Battle for Middle Earth 2

This game any good? I know it's kind of old, but I've been trying to find a good RTS to hold me over until Star Craft 2 comes out and it keeps getting pushed back, so either I get finished with what I'm playing or I get disappointed and stop playing.

I care a lot more about unit/resource management and battlefield tactics than resource gathering. I also enjoy a game that involves building an actual base/focal point (something I hated about Supreme Commander and Total annihilation).

Currently I'm playing Sins of a Solar empire and Age of Empires II. AOE II is ok, but the graphics are extreme old, and too much of the game is spent micromanaging peasants to gather stuff. Sins is fun, but takes way too much time, and the lack of a story doesn't drive me to constantly play it.

 

i loved both battle for middle earth 1 and 2. I think theyre excellent strategy games. The humans are a little overpowered in the 1st one though because you can build a huge walled base that the enemy just cant get into lol. But yea go for bfme 2, if you like lotr then i guarantee you'll like it.

 

I really want BFME2 (actually, the BFME Anthology), since I'm a LOTR freak and I like strategy games in general. Problem is...I can't find it anywhere, online or in stores. Not even EA's site sells it - they just have the expansion pack. The prices on Amazon and eBay are insane.

I have World in Conflict and haven't really played much, but what I've played so far has been pretty good. Is BFME comparable?

 

If you have Medieval Total War II, I´d first try the Third Age mod. IMO it´s the best strategy/RTS game placed on Middle Earth available.

 

I have BFME2 as well as the Rise of the Witch King Expansion, and I think its a really good game, and it looks pretty good, its not too old.

 

all the BFME are great games, my fav strategy games

 

thanks for the input, I'll get ahold of these games if I can find them at a decent price. It looked pretty good, but I hardly ever hear of anyone talk about it, so I couldn't be so sure. Everyone's always talking about C&C and Supreme commander, and while I love RTS games, I dislike both of those.

 

I love both BFME games. They look good, have little resource management, a good storyline, and are fun to play (play as the bad guys!), especially if you are a LOTR fan.

 

Not a fan of BFME. The generals engine is crap. Try CoH...

The only RTS to really contibute anything to the genre since WC3

 

I didn't see the OP mention anything about having played WC3....so I recommend you try it. Its one excellent RTS....and if you get bored with the RTS you can always try the custom maps (a.k.a DoTa ) Though there is a bit of emphasis on resource gathering...And base building is a huge part of the game too

It is a bit old...but lots of people still play it.

And my brother has BFME (1 and 2) and I never really got it. In my opinion the "heroes" in BFME are way overpowered compared to the units, and the units come out in groups which leads to no micro-management necessary....but thats just my opinion Not trying to diss it or anything, but it's more for the LOTR experience than an actual RTS game to me at least....but for the LOTR experience its great

So here's my shameless plug for WC3 and TFT

 

I love Battle for Middle Earth 2. Picked it up last year for 12 bucks at target. Really good game. Not the biggest LotR fan but this game definetly held my attention.

 

I like first one better then the newer two. I absolutely hate the resource system compared to other RTS games. Also, i find it very stupid to have "one-click army killing" powers. There's also a lot of small things that will annoy you (at least in ROTWK).

But if you like lotr, they are very fun.

 

I probably should have mentioned my previous RTS experiences:

Starcraft (and broodwar) (And mods, The Lotr maps were amazing for SC).
C&C Red Alert (and RA3 demo)
Warcraft 3 (and TFT) (Also pretty much any Mod ever made for it)
Company of Heroes
Sins of a Solar Empire
Age of empires II, III, Mythology
Supreme Commander (and forged alliance)
Total annihilation
Total War games (Rome/Medieval)

I think I've played some others, but that's all that comes to mind right now. My favorite 2 up there are Starcraft and Sins of a solar empire. I loved the Mods for WC3, but I disliked the melee/ladder games.

I'm also not a LOTR fan boy. I liked the movies, but I'm not super die hard. I care more about gameplay than a specific set of story lines. And like I said before, I care more about combat management than resource gathering.

Also, does anyone know where I can pick this up for less than $50?

 

Yes these games are great. They are based on the "Command and Conquer Generals" game engine which works really well.