Considering what a huge hit their existing titles have been for them, no one is more upset than Electronic Arts that The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy has finally ended. The games go on though and The Battle for Middle-Earth is a radical departure from the previous action titles, in that it's a real-time strategy game derived from Electronic Arts' hit Command & Conquer series.

As such the game simulates the entire world of Middle-Earth with designs based exactly on those from the movies. In fact enormous efforts have been made to make the game as cinematic as possible with numerous cut scenes and a cleverly streamlined interface. The latter not only makes the game look more visually interesting than other strategy games, with its huge animated map of Middle-Earth and game options only becoming available when you hover your mouse over buildings and units, but also makes sure it as accessible as possible for those unused to playing such games.

The graphics help too and the recreations of the battles at Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith, for example, really do look just like the films, with individual troops reacting realistically to the battle, with human soldiers hesitating in the face of huge trolls and balrogs or cheering and celebrating when defeating a band of orcs. So even if you're usually put off by this sorting of thing, thinking it either too complicated or boring, The Battle for Middle-Earth should appeal to just about everyone except confirmed Tolkien haters. --David Jenkins

a great game, and great fun playing when you invite a few of your friends around, hook up the laptops and away you go, we would play this game for hours on end, very addictive and enjoyable!! BEST game i played in a long time.

If you want to know about the graphics/ playability/ enjoyment factor, then this review isn't for you. My concern is that it needs admin rights to run. I'm trying to run the home PC in a safe secure way and leaving it open to a 12 year old with little knowledge or interest in those issues seems a big mistake.

I loved the books and the movie's and definatly enjoyed this. However I belive that this is only for people who liked and understood the movie and new what everything was called. Generaly a freak of the movie. Almost like a treckie for LOTR. But I enjoyed it greatly and am going to buy the sequel so watch that space for my next review!

I'm a massive LOTR fan and i have to admit the creators have put an excellent effort into this game, i commend them, the soundtrack, the voiceovers(brilliantly provided by the cast of the films)and the graphics as well as recreations of the battles from the movies are all suberbly done and when playing the game you can quite easily get lost in the LOTR world, as Tolkien would have liked, however, i really wanted a LOTR version of Rome in this when you feel you have real control over your empire, how its run and how you fight it's battles,you know- send an army of Oliphunts to Gondor and trample that band of Gondorian scouts, train one more troll before setting the army through the Black Gate etc but with LOTR BFME, i don't feel in control of very much, whilst the campaign map is wonderful to look at and you do have some choice of what you do whether you're good or evil, in campaign mode the story rather plays out in front of you and you just help it along rather than really have any effect upon it. In the battles, i believe the idea is that you use strategy,but i cannot set formations, archers behind uruk-hai in front etc, hold strategic positions or move troops around with any great freedom- its so awkward!and this was a let down, i would buy the game for just being a fan of LOTR because it is very immersive and addictive, yet somehow i feel inclined to trade it in because i enjoy battles on Rome so much more!Advice, buy this if you have not bought Rome yet, don't if you love Rome, and buy Rome if you're after realism and control!Enjoy whatever your choice

Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth is such a great and adictive game that it will have you glued to your computer for hours on end. The graphics are stunning and you can zoom in and rotate the camera to get a better look at things.

You can play four unique teams: Gondor, Rohan, Mordor and Isengard. Each have their own units and structures, and require different tactics to win. The heroes in the game are more elite than games like Age of Empires II, where you generally have to keep your hero behind the lines to keep them safe. In The Battle for Middle-earth not only are the heroes elite and capable of holding off swarms of attackers like in the film, but have an arsenal of cool powers to use.

The emense deatail of it all is awesome. When an enemy comes into view of one of your units, it alerts you. The soldiers figet with their weapons when they are not doing anything, stand to attention when you select them and cheer when a hero comes along.

Each "battalion" (for Good teams) or "horde" (for Evil teams) goes around in a group. They also gain experience on the battlefield and level up, so that they fight better and heal themselves. There are levels from 1 - 10, and in Campaign mode you take your troops with you meaning that you really do have an elite army of Riders of Rohan or Gondor warriors at the siege of Minas Tirith.

If you like strategy games or not; if you are a Lord of the Rings fanatic or not, this game is for you!