Metareview - LOTR: The Battle for Middle-earth II (Xbox 360) [update 1]
by Christopher Grant 
{ Jul 6th 2006 at 11:25AM }
The PC game already debuted in March to decent reviews so, instead of recapping what's right and wrong with the game as a whole, let's get right down to the issue we're all wondering about: the controls.EA's Los Angeles studio contains the venerable Westwood Studios, well known as RTS pioneers for titles like Dune II and Command & Conquer. So it is, under their watchful eye, that they sought to deliver the heretofore mouse-centric experience of real-time strategy games to the console world. So, how did they do?
- IGN (82/100) is equivocal in their praise saying: "The controls aren't perfect and they're by no means the equivalent to the quick, precision controls of the PC's mouse and keyboard duo, but they do in fact work. I'll even go so far as to say they work better than any other console RTS -- period."
- GameDaily (80/100) wonders where the tutorial is (and apparently missed it): "While the control scheme is listed in the manual and through the in-game pause menu, there's no tutorial mode. The control scheme works extremely well once you've adjusted to it, but the moment you pick up the game, you won't know what you're doing. A training mode of some sort (at least as an option) would've been nice for a game of this nature, but Xbox 360 owners should be adjusted to the control scheme by the second or third mission."
- Yahoo! Games (90/100) seconds the manual recommendation and steep learning curve: " So yes, you need to read the manual. You're probably going to want to have it on your knees for the first few hours of play, and within arm's reach for a day or two more. The controls are well thought out and comprehensive, but the advanced functions are not intuitive. Many commands rely on double or triple combinations of face buttons and triggers or bumpers. You'll need to learn them."
[Update 1: whoops! GameDaily missed the tutorial mode, as Major Nelson helpfully points out here. He says, "scroll left on the D-pad from Single Player->Tutorial." Sounds easy.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ahamsandwich @ Jul 6th 2006 11:34AM
since when are games judged soley on controls?! i wanna know how the game plays!
dubz @ Jul 6th 2006 11:35AM
I'm picking this one up today for the sole fact that I can't wait to "talk trash" with my buddies on Xbox Live.
Talking trash on the keybaord just doesn't have that same sweet feeling.
Blink @ Jul 6th 2006 11:37AM
I'll wait for Point and Click Adventures on the Wii before saying that consoles have controls anywhere near that of a PC, thanks. But I will rent this one, sounds interesting.
KilgoreTrout XL @ Jul 6th 2006 11:41AM
Sandwich- To paraphrase the reviews, the game plays much like the PC, but- without the refined mouse control, you lose some of the refined troop maneuvers you'd do on the PC. There's slowdown in some areas as well apparently.
As for furture titles, Command and Conquer 3 is rumored to be coming to the 360 soon, and from the screens they've released for the PC, it looks absolutely gorgeous. Hope they make an announcement on that soon.
I'd also like Warcraft 4, exclusive to the 360 ;)
GamerZero @ Jul 6th 2006 11:47AM
At last,an RTS on a console that get's the overall thumbs up.I'm going to try it out for a week.As for the slowdown when it get's busy,I think that developers are still having trouble converting PC code to PowerPC code.I also wonder if the game uses all three cores efficiently to share the work.My guess is that a quick port is financialy efficient where as an efficient re-code is financialy inefficient.You do the math...
RazorElite @ Jul 6th 2006 11:54AM
@No.1 Since they've been released as the same game before on another system and the type of game hasn't been seen often on consoles solely due to the fact of controls!
ddt @ Jul 6th 2006 11:54AM
Looks good, im definatly buying when it falls in price.
offtopic: how precise is the wiimote can it be a rival to the mouse.
djpuddle @ Jul 6th 2006 11:56AM
"EA's Los Angeles studio contains the venerable Westwood Studios, well known as RTS pioneers for titles like Dune II and Command & Conquer."
Yeah, It's too bad that they pretty much all left Westwood and went to form petroglyph...
http://www.petroglyphgames.com/
Nukes and Candy @ Jul 6th 2006 12:05PM
A good score! Im just happy developers are finally making RTS games for consoles.
Now lets see what these goons do with CNC3 :)
Alexander W.
.
SuicideNinja @ Jul 6th 2006 12:10PM
Um...so why wouldn't they just add mouse support. I can't imagine it would be that difficult. USB ports open everything up.
I wonder if Sony and 3rd party vendors will make it a point to avoid mouse and keyboard control also.
meddow @ Jul 6th 2006 12:13PM
Yey, being looking for a Good RTS on a console since Starcraft 64. Good times :D
jdm123 @ Jul 6th 2006 12:15PM
Does anyone know what the big hang up is for the 360 to support mouse/keyboard controls? Can't imagine that it's all that difficult to implement and seems like it would open the doors to a larger user base.
lothar @ Jul 6th 2006 12:31PM
This is great news! I guess this could be labled as one of those "important games" opened up an entire new genre of PC type games (RTS) for the consoles in the same way that Halo introduced FPS to consoles.
As more RTS games come out on consoles the controls will get better and better, sound very promising for the wii. There are lots of older RTS games that could be ported over to current gen consoles hopefully someone will notice this major gap in the market and take advantage of it.
wakusei @ Jul 6th 2006 12:36PM
Halo introduced the FPS to consoles? I think you might want to look into that a little further...
