How much new content is in the game? Will you be bringing back anything
from the first game?
This is like two games in one. We’re creating a full game’s worth of new content
– units, heroes, structures, locations, missions, new game mechanics, and new
technology - and we’re also bringing back all of the units, heroes, structures,
and locations from the original Battle for Middle-earth. We want to deliver the
complete Middle-earth experience, with all of the races and heroes from the
books and movies and all of the places on the map.
More detail: Battle for Middle-earth II will have a total of six factions
(sides), 80+ units, 34+ heroes, and 50+ maps. We’re adding three entirely new
factions based on Elves, Dwarves, and Goblins – and each new faction has new
units, heroes, and structures. We’re enhancing the existing factions from the
first game as well. For example, we’re adding Corsairs and Black Riders for
Mordor, Wild Men of Dunland for Isengard, and Dunedain Rangers for our Men of
the West faction (Gondor and Rohan are being combined into one faction).
What is the single player game experience like?
There are three ways to play. You can start up a story-based campaign with
lovingly crafted RTS missions on the side of Good or Evil. You can also play a
new free-form “War of the Ring” strategy game that spans all of Middle-earth and
lets you battle a new strategic AI for control of the world. Finally, you can
jump into a “one off” battle against AI where you choose the factions and the
map.
The story-based single player campaign takes you to the Northern Lands of
Middle-earth where Elves and Dwarves are fighting a series of massive battles
against Sauron’s forces during the War of the Ring. These battles in the North
are as epic as anything shown on film, with vast armies clashing in new
locations like Mirkwood, Lorien, Dale, and the mountain fortress of Erebor.
The Good campaign puts you in charge of the allied ancient races warring against
Goblin hordes descending from the Misty Mountains and the dark tide flowing out
of Sauron’s fortress of Dol Guldur. If you choose to play the Evil campaign,
you’ll control the armies from Dol Guldur as well as a host of corrupted
creatures. Instead of defending the North, your mission will be to conquer it.
Victory for the Evil side will come when Sauron controls the northern lands of
Middle-earth.
Once you are finished with the Good and Evil story-based campaigns, you can
unlock infinite replayability with our new War of the Ring strategy meta-game.
You can choose to re-fight the entire War of the Ring – in the South as well as
the North – by choosing a side and a starting location on the 3D living world
map of Middle-earth. You can then build up your forces, move your armies, and
take territories in a Risk-style strategy game. Battles for contested
territories can be auto-resolved or played out in a classic real-time encounter
on the actual RTS map.
Is the War of the Ring part of the campaign game? Is it a skirmish mode? Can
it be played multiplayer?
War of the Ring is an entirely new way to play. You conquer Middle-earth your
own way, battling for control of the world against a strategic AI or another
player. All of the races of Middle-earth are yours to command as you fight
across the entire world, re-visiting classic battles like Helm’s Deep, Isengard,
and Minas Tirith. You can also stage battles in Minas Morgul, the land of Mordor,
the land of Rhun, and other locations from across Middle-earth. You create your
own history of the War of the Ring – and it plays out differently every time.
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