In the early 2000s, Lord of the Rings the hype had hit fever pitch. With Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films that changed the shape of fantasy cinema forever, a wealth of video games were released to try and ride on the film’s success. In the middle of the 2000s Lord of the Rings adopt a variety of genres, from third-person action, to hack-and-slash, to turn-based tactics. But without doubt one of the most impressive Lord of the Rings video game excursions were The The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth series, which adopted the real-time strategy genre.
Published in 2004 and 2006 respectively, the two The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth game drew a lot of inspiration from other popular RTS games of the time, borrowing similar resource management systems such as Age of Empiresand takes many cues from base building and unit management Warcraft. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth wasn’t the most original game, but it was a solid Middle-Earth RTS, and the current gaming market is missing one of those right now.
It’s time for a new Lord of the Rings strategy game
The first The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth game released in 2004 for PC. Specifically based on Peter Jackson’s films, The battle for Midgard closely follows the events of the trilogy, taking players all the way from Moria to the Black Gate. The gameplay loop sees players build a base, create units and push the enemy out of territory, with campaign missions requiring the player to complete specific objectives that move Lord of the Rings plot together. One of Battle for Middle-earthThe best feature is the Evil Campaign, which allows players to take control of Sauron’s dark forces in an alternate timeline, eventually destroying Minas Tirith.
The sequel, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth 2, released in 2006 for PC and Xbox 360. Although the sequel carries over much of the same gameplay, it offers much more player freedom, with an increased unit cap and the ability to place an unlimited number of structures. This sequel also added three new factions to the game, Elves, Dwarves and Goblins, each with their own unique set of units, buildings and abilities. This game tells an original story for both good and evil campaigns. The Good sees the player control an elf tasked with stopping an attack on Rivendell, while the Evil sees players control the Mouth of Sauron as he wipes out the armies of the North.
During the last few months, Lord of the Rings the hype has grown exponentially, with Amazon’s Ringing with power series that lights the fires once again. With a lot of hype behind it, it’s the perfect time for a new one The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth game, especially when fans consider the list of upcoming Lord of the Rings game. At the moment there are a handful Lord of the Rings gaming projects in progress, none of which offer an experience that Battle for Middle-earth. It is The Lord of the Rings: Golluma stealth-focused game, The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-eartha mobile RPG, and The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moriaa survival game, none of which is a grand RTS.
A new The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth the game could fill the void in the market right now, and with a few improvements over its predecessor, it could really stand out from the crowd. One of the best ways to do that is to double down on the series’ Evil Campaign. Players rarely get to experience playing as the villain, and with Lord of the Rings‘ characters, it can be quite a power trip. A new Battle for Middle-earth should offer even more freedom than ever, providing more unique units and structures for each faction. By improving the already solid groundwork set by the predecessors, a new The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth can be really great.
The Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle-earth is available for PC.