The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II-The Rise of the Witch-King

A short campaign, new units, fixes to the original title all add up to an expansion that is worthy of being on the shelf of Middle-earth gamers. Witch-King may not leave that same sense of wonder as when the original Battle for Middle-earth II launched, but it is – nonetheless – a challenging game that offers a new look at the rich tapestry of Tolkien’s world.

If you enjoy playing Battle for Middle-earth II online and want to keep up with the rest of the multiplayer crowd, purchasing the expansion is a no-brainer. For casual fans, this expansion is purely optional. For single-player fans, there's nothing here that's particularly compelling, unless you're a huge fan of Middle-earth.

Well brace yourselves, here comes another, shining the light of Elendil onto an original that hardly needed it. Rise of the Witch-king is such an all-around quality follow-up to this spring’s The Battle for Middle-earth II that if you missed the original release, the expansion is all the reason you’ll need to pick up both.