Filthy @ Jul 6th 2006 12:43PM
How does BFMEII compare to a game like Civilization III or IV? That is the only RTS that I have played. I thoroughly enjoyed Civ and would like a similar type game on the 360.
wakusei @ Jul 6th 2006 12:44PM
I don't mean to discount Bungie's contribution to gaming. Halo certainly changed the way we control FPS on consoles, much like BFME2 does for the console RTS. However you'll still find people swearing by the N64's Goldeneye/Perfect Dark controls...or hell, just using their keyboard and mouse on their XBox.
To each their own! But it's great to see a company tackling the controls for something as complex as an RTS and succeeding on a console. It opens substantial possibilities to seeing some new gameplay.
The ZeroCorpse @ Jul 6th 2006 12:47PM
It's not a technical limitation that keeps mouse/keyboard from being used on home consoles- It's the companies. They don't want their console to be viewed as a "cheap computer" and they want everyone to have the same playing field, i.e. just control pads instead of pads vs. mouse/keys.
The keyboard works fine in the 360 dashboard. It's just not supported for gameplay.
Now, it's still quite possible we get a mouse/keyboard that are made by a third party in response to all the RTS games slated for the system, but don't expect them to be wireless. MS has locked down the wireless tech on the 360.
nod @ Jul 6th 2006 12:52PM
Is the rumor true that they cut the "create a custom hero" feature from the game?
john @ Jul 6th 2006 12:59PM
@ KilgoreTrout:
Why in the world would any RTS developer, especially Blizzard ever consider making a console exclusive RTS? It'd be easier for them to pull out a pistol, turn it around, and shoot themselves in the head. Denying their all their PC customers their flagship game would be similar to Bungie releasing Halo 3 for OS X on Mac. Granted there are probably more PC gamers who own 360's than there are 360 owners who own Mac, but you get the picture.
john @ Jul 6th 2006 1:04PM
and yes, i realize it was wishful thinking/joking.
Psykoboy2 @ Jul 6th 2006 1:12PM
There is a tutorial.
Major Nelson just pointed it out on his blog. Press left on the d-pad on the single player menu screen.
Thomas Crymes @ Jul 6th 2006 1:21PM
The most likely reason they do not have keyboard/mouse support is that it adds another element to design, implement and test. And since only a small fraction of users will use a keyboard/mouse set up for a particular game, putting it in is cost prohibitive.
It is more advantageous if they just concentrate on utilizing the standard input device.
GamerZero @ Jul 6th 2006 1:23PM
I hope this RTS takes off on the 360 and kickstarts other developers into doing the same.
I'm now hoping that Bungie look into creating an RTS for 360.'Myth' on the PC with blood caked into the terrain after a good battle was a riot.They proved that big-ass battles can be fun as well as tactical.It wouldn't have to be in the Halo universe although that wouldn't be a bad thing either with all the different units and vehicles to choose from.
Hopefuly they are already working on such a project,'The Forerunner Conflict' perhaps!
saboola @ Jul 6th 2006 1:28PM
When I put down the crack needle that is oblivion, I may look into this. For now though, my pimp is oblivion and if I cheat on it I will get slapped hard. It hurts :(
KilgoreTrout XL @ Jul 6th 2006 1:37PM
John:
I was kidding.
lothar @ Jul 6th 2006 2:14PM
@ wakusei
Your right I shouldn't of said introduce but rather to popularize it.
obo @ Jul 6th 2006 4:06PM
So when does it come out for a mouse-and-keyboard-capable system?
Intangible 360 @ Jul 6th 2006 5:20PM
Lol, maybe they should of included a tutorial for getting to the tutorial :P
Intangible 360 @ Jul 6th 2006 5:30PM
@Obo
3 months ago
Serious Kriss @ Jul 6th 2006 9:33PM
#9 Nukes and Candy : actually, there were quite a few RTSes ported to console before this one, especially in the Command & Conquer series. And let's not forget Age of Empires 2 on the PS2, which actually supported M&KB. Still, they sold poorly because the console crowd wasn't really interested in RTS.
#15 Filthy : Civilization is turn-based, not real time. You shouldn't compare the two, they are very different genres.
Ben Hobbs @ Jul 7th 2006 9:33AM
FFS this game is laggy as hell, and I'm talking about one player.
Cmon the xbox360 is more powerful than that, there is absolutely no need for this game to be slow and laggy on the 360. I was really looking forward to this, I've only been playin for an hour, but still no RTS should get slowdown before you've even built more than a couple of armies.
Lord Medic @ Jul 7th 2006 6:32PM
I bought this game, and am RETURNING it in just a few moments.... It's Pretty as hell, but on a 42 inch Plasma, I had to sit about 2 feet away to really see what was going on.
After about an hour of play, I had Wicked Eye strain... and this has been the only 360 game to do this to me. I think it's that your eyes try to follow all the units on the screen, which look a lot like ants when you zoom far out.
Anyway.. I know I'm not the only one that's getting eye strain with this game. I'll stick with the PC version.
Medic
Ben Hobbs @ Jul 8th 2006 12:34AM
Medic,
Your Plasma is probably not HD, whilst an RTS like this needs at least 720p.
After playin several games online it turns out that the ame las less in multiplayer than in single player, which is weird but probably down to the smaller maps.