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The first 10 minutes : Battle for Middle Earth 2
Xbox 360

EA surprised everyone earlier this year by announcing Battle For Middle Earth II on Xbox 360. This type of games have never really been succesfully ported on consoles due to the lack of mice on these systems. Well it looks like EA finally overcame the issue with a very well thought control and selection system. The gameplay never really feels more awkward than it should be with a pad, except when selecting very small units.
I'm not a fan at all of these type of games so I really can't give you guys any real impressions, but enjoy this long video showing most of the tutorial level. This should give you a very good idea of how this game controls.


It's difficult for me to cut anything more out of this video, so only the low quality version will be available. A 720p version would be much too big, and honestly this is not the type of game that really showcases the 360's power.
Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth II_The first 10 minutes : Battle For Middle Earth 2
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The first 10 minutes : Battle For Middle Earth 2

All comments (34)

Tarrell13
Tarrell13
Commented on 2006-07-16 20:01:50
This game is a must buy if you are into RTS games.
In reply to
Tarrell13
Tarrell13
Commented on 2006-07-16 20:02:09
This message is in "Boulet Time" (TM), If you still *really* want to see it, click here
I forgot to say

O snaps!
rupbert
rupbert
Commented on 2006-07-16 20:11:28
Shame about the shadows.
In reply to
Snoopers - Gameboy
Snoopers
Commented on 2006-07-16 20:26:19
What about the shadows ?
In reply to
jammy2049
jammy2049
Commented on 2006-07-16 20:33:58 In reply to Snoopers
Posted by snoopers
What about the shadows ?
when playing on my SD tv they seemed pretty jittery! Might not have been an issue in HD!
In reply to
seba1303
seba1303
Commented on 2006-07-16 20:37:55
The Shadows look also awfull at Hires. Looks like C64 Bitmap Graphics. In fact the whole game looks bad in comparison with the PC Version - that´s my opinion.

Regards
In reply to
school
school
Commented on 2006-07-16 21:54:26
Well the reviews of this game was ok and better than i thought, but this is %100 not my type of game.
In reply to
denix
denix
Commented on 2006-07-16 22:00:11
i played it a bit, not as good as i espected
In reply to
LEBATO - IS WRONG
LEBATO
Commented on 2006-07-16 22:36:43 In reply to Tarrell13
Posted by Tarrell13
This game is a must buy if you are into RTS games.
LOL, NO. If you are an RTS fan you might consider PLAYING it, and then depending on that, you may start to consider buying it.
In reply to
miketuck3r
miketuck3r
Commented on 2006-07-16 22:46:51 In reply to LEBATO
Posted by LEBATO
LOL, NO. If you are an RTS fan you might consider PLAYING it, and then depending on that, you may start to consider buying it.
this is the best implementation by far of an RTS on a console the controls are very easy to get into and the lord of the rings universe makes it interesting
In reply to
FireWire - IEEE 1394
FireWire
Commented on 2006-07-17 00:59:23
too bad this game has been out for months on the pc already, else i might have bought it :)
In reply to
Croftanator
Croftanator
Commented on 2006-07-17 01:19:26
Got the game, and first thing I played was the tutorial. Absolutely godam awful shadows and frame rate was jumping all over the place. The controls seemed ok, but far from impressed so far.
In reply to
MOIREbass
MOIREbass
Commented on 2006-07-17 01:21:39
IT'S A GREAT GAME, AND HELLA FUN ONLINE.
In reply to
exquaternion
exquaternion
Commented on 2006-07-17 03:46:03
Shadow artifact...

It may be using FP10 format.
FP10 is 32bit-HDR format but Alpha channel is 2bit.

