The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth carried the atmosphere of Jackson's film trilogy into the real-time strategy genre and managed it surprisingly faithfully - from the actors' voices and Howard Shore's music to the unit models that look as if cut straight out of the movie screen. EA Los Angeles built the game on two campaigns, the good and the evil side, which was not a given in the genre at the time, so the player could experience the War of the Ring from the perspective of both Gondor and Mordor.

The gameplay rests on classic resource gathering and base building, but compared to the competition it puts greater emphasis on heroes with their own abilities and on spectacular, easy-to-follow clashes of large armies on fairly compact maps. The system of upgrading strongholds and summoning allied units adds tactical depth without the game losing accessibility for players who were not very familiar with the RTS genre. On the hardware of the time, the graphics engine handled dozens of units on screen and impressive spells without smoothness suffering significantly.

The game received a very good reception from critics and players alike and became one of the most successful licensed strategies of its time, which paved the way for the sequel The Battle for Middle-earth II and for expansion packs. Thanks to its strong atmosphere and faithfulness to the source material, it remains to this day a popular choice for Tolkien fans who want to take an active part in the key battles of the trilogy rather than merely watch as spectators, and even after the passing of years it ranks among the best-crafted film adaptations in the strategy genre.