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.

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.

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.