSpot: What can you tell us about the new dragon unit that will appear in the collector's edition of the game?

Mike Verdu:This is a creature design that is only available to Collector's Edition players--its model, texture, and animations are unique. This dragon is an original design; we worked on this critter for more than six weeks and did several iterations--he's been a labor of love for the Battle for Middle-earth II art team. It will appear in-game with one of five different skin texture variants ranging from black to mottled gray to gold (the skin choice is randomized each time he is summoned).

GS: Tell us about the other in-game features that will be included, like the new maps of Weathertop and Argonath. From what parts of the Tolkien fiction are these new areas?

MV:Weathertop is an iconic location from the first movie. This is the dark mountain with the circle of ruins where Frodo got injured in the battle with the Nazgul. The Argonath is also a memorable location from the films--you might remember the scene where these two enormous statues loom over the River Anduin near the ruins of Amon Hen (where Boromir got killed by Uruk-hai). These titanic stone figures are the Argonath. Another cool map in the Collector's Edition is a beautiful, Navy-centric, mostly water map we're calling Umbar (after the Corsairs of Umbar and their island home). There are others as well.

In addition to the dragon and the new maps, we are giving Collector's Edition players a special icon for their created heroes that will be visible to all online. Finally, there are some goodies in the Collector's Edition that we haven't told anyone about yet--including stunning white Eagles for Elves and Men of the West, a Black Mumakil for Mordor players, and other special art and effects.

GS: It was a bit surprising that EALA decided to develop a full-fledged sequel to the original game (rather than an expansion pack). Now that the game's development is nearly done, can you discuss the future of the Lord of the Rings series on the PC? Can we expect to see more strategy games using the license? Could this be the start of a long series of sequels?

MV:While I can't discuss any future product plans, I will say that the unified rights have unlocked the world of Middle-earth and make it possible to bring new heroes, stories, and places to life. This is a wonderful universe and it is brimming with possibilities for exciting new games--in many genres.

GS: Why should a LOTR Fan buy the CE as opposed to the normal version?

MV: The extra in-game content is cool--but we're also including a second DVD with a "making of" video, music from the game, and a collection of the game art. The "making of" video takes you behind the scenes and introduces you to the team and the process of creating a state-of-the-art RTS game at EA. And the art is amazing; I've worked on this project for a long time, and I'm still entranced with the concept art, cinematic paintings, and other pieces that were created during development. There are literally hundreds of illustrations and paintings of locations, characters, creatures, ships, structures, events, and key moments. I'm a fan of The Lord of the Rings and I love to see the world visualized this way.

We're also including a map of Middle-earth that shows where the campaigns take place (and describe each mission). And, of course, the Collector's Edition version of the game itself comes on DVD.

GS: Thanks for your time.

Both the standard and collector's edition of the sequel will be released next month. The game has been rated T for Teen and will retail for $49.99, with the collector's edition fetching $59.99.