Battle For Middle Earth 1 VS Battle For Middle Earth 2

We are going to Middle Earth for this one folks! Told you each of the games deserved their own spotlight. So today we will pit Battle For Middle Earth 1 against its older sibling, Battle For Middle Earth 2 to decide once and for all, which one is the better game. We will rank the contestants, as usual, in 4 categories

Music

Graphics

Gameplay

Replayability

The original big guy, Battle For Middle earth appeared with an amazing campaign, that allowed you to carry your armies through each mission in a sort of "RISK" style campaign. It offered four factions, Gondor, Rohan, Mordor and Isengard and that camp system we talked about on the other article. Easy to learn, a joy to watch, this is a fan favorite for many, many reasons. But how does it fare in the fields of the Tussle?

Music: 8/10. Great music, great soundtrack, very lord of the rings-esque.

Graphics: 9/10. Both games have similar graphics and animations, and they both hold up even to this day. Even if this game managed to bring most CPU's to their knees back in the day, today it still is impressive for an RTS.

Gameplay: 10/10. The camp system offers a variety of different gamestyles and a unique mechanic I have not seen before in any RTS. It is fun, engaging and can make even playing skirmishes fun, and also double as stress relief.

Replayability: 7/10. Despite it being a great game, once you have played the campaign there is no reason to play again, and the skirmishes are fun but can get rather boring, since you cannot effectively replicate the great sieges of the Third Era.

The sequel of the famous Battle For Middle Earth 1, Battle For Middle Earth 2 and its expansion Wrath Of The Witch King, brought in a few changes in the mix, some for better, others for worse. Expanding the story with the campaign focusing on the northern parts of the war during the Third Age, the game scrapped Rohan and Gondor and instead merged them into the Men faction. But, along the expansion the 2nd installment brings three new races, Angmar, Elves, Goblins and Dwarves. Scrapping the camp system the game offers a more open ended base building and makes up for it by allowing you to create your own custom hero. But how does it fare in the Field?!

Music: 8/10. With a few additions to the soundtrack of the first game, adding more tunes into the mix, the soundtrack is fine!

Graphics: 9/10. Not much to say here. Aside from a clear optimization the graphics have stayed almost identical to be completely honest. However, with more units and custom heroes, the animations have seen a small upgrade

Gameplay: 10/10. Custom heroes, larger battalions and more races into the mix make for a large boost in fun. Despite the fact that the camp mechanic is not here, which is a significant bummer if you ask me, the game makes up for it by adding more monster lairs, units and skills. With skirmish maps that include Helm's Deep and other memorable locations, there have been some significant upgrades there. However, with the balance thrown out of the window in favor of "the good guys" and a campaign that is streamlined and, rather bland to be honest, there are a few drawbacks into this game for sure.

Replayability: 10/10. To be fair, the game has the same issue with the 1st game, more so with the lackluster campaign. However, with more races, maps, custom heroes and mod support you -do- have a lot of replayability.

RJ's Wrath Of The Witchking mod for the second battle for middle earth, manages to bring the best from both games and smooth out the edges. With various game balance fixes to equalize the playing field, Men split into Gondor and Rohan once more and Mordor splitting into Mordor and Men Of The East. Many new units, the return of the castle mechanic as well as even -MORE- options and unit variety, this mod is everything the games -should- have been.