Sui
Tank
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2004
- Messages
- 5,998
- Reaction score
- 3
Despite the average reviews it has been getting, i am dying for a new RTS so badly that i bought LOTR:BFME today.
Most of the reviews give mixed opinions (PCG= 76%, PCZ=91%, others around 85%)- and the reason for this is that the game is so unbalanced. And i don't mean in terms of units- i mean that half of the game has some of the best RTS elements seen in a game for ages, the other half is a major dissapointment.
I played the game round my freinds house (he has a warez version, he offered to burn it onto a disc for me but i prefer my games in a nice, shiny case- or not at all ) and i played it for a while. At first i thought it was crap- the units were way too easy to kill, both on your side and the enemies. The game seemed pointless with no tactics needed- and to a certain extent, that's stil true. But the thing that changed my mind was the campaign mode- it's like Rome: total war, only worse But in some ways i prefer this to Rome:TW- as i am much more at home with the traditional RTS than the rather time consuming TW series. BFME is essentially RomeTW for the traditional RTS fan.
But the thing is- BFME tries to be too clever fr its own good. One of the really annoying things is that the limit cap for your army gets full very quickly- and the only way to get the elite units is to build lots of troops from a certain barracks and "level it up" untill your barracks is experienced enough to train these elete units. But the thing is, by the time you've built enough units to obtain the elites, youve reached your limit cap and must send your crap troops on suicidal missions to make room. Unless, of course, you are constantly attacking the enemy and losing units, but you probally won't want to do this as your units level up, and to lose a level 5 unit (out of 10 levels) is incredibly annoying- and by the time you are ready to get the elite units, most of your troops will be upgraded, so you won't want to give them up... a MAJOR flaw.
The hero system is actually rather good- but like so many things in this game- at the same time it is trumendously frustrating. Heroes are near to invincible, in a very annyoing way. It took 3 units of crossbowmen and 3 units of urak-hai to kill argorn, and this took a fair bit of time too, even with my hero Lurtz contributing. But to balance this out, they can't do too much damage- they kill a unit in one hit usually, but the're so slow it's stupid. But suddenly this is all turned on it's head in certain situations- if an ent chucks two or three stones at my saruman he is squashed outright. Snd while he kills infantry pathetically slowly with his slow staff, he can suddenly unleash a move that kills five or six in one swift blow. It's terribly unrealistic to have a hero standing there, being pelted with MILLIONS of arrows and remaining unhurt. But then when you're hero eventually DOES die, you are so frustrated (especially in a mission with no base, so you can't revive them) that you feel like reloading a save. But DESPITE this, the heroes still manage to be quite fun to use, which is strange...
As i said before, units gain levels from one to 10, and can have their armour and weapons upgraded for a small cost per- unit. And because the campaign allows you to keep units between battles, you can gradually build up a faithful bodyguard unit over a series of battles that are amazing, and that you use only when you are SURE they won't die (even if most of them do, i'ts not the end of the world... for isenguard (not sure about other armies), if you have a standard bearer in a unit, the unit will regenerate back to 10 or so men over time- even if there is only one left). But then to have this unit squashed in ONE by a crappy ent and his big stupid rock it's incredibly frustrating- especially as to get to level 10 the unit needs to kill about 300 men.
i am still undecided about this game. I bought it from virgin megastores, so if i decide i dont like it i can take it back within a month and get a refund... But i don't like doing that, especially with a game that has lots of replay value, like BFME.
if you are considering buying this game, i recommend you to try it first. Some people may find it annoying and can't stand it, others may love it. The only way to find out is to borrow it or buy it from a shop that allows returns.
*edit* I haven't played the multiplayer yet, but i looked at it and it is VERY similar to C+C generals. I'll tell you more of what i think of the game when i've played it more.
Most of the reviews give mixed opinions (PCG= 76%, PCZ=91%, others around 85%)- and the reason for this is that the game is so unbalanced. And i don't mean in terms of units- i mean that half of the game has some of the best RTS elements seen in a game for ages, the other half is a major dissapointment.
I played the game round my freinds house (he has a warez version, he offered to burn it onto a disc for me but i prefer my games in a nice, shiny case- or not at all ) and i played it for a while. At first i thought it was crap- the units were way too easy to kill, both on your side and the enemies. The game seemed pointless with no tactics needed- and to a certain extent, that's stil true. But the thing that changed my mind was the campaign mode- it's like Rome: total war, only worse But in some ways i prefer this to Rome:TW- as i am much more at home with the traditional RTS than the rather time consuming TW series. BFME is essentially RomeTW for the traditional RTS fan.
But the thing is- BFME tries to be too clever fr its own good. One of the really annoying things is that the limit cap for your army gets full very quickly- and the only way to get the elite units is to build lots of troops from a certain barracks and "level it up" untill your barracks is experienced enough to train these elete units. But the thing is, by the time you've built enough units to obtain the elites, youve reached your limit cap and must send your crap troops on suicidal missions to make room. Unless, of course, you are constantly attacking the enemy and losing units, but you probally won't want to do this as your units level up, and to lose a level 5 unit (out of 10 levels) is incredibly annoying- and by the time you are ready to get the elite units, most of your troops will be upgraded, so you won't want to give them up... a MAJOR flaw.
The hero system is actually rather good- but like so many things in this game- at the same time it is trumendously frustrating. Heroes are near to invincible, in a very annyoing way. It took 3 units of crossbowmen and 3 units of urak-hai to kill argorn, and this took a fair bit of time too, even with my hero Lurtz contributing. But to balance this out, they can't do too much damage- they kill a unit in one hit usually, but the're so slow it's stupid. But suddenly this is all turned on it's head in certain situations- if an ent chucks two or three stones at my saruman he is squashed outright. Snd while he kills infantry pathetically slowly with his slow staff, he can suddenly unleash a move that kills five or six in one swift blow. It's terribly unrealistic to have a hero standing there, being pelted with MILLIONS of arrows and remaining unhurt. But then when you're hero eventually DOES die, you are so frustrated (especially in a mission with no base, so you can't revive them) that you feel like reloading a save. But DESPITE this, the heroes still manage to be quite fun to use, which is strange...
As i said before, units gain levels from one to 10, and can have their armour and weapons upgraded for a small cost per- unit. And because the campaign allows you to keep units between battles, you can gradually build up a faithful bodyguard unit over a series of battles that are amazing, and that you use only when you are SURE they won't die (even if most of them do, i'ts not the end of the world... for isenguard (not sure about other armies), if you have a standard bearer in a unit, the unit will regenerate back to 10 or so men over time- even if there is only one left). But then to have this unit squashed in ONE by a crappy ent and his big stupid rock it's incredibly frustrating- especially as to get to level 10 the unit needs to kill about 300 men.
i am still undecided about this game. I bought it from virgin megastores, so if i decide i dont like it i can take it back within a month and get a refund... But i don't like doing that, especially with a game that has lots of replay value, like BFME.
if you are considering buying this game, i recommend you to try it first. Some people may find it annoying and can't stand it, others may love it. The only way to find out is to borrow it or buy it from a shop that allows returns.
*edit* I haven't played the multiplayer yet, but i looked at it and it is VERY similar to C+C generals. I'll tell you more of what i think of the game when i've played it more.