| This article is about the first game in a series. For the other games, see The Battle for Middle-earth video game series. |
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth is a strategy game for the PC developed by Electronic Arts. It was inspired by and licensed from Peter Jackson's adaptations of the famous books by J.R.R. Tolkien and also features a number of the voice actors, including all the hobbits and wizards. It uses the Sage engine from Command & Conquer: Generals and was released on December 6, 2004. The sequel, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, was announced in July 2005.
Gameplay[]
The game functions much like other RTS games: the player must manage an army taking control of economy and unit production. Placements for buildings are predetermined, as camp sites already exist and scattered around the map. These range from an outpost (three building points) to a full fledged castle. In line with the new trend of 2000s RTS games, army units are recruited as squads, instead of as individuals.
This RTS features an Evil and Good campaign set in the War of the Ring-timeline as directed in the trilogy by Peter Jackson with a few game adaptations. As many other RTS-games this feature two opposite endings dependent on which side the player join. The Free Peoples (Gondor and Rohan) focus on their numerous heroes, like Gandalf, Aragorn, Théoden, Éomer, etc. On the other hand, the Forces of Darkness (Mordor and Isengard) depend mainly on their hordes of Orcs and Uruk-hai
Each of these maps is throughout the campaign accessed by selecting well-known and lesser-known regions of Middle-earth such as the Westfold, Eastern Rohan, Mirkwood and even to the far-eastern locales of Rhûn and Harad. While the game authentically follows the story in proper order with special events like the Battle of Helm's Deep, Isengard, Moria and Minas Tirith the in-between game play rests, as said, upon the regions of Middle-earth encompassing in the West from the Shire to Mirkwood, eastmost to Rhûn and all the way south to Mordor and the far reaches of Near Harad.
There are few canonical missions in the game, and until a major event happens, the player's armies wander around conquering other territories.
Campaign[]
War of the Ring[]
- Moria
The Fellowship makes the dangerous trek through the ancient halls, surviving Orc attacks, the ambush at the Chamber of Mazarbul, and even the Balrog of Morgoth. This mission takes the alternate storyline of Gandalf to meet up with the rest of the Fellowship outside.
Playable Heroes: Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Boromir, Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin
Enemy Heroes: Durin's Bane, Balrog of Morgoth
Having escaped Moria, the Fellowship is still being pursued by vicious Orcs. They meet up with the Elves of Lórien, who help drive off the invasion from the Goblins of Moria, and demolish nearby lumber camps that are violating the forests of Lórien.
Playable Heroes: Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Boromir, Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin
Ambushed by Uruk-hai raiders, the Fellowship must rally to the aid of their friend Boromir and escort Frodo and Sam safely to the boats so they can continue the Ring Quest. In this alternate storyline, Boromir can actually survive and continue to accompany the fellowship in their quest to save Merry and Pippin.
Playable Heroes: Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Frodo, Sam
- Eaves of Fangorn
As a Rohirrim patrol led by Éomer, the player must destroy Isengard's forces in the area, and rescue Merry and Pippin from their captors
Playable Heroes: Éomer
Rohan must make its last stand in the Hornburg by defeating the invading Orcs, and then riding out at dawn to crush the remaining forces.
Playable Heroes: Théoden, Éowyn, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, (Gandalf and Éomer when reinforcements are summoned).
- Isengard
In the Last March of the Ents, Merry, Pippin, and Treebeard must invade Isengard and put an end to the Orcs.
Playable Heroes: Treebeard, Merry, Pippin.
- Northern Ithilien
Faramir and his Rangers must ambush the Haradrim army meeting with Mordor, as well as protecting Frodo and Sam.
Playable Heroes: Faramir, Frodo, Sam.
In this epic clash, the city must be defended against Sauron's oncoming forces.
Playable Heroes: Faramir (when reinforcements are summoned).
Frodo has been captured by the Orcs of Cirith Ungol. The player must lead Sam through Shelob's Lair. While you are at it, the player can gather a lost party of Gondor soldiers who have been webbed by the spiders. Shelob must be killed and soldiers rallied for Cirith Ungol to then be assaulted and Frodo saved.
Playable Heroes: Sam
The forces of Gondor must defend Minas Tirith and drive the Orcs out. In this alternate storyline, Théoden can survive and accompany Gondor's armies to the Black Gate of Mordor.
Playable Heroes: Gandalf, Boromir, Faramir, Pippin (Gondor), Éomer, Théoden, Éowyn, Merry (Rohan reinforcements). Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli (Army of the Dead reinforcements).
- The Black Gate
Gondor must muster the strength for one final, desperate stand at the gates of Mordor itself to buy time for Frodo to cast the One Ring into Mount Doom.
