Whilst the first Battle for Middle Earth game looked awesome, it played old and cranky. It was also unbelievably difficult - either you played it on Easy and had no challenge whatsoever or you moved up to Medium and had your arse kicked so badly you'd be reaching for the Uninstall option. This new and improved enhancement, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II, is a refreshingly healthy improvement on the previous game and really takes up the challenge of this franchise and lets it fly, much like a Nazgul wreaking havoc upon hapless soldiers on the battelfield.

Although the game doesn't exactly blow you away with its creativity from the very start, it does do everything right without being too flash. Having said that, the intro scene is pretty awesome as the camera glides over Rohan, with goblins, spiders and Elven archers, hobbits and Nazgul all battling it out across vast mountain ranges and harsh tundras. Middle-Earth II takes the whole Tolkien universe and brings together all the good guys and beasts that appear in the three films, beautifully recreating them onscreen in gorgeously rendered 3D battlescapes. So you've got your weedy goblins, hideous oversized spiders, orcs and scorpions, dragons and, of course, your elves, hobbits, wizards, dwarves and so on. And what really stands out is just how darned good all of these characters look; it's an absolute joy to lead a squad of dwarves through a darkened mountain path - you'll find yourself zooming in to take it all in. This game really is a masterclass in how good a real time strategy game can look!

When you start the game you've got a choice between either the Good or the Evil campaign, which is fairly self-explanatory. The two campaigns each comprise eight interesting scenarios and every mission has varied objectives, be it Slay the Dragon or Kill the Goblin King, while different bonus objectives appear as you move throughout the missions. For example, you might come across a lair of spiders and you'll be offered the chance to eradicate all spider lairs on the map. For each mission objective you complete, you receive skill points that can be spent on special powers to assist you in your quests. There's a huge number of special powers to collect and each of them are massively effective, unlike in other RTS titles where you often spend ages saving up for what ends up being the lamest special power out there. For example, if you're fighting a hard battle in an icy tundra, if you've unlocked the Elven Forest power then you can cast it on a certain sector of the map and the ice will turn into a lush elven forest, thus increasing the attack and defence skills of your troops when they fight in that area. This is unbelievably helpful when you get surrounded by hundreds of little goblin buggers… and believe me, you will!

The two campaigns are truly vintage RTS, with the usual building bases, churning out units, stacking resources and capturing key locations on the map. There're plenty of fancy options available too, from upgrading your base defences to kitting out your troops with mystical armour. So even though there's nothing drastically new here, which I guess is a shame, it doesn't matter too much because this game plays, sounds and looks so great. If you're looking for innovation then Middle-Earth 2 might disappoint, but if you're up for playing a somewhat familiar but bloody awesome game, get in there! I found the Evil campaign particularly satisfying, as you get to ransack the Shire and watch all the little hobbits' houses burning as they scamper for cover. If only the films themselves had let the bad guys win, even if it'd have had Tolkien turning in his grave. [Okay, he's totally lost it - clearly corrupted by the power of the Ring… Hobbit Ed].

Once you've mastered the two campaigns you can either try the many skirmish modes in the game, or go for the rather daunting War of the Ring mode. In this the game plays much like Star Wars: Empire At War, giving you scope to play on a tactical map and arrange your armies across the whole land of Middle-Earth, whilst dipping into 3D battle mode to resolve conflicts that come about on the map. You can even create your own hero, should you so wish, and then send him out with your troops to take on the hordes of enemies. Playing out the War of the Ring can take a very long time, with each battle sometimes lasting as long as an hour, and you'll need to fight at least a dozen battles before the fate of the Ring is finally sealed.

Of course, the combat itself looks absolutely beautiful and the upgrades available to almost every unit add enormously to the way the fights play out. When you send in your cavalry, they slam into ranks of soldiers and tear them to the ground. Or if you're on the evil side and you order your mountain troll into battle, you'll see his blows throwing elves ten feet into the air and falling flat on their pretty little cloaks. And all the while, the sound is perfect, as each unit has its own unique battle sounds, all adding to a raucous cacophony of fantasy warfare blasting through your speakers. Add to that the rousing renditions of some of the finest music from the cinematic scoring and you've got a fantastic recreation of some of the finest battle scenes in the three movies.

I'm guessing you've probably worked out that I loved The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II. With so many poor RTS titles being released off the back of classics like Dawn of War, it's refreshing to have one released that doesn't try to be new, clever or fancy. Middle-Earth II revels in what the age-old RTS titles do and does it in such a professional and thoroughly enjoyable way. Ultimately, playing games should always be about fun and that's why I absolutely loved playing this game. I can't wait for a sequel, although I'm thinking they'll have to make up a whole pile of brand new battles, as the first two games have covered them all. Perhaps the third edition will involve scuffles in a hobbit pub or arguments over the bathroom queue in Helm's Deep. Anyway, buy this game - you'll thank me for it!

Reviewed by Ross Alexander for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).