The Lord of the Rings franchise has grown considerably since the conception of the Peter Jackson films. Games from EA, concerning LOTR, seemed to be released almost excessivly. But the difference between EA' s games and other movie to game developers is that they do a good job. One notable game, in my opinion, was Battle for Middle-Earth. The use of the massive engine was breathtaking, the gameplay was a bit easy and linear, but it appears as if that will change in the upcoming Battle for Middle-Earth II! Not only do they have the license for the Lord of the Rings movies and books, but they have access to Tolkien' s other Middle-Earth related books. I can honestly say that I am more excited for Battle for Middle-Earth II than I am Age of Empires III.

Dwarves are now playable, how awesome is that. If anybody has heard anything concerning this upcoming launch, as to what they are adding from the Silmarillion or the Hobbit or the Lost Tales for that matter please post it.

I' m sorry but the AI in that game was very repetitive. I learned thier movements after 10 fights. Try Command and Conquer games or better yet, Rise of Nations. I did like using the heroes tho and my Legolas would beat everyone before they would even get near him. Heh, my other heroes barely got any XP since Legolas would have them crawling up to them by the time they made it to them.

I loved the first BFME, some balance issues with the bases, but it brought so much more to the plate. I never skirmished against the computer much, only Multiplayer so no complaints about the AI. I did do the Story mode, but that put you in unique situations, where the AI had a different strategy each time. Anyways, we' re here to talk BFME 2 so I will. IGN (sorry, no link, lazy) has some good videos showing off some of the new features such as Naval combat (looks awsome) and base building. As to what' s included from the Silmarilion and lost tales, I don' t think much. Perhaps mosters and units, but no story elements, as this is all still taking place during the war of the ring, just in different areas than were portrayed in the movies. I' m looking forward to this game a lot.

How awesome would it be if they added small campaigns that had to deal with the 1st and 2nd ages of Middle-Earth? I checked out the stuff on IGN, its amazing! The navel combat should prove awesome. I am curious as to the selection of ships that will be available. I hope it is not just the Corsairs and the Elven warships, b/c I hate when games profess large additions but in actuality they end up to be such a minor part of the game. Never the less, I am extremely excited.
As to the AI being repetative, I agree, but the game was all about multiplayer and the story mode. The battle against the white tower was great! I felt that the mumakil were vastly underpowered, but hopefully the game will be balanced. The ability to not make walls to walk on is slightly disapointing, but the game has dragons now so...