fantasy

(...)Experience Middle-earth like never before in The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth, the first The Lord of the Rings game that puts you in command of a real-time, open world. Control the legendary heroes, massive armies, and epic campaigns of Middle-earth in over 25 missions based on all three films of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. From waging all-out combat among the vast forces of good and evil to controlling your favorite heroes and characters to managing the troops and resources of your side, the fate of a living, breathing Middle-earth is in your hands.

Key Features-Fight the epic, sweeping battles from the Academy Award-winning The Lord of the Rings film trilogy from a whole new perspective-as commander of hundreds of soldiers and creatures. Control massive armies and interactive battlefields across the vast world of Middle-earth. Lead the forces of good or evil by controlling one of four unique groups, from the Riders of Rohan to the forces of Sauron, each with its own playing style, resource management, and base-building techniques. Take command of strategic territories across a highly detailed, 3D map of Middle-earth and turn the tide in the battle to control The One Ring. Forge new heroes, customize their abilities and powers, then lead them into battle where they'll gain experience and rank in their quest for victory.
Watch your armies come to life as they express emotion-from anger to fear to triumph-when reacting to events and their surroundings. Make smarter and faster decisions in the heat of battle with an all-new intuitive, streamlined interface that gives you contextual control of your forces and structures. Challenge fellow rulers online in massive multiplayer battles."-From eagames.com
Check out sweet screenshots and videos at eagames.com

The four playable sides with info on their weaknesses and strengths are as followed:
"Gondor
Strengths: Defense, economy (lots of economy upgrades and get money within the safety of their castle, lots of allies they can summon to their aid), knights, rangers, army of the dead, eagles.
Weaknesses: Not as strong at offense, more reliant on castle walls, fewer troop numbers, low mobility - have knights but unable to quickly exploit enemy mistakes.
Resources: Farms, blacksmith, gold from killing enemies.
Heroes: Gandalf, Faramir.

Rohan
Strengths: Powerful versatile fast offense - horsemen, best and most heroes in the game, magical allies like ents and elves.
Weaknesses: Low numbers, only moderate defenses.
Resources: Farms, gold from killing enemies.
Heroes: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Theodin, Eowyn, Eomer.

Isengard
Strengths: Large numbers of tough urak-hai, powerful magical spells (like change the weather and exotic technologies), bombs, ladders, balistas.
Weaknesses: Poor defenses, weak heroes, high resource consumption.
Resources: Slaughter house, forge, lumber mill, gold from burning down enemy buildings.
Heroes: Saruman, Lurtz.

Mordor
Strengths: Free troops encourage wave assault tactics, sacrifice your own troops for veterancy and cash.
Weaknesses: No defenses, weak individual soldiers, no ability to upgrade troops except for veterancy.
Resources: Slaughter house, forge, lumber mill, gold from burning down enemy buildings.
Heroes: Witch King, Nazgul."-From gamespy.com

If you have not seen the trailers, "Inside the Battle" clips, and the game demo at the official site, you might as well stop reading right now for you will not believe when I tell you how magnificent this game is.

I want to start this review first by saying that the movies truly brought to life the fantastic books by Tolkien. Peter Jackson and Professor Tolkien are geniuses! The games created by EA Games (ROTK and TT) were beautifully created and threw the player into the movie in a tense, cliff-hanging action game. The new game they are about to release is stunning. To control hundreds or thousands of units at once is unbearable. But through the catupults and Fell Beasts, an expert RTS gamer would be in awe at the immense war game in front of the screen. You decide the battles and the outcome of the war.

However, what difference is there from this and the other Real-time strategy games? Mark Skaggs and his team created is a mark in gaming history. A new generation of games has been created from this game based on the battles of the award-winning epic trilogy. The AI in this game act exactly like they would in real life. The Gondor knights cower in fear in front of the fierce cave-trolls. The gigantic Oliphaunts and Ents rampage in fear as they are set on fire. The Balrog triumphs in glory as it crushes the last Minas Tirith soldier in its flaming hand. All of this can be found in this game. Amazing!

The fate of Middle-earth is entirely in your hands as you play with four different teams with their own unique abilities. Good luck and conquer your foes.

I've benn watching this game for, probably a year and a-half, and I couldn't wait for it to come. Then I went to a friends house and saw it. This game has to be the best RTS I've played (or seen) in years. (and I've seen ALOT!) So, If your thinking about buying this one, I reccommend it over every other RTS out there.