Probably,PC version may be using 64bit-HDR format with 16bit alpha channel.
In reply to
LEBATO - IS WRONG
LEBATO
Commented on 2006-07-17 03:52:11 In reply to miketuck3r
Posted by miketuck3r
this is the best implementation by far of an RTS on a console the controls are very easy to get into and the lord of the rings universe makes it interesting
AND? He said if you are an RTS fan, if you are an RTS fan you have a PC for that. Who's an RTS fan and would rather buy the console version of ANY RTS? I don't know.
In reply to
LEBATO - IS WRONG
LEBATO
Commented on 2006-07-17 03:53:10 In reply to exquaternion
Posted by exquaternion
Shadow artifact...

It may be using FP10 format.
FP10 is 32bit-HDR format but Alpha channel is 2bit.

Probably,PC version may be using 64bit-HDR format with 16bit alpha channel.
Ah, the perfect match for Acert!!!
In reply to
Inflatable
Inflatable
Commented on 2006-07-17 03:59:20
I'm really dissapointed with how this game runs on the 3.2Ghz triple-core Xbox 360.. The slowdown in big battles is just ridiculous.. My P4 3.4Ghz single-core PC handles this game much better.. Or maybe it's just a lack of memory, 512MB v 2GB, I don't know.. Whatever it is, I'm not impressed, sorry..

LEBATO is also right, RTS fans are pure PC gamers.. Because that's been the only platform to play these kinds of games on.. And I very much doubt this game will persuade them to play RTS on a console like the Xbox 360 instead of their PC.. This game is only gonna introduce console-only gamers to RTS, nothing more.. I doubt the gerne will become very popular on consoles.. But who knows, at least EA has done a better job with this game then the C&C games have done on the Playstation..
In reply to
Cryptkeeper
Cryptkeeper
Commented on 2006-07-17 12:21:25
I also downloaded the demo for pc and the shadows on pc (full detail) and xbox are exactly the same.
They solved the control issue really well I think. It just shows that rts can be done on consoles.
In reply to
Goat
Goat
Commented on 2006-07-17 12:39:19
The fact of the matter is this:
RTS games. Just. Don't. Work. On. Consoles.

Stop trying.

It doesn't work and never will.

Ever.
In reply to
Inflatable
Inflatable
Commented on 2006-07-17 14:10:23
Well, this one obviously does.. With some tweaked gameplay that is.. At the moment I started playing the PC demo I knew what they were doing to get this to work on a console.. They use big groups of units instead of lots of individual units, which offcourse is much easier to select/control with a controller.. In other words, a lot of micromanagement was dropped..
In reply to
lumzi23
lumzi23
Commented on 2006-07-17 15:04:03 In reply to Goat
Posted by Goat
The fact of the matter is this:
RTS games. Just. Don't. Work. On. Consoles.

Stop trying.

It doesn't work and never will.

Ever.
Well the fact that this one obviously does makes your statement sound suspiciously like fanboyism or the like.
In reply to
trippr1
trippr1
Commented on 2006-07-17 15:34:04
I have played the demo and alot of RTS's on PC and i think it is GREAT!!!

EXcept for the crappy Textures and those HORRIBLE SHADOWS
In reply to
pr0cs
pr0cs
Commented on 2006-07-17 15:46:31
Great game, a nice change of pace from the endless FPS games.
The control is a bit more tricky than on the PC but it works and is fun. The multiplayer on a unified system like XBOX Live is great, you don't have to wait long to find a game to play, everyone is running the same hardware (no one has a kickass machine advantage).

Overall if you're looking for something different this is a good start.
In reply to
roxwell - PuS3Y
roxwell
Commented on 2006-07-17 16:48:33
It's the first RTS I've plyed for years and i'm really liking it...my precious!
Does suffer with a bit of slow down though.
In reply to
Brandino
Brandino
Commented on 2006-07-17 20:07:57
The controls were really easy to learn and to use. Framerate though was horrible... considering the first levels contained slowdown with minimal characters on screen I'm curious to see how slow it gets near the end of the game...
In reply to
About the game
Lord of the Rings Battle for Midd...
Platform
X360
Published by
Electronic Arts
Developed by
Electronic Arts
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