The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II – The Rise of the Witch-King PC

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II – The Rise of the Witch-King for PC is an official expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II. It requires the core version of the game to work. This time the developers from EA Los Angeles decided to place the action between the War of the Last Alliance and the moment when Gandalf learns that the One Ring is in the hands of Bilbo. The events described in the game are strongly based on the invention of the authors who decided to greatly expand what was only briefly described by Tolkien.

Plot

The PC version of the expansion starts in the ancient, dark kingdom of Angmar which is ruled by the powerful Witch-King. Filled with lust for power and new conquests, the tyrant turns his eyes towards the kingdom of Arnor (the homeland of the ancestors of Aragorn). The player is tasked with playing the whole campaign, starting with fortifying the position in Angmar, through gathering a great army (which consists, among other units, of Thrall Masters, Sorcerers and Dark Dunedains), to leading an assault on the proud kingdom of Arnor.

Mechanics

In order to fully enjoy the new side of the conflict, the forces of Angmar can be used in Skirmish, Multiplayer and War of the Ring modes. These are not the only novelties introduced in the PC version of The Rise of the Witch-King. The developers improved or expanded almost every aspect of the game. Each of the six already playable races received new units. The War of the Ring mode was greatly improved. The artificial intelligence of the opponents was improved as well. New economical features were introduced and siege machines appeared on the battlefield.

Character creation was modified. Most of all, a Troll class was introduced. Many new weapons and armors were added, allowing greater choice and variety of characters. The payment for created character is completely different now. The developers decided to use a simple rule: the price of creating a hero equals the sum of costs of abilities that were assigned to him. Thanks to that, by creating a character with limited ability sets, the player will pay more – it is a good option for the beginning of the campaign. By giving the hero a set of ten powerful abilities one will spend a fortune but his warrior should manage well till the end of the campaign.

Game score 8.4 / 10 calculated out of 2892 players' votes.