The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (Windows)

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Description

Command the heroes and armies of Middle-Earth in an RTS strategy game that crosses the bounds between the gameplay media and Hollywood film studios.

You get to decide the destiny of Middle-Earth and take control of either the Good side or the Evil side as the forces of Gondor, Rohan, Isengard or Mordor.

Cast spells and mobilize hundreds of units as you vie to take control of the One Ring.

The game takes an old-school, Command and Conquer approach to J.R.R. Tolkien's acclaimed universe, with one important twist: there is no real interface to speak of: structures can only be built on predefined sites and, like the units, they are ordered through a circular context-sensitive command menu that ensures that you get pulled into the action.

Also, the license of the game is taken from the movies, allowing it to have the voices, likeness and even clips from the Hollywood production extravaganza.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "魔戒：中土戰爭" -- Taiwan title
• "指环王: 中土战争" -- Chinese title (Simplified)
• "Властелин колец: Битва за Средиземье" -- Russian spelling
• "Zhihuan Wang: Zhongtu Zhangzhen" -- Chinese title
• "Władca Pierścieni: Bitwa o Sródziemie" -- Polish title
• "Slaget om Midgård: Härskarringen" -- Swedish title
• "Ringenes Herre: Kampen om Midgard" -- Norwegian title
• "O Senhor dos Anéis: A Batalha Pela Terra Média" -- Portuguese title
• "Le Seigneur des Anneaux: La Bataille pour la Terre du Milieu" -- French title
• "El Señor de los Anillos: Batalla por la Tierra Media" -- Spanish title
• "Der Herr der Ringe: Die Schlacht um Mittelerde" -- German title
• "BFME1" -- popular abbreviation
• "A Gyűrűk Ura: Harc Középföldéért" -- Hungarian title
• "เดอะลอร์ดออฟเดอะริงส์: แบทเทิลฟอร์มิดเดิลเอิร์ธ" -- Thai spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• 3D Engine: Sage 3D
• Fantasy Creatures: Dwarves
• Fantasy Creatures: Elves
• Fantasy Creatures: Orcs
• Fantasy Creatures: Trolls
• Gameplay feature: Recordable replays
• Games with game altering copy protection
• Inspiration: Author - J. R. R. Tolkien
• Inspiration: Movies
• The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth series

User Reviews

Brilliant RTS game by the makers of Dune 2 and C&C	Lukas Mariman (7)
Great RTS true to the movie-license	Cadorna (223)
A throwback to an ancient era...	James Kirk (168)	unrated

Critic Reviews

PC Action	Dec 16, 2004	94 out of 100	94
PC Powerplay	Nov, 2004	91 out of 100	91
Gamerz-Edge	Dec 14, 2004	9 out of 10	90
GameStar (Germany)	Nov, 2004	86 out of 100	86
Game Informer Magazine	Jan, 2005	8.5 out of 10	85
GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands)	Dec 12, 2004	83 out of 100	83
JeuxVideoPC.com	Jan 05, 2005	16 out of 20	80
GameSpy	Dec 03, 2004		80
Joystick (French)	Dec, 2004	7 out of 10	70
Factornews	Dec 25, 2004	7 out of 10	70

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Trivia

Online Servers

Electronic Arts closed the game's online servers on 31st December 2010.

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • March 2005 (Issue #249) – Best Use of a License of the Year