New maps for 360 LOTR out now

The revived interest in J.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings mythos has expanded the fantasy franchise's empire well beyond just books. A plethora of films, posters, and collectibles adorned with Legolas, Gollum, Sauron, and others can now be purchased by any diehard LOTR fan.

Now, one game based on the franchise is expanding, too. The first downloadble content for the Xbox 360 version of Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace.

The new content includes three maps for the game that can be used in both multiplayer and single-player modes. The trio of battlegrounds is titled Aragorn's Journey, and the maps are named Weathertop, Argonath, and Umbar. The file won't take up much hard drive space (7.65MB), but it will cost gamers some cash--$8.75 (700 Marketplace points), to be exact.

Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II is rated T for Teen and retails for $59.99. For more information on the game, read GameSpot's review.