Playable Heroes: Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Faramir, Éomer, Théoden, Éowyn, Merry (Rohan reinforcements).
Rise of Sauron[]
Saruman, allying himself with Sauron, must build up an army of Orcs, as well as driving off invading Elves, Ents, and Rohirrim.
Playable Heroes: Saruman
- Fangorn Forest
The armies of Saruman must advance into Fangorn and kill Treebeard and his Ents before they become a serious threat. Elves and the Entmoot must be eliminated as well.
Playable Heroes: Saruman
- Amon Hen
Lurtz leads an Uruk-hai raid to Amon Hen to ambush the Fellowship and kill Boromir, Merry, and Pippin.
Playable Heroes: Lurtz
With Rohan's main army evacuated, Isengard can lead an assault on Edoras and slay the refugees who have escaped their forces, as well as the meddling Lady Éowyn.
Playable Heroes: Either Lurtz or Saruman
- Helm's Deep
Lead the hordes of Isengard into the fortress and crush Rohan once and for all.
Playable Heroes: Either Lurtz or Saruman
- Near Harad
The armies of Mordor advance into the deserts of Harad to recruit the local Haradrim into Sauron's employ. Tribal leaders must be bribed - or their settlements destroyed - to be brought under submission.
Playable Heroes: None
- Southern Ithilien
The base of Faramir's Rangers must be sought out and destroyed.
Playable Heroes: None
- Osgiliath
Conquer the defenses of the city of Osgiliath.
Playable Heroes: Nazgûl (Once Faramir's knight reinforcements arrive).
- Cirith Ungol
Frodo and Sam have been spotted trekking through Shelob's Lair. With Shelob, they must be found and slain.
Playable Heroes: Shelob, Gollum
- Minas Tirith
With the One Ring regained, Sauron's victory is all but assured. Mordor assaults Minas Tirith to crush the city.
Playable Heroes: Witch-king of Angmar and two Nazgûl; or Lurtz or Saruman.
Reception[]
While there have been numerous other games based on The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and the films, The Battle for Middle-earth is unique for its developers' intent to bring the feel of a "living" Middle-earth to the PC through impressive graphics and special effects, as well as to push the genre beyond the RTS niche market by introducing a more intuitive system. Though lauded for its graphics, it did not make a major impact with critics. The game was still well received by many Lord of the Rings and RTS fans. It allows players to control units from 4 major "factions" of Middle-earth: Gondor, Rohan, Isengard, and Mordor, as well as members of the Fellowship. However, some people were disappointed by EA's promotional videos promoting the game as a Rome: Total War-style game, commanding thousands of troops at once, while the actual in game unit count and variety are actually quite low relative to other RTS titles. This game plays very similar to Command & Conquer: Generals even down to the power point system which allows players to earn special powers as you destroy more enemies. The powers that can be earned range from summoning elven allies, calling Eagles, all the way to bringing out the Army of the Dead or the Balrog.
Some have lambasted this game for recycling old concepts such as special powers, making the player field small armies (limited by Command Points) and being too simple compared to other RTSes, among other things.
See also[]
- War of the Ring, a similar game produced by Sierra in 2003 is based on the books instead.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II
- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Die Here van die Ringe: Die Slag vir die Midde-Aarde |
| Arabic | سيد الخواتم: معركة الأرض الوسطى |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Уладар Пярсцёнкаў — Бітва за Міжзем'е |
| Breton | Aotrou ar Gwalennoù: An emgann evit Douar-Kreiz |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Властелинът на пръстените: Битката за Средна земя |
| Cambodian | ពាក់កណ្តាលផែនដី: ការប្រយុទ្ធសម្រាប់ផែនដីកណ្តាល |
| Catalan | El Senyor dels Anells: La batalla per la Terra Mitjana |
| Cebuano | Ang Ginoo sa mga Singsing: Ang gubat alang sa Tunga-tunga-yuta |
| Chinese | 魔戒：中土大战 |
| Croatian | Gospodar Prstenova: Bitku za Međuzemlje |
| Czech | Pán prstenů: Bitva pro Středozemě |
| Danish | Ringenes Herre: Kampen om Midgård |
| Dutch | In de Ban van de Ring: De Strijd om Midden-aarde |
| Esperanto | La Sinjoro de la Ringoj: La batalo por Mez-Tero |
| Estonian | Sõrmuste Isand: Võitlus lahinguga Keskmaa |
| Filipino | Ang Panginoon ng Singsing: Ang labanan para sa Gitnang-bansa |
| Finnish | Taru Sormusten Herrasta: Taistelu Keski-Maaista |
| French | Le Seigneur des anneaux: La Bataille pour la Terre du Milieu |
| Galician | O Señor dos Aneis: A batalla polo Terra Media |
| Georgian | ბეჭდების მბრძანებელი: შუამიწეთის ბრძოლა |
| German | Der Herr der Ringe: Die Schlacht um Mittelerde |
| Greek | Ο άρχοντας των δαχτυλιδιών: Τη μάχη για Μέση Γη |
| Hebrew | שר הטבעות: הקרב על הארץ התיכונה |
| Hindi | द लार्ड ऑफ द रिंग्स: के लिए लड़ाई मध्य पृथ्वी |
| Hungarian | A Gyűrűk Ura: Harc Középföldéért |
| Icelandic | Hringadróttinssaga: Orustan um Miðgarður |
| Indonesian | Raja Segala Cincin: Pertempuran untuk Dunia Tengah |
| Irish Gaelic | An Tiarna na bhFáinní: An Cath le haghaidh Meán-domhan |
| Italian | Il Signore degli Anelli: La Battaglia per la Terra di Mezzo |
| Japanese | 指輪物語: 中つ国のための戦い |
| Javanese | Pangeran saka cincin: Perang kanggo Tengah-bumi |
| Kannada | ದಿ ಲಾರ್ಡ್ ಆಫ್ ದಿ ರಿಂಗ್ಸ್: ಮಧ್ಯಮ ಭೂಮಿಯ ಯುದ್ಧ |
| Kazakh | Сақиналар әміршісі: Ортаңғы-жер шайқас (Cyrillic) Saqïnalar ämirşisi: Ortañğı-jer şayqas (Latin) |
| Korean | 반지의 제왕: 중간계 전투 |
| Laotian | ພຣະຜູ້ເປັນເຈົ້າຂອງແຫວນໄດ້: ການສູ້ຮົບສໍາລັບແຜ່ນດິນໂລກກາງ |
| Latin | Dominus Anulorum: Proelium pro Terra Media |
| Latvian | Gredzenu pavēlnieks: Cīņa par Viduszeme |
| Lithuanian | Žiedu Valdovas: Mūšis dėl Vidurinėsžemės |
| Luxembourgish | Den Här vun de Réng: D 'Schluecht fir Mëtt-Äerd |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Господарот на Прстените: Битката за Блискиот Земјата |
| Malaysian | Raja Segala Cincin: Pertempuran untuk Bumi Tengah |
| Maltese | Il-Ħakkiem ta 'l-anelli: Il-battalja għal Nofsani-pajjiż |
| Marathi | द लॉर्ड ऑफ द रिंग्स - साठी लढाई मध्य पृथ्वी |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Бөгжний эзэн: Дунд-газар тулаан |
| Nepalese | द लर्ड अफ द रिङ्ग्स: मध्य-पृथ्वीमा लडाई |
| Norwegian | Kampen om Midgard – Ringenes Herre |
| Persian | ارباب حلقهها: نبرد برای سرزمین میانه |
| Polish | Władca Pierścieni: Bitwa o Śródziemie |
| Portuguese | O Senhor dos Anéis: A batalha por Terra Média |
| Romanian | Stăpânul Inelelor: Lupta pentru Pământul de Mijloc |
| Russian | Властелин Колец: Битва за Средиземье |
| Scottish | Tha Tighearna nam Fàinnean: Am Blàr airson Meadhan-dùthaich |
| Serbian | Господар прстенова: Средња земља (Cyrillic) Gospodar Prstenova: Srednja Zemlja (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ද රින්ග්ස් සමිඳාණන්: මිද්ද්ලෙ-එඅර්ථ් සටනක් |
| Slovak | Pán Prsteňov: Bitka pre Stredozem |
| Slovenian | Gospodar Prstanov: Bitka za Srednjisvet |
| Spanish | El Señor de los Anillos: La batalla por la Tierra Media |
| Swedish | Slaget om Midgård – Härskarringen |
| Tamil | த லோட் ஒவ் த ரிங்ஸ் : மத்திய புவி போர் |
| Telugu | ఆ లార్డ్ ఆఫ్ ది రింగ్స్: మిద్ద్లె-ఎఅర్థ యుద్ధంలో |
| Thai | ดออฟเดอะริงส์: การต่อสู้เพื่อมิดเดิลเอิร์ธ |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Володар Перснів: Битва за Середзем'я |
| Urdu | دی لارڈ آف دی رنگز: جنگ کے لئے وسطی زمین |
| Vietnamese | Chúa tể những chiếc nhẫn: Đại chiến xứ Trung địa |
| Welsh | Yr Arglwydd y cylchoedd: Y frwydr am Canol-y ddaear |
| Yiddish | דער האר פון די רינגס דער: שלאַכט פֿאַר מיטל-ערד |
