I suppose the setting is well known, and who wants to have more info on the units, surroundings and gameplay I suggest you check out our PC review. You can also check out the graphical part there as the 360 wonderfully manages to equal the PC version both on graphics and sound. I do imagine that those playing on a small screen will pull their hairs from their head in a desperate attempt to distinguish all the units from each other.

Just like on the PC you take control over the good and bad sides of Middle-Earth, during all the fights that were present in the book but not in the movies since the main protagonists were occupied elsewhere. Dwarfs, Elves, Goblins and humans are all present and seeing back our favorite fantasy setting is exciting.

The biggest difference with the PC version is that there's no dynamic campaign present but you do get the same maps in Skirmish mode, next to two singleplayer campaigns (good & bad) of eight missions each. I still feel sad for the lacking of the mode in question seeing that it had quite some charm, allowed to play with the different factions and also offered a lot of replayability for the loyal fan.

No sorrow as the included campaign also offers quite some fun. Nice is the fact that often during the same fights you get to play from a different point of view and also get to slash hobbits as a bad guy. You'll feel a bit guilty at first for this, but your evil side will laugh all the harder when you knock another small one into the ground.

You'll find little innovating qua fameplay. The AI isn't so strong, and the typical process of building your towns, researching to get the necessary upgrades and building a strong army to go to battle is omnipresent. Luckily the units and upgrade possibilities are very varied and attractive (we know them all so well and it's very satisfying to lead these troops) while fights are very interesting and spectacular.

The heroes add quite a lot to the already extensive diner. They're very powerful and thanks to their special capabilities they can win entire combats on their own. Calling out a Balrog, grow woods or have eartquakes shaking are part of the daily job of a hero! They do require some attention to controlbut together with a well-managed army they defeat the enemy without too much hassle.

In singleplayer you'll have to be satisfied with the typical RTS gameplay that is very well worked out on all parts and offers quite a lot of extras thanks to the inspired units and the good use of Tolkiens universe. True strategy lovers of course will want to measure their skills with those of other human players.

And also here the 360 version doesn't disappoint as next to the aforementioned Skirmish mode you also get CTF, "Capture & Hold" and "Resource Race" with possibilities and conditions that speak for themselves. For those that like to keep things small there's the Hero option that will make you only work with... Heroes. I myself am not good enough to win a lot of fights in multiplayer but I did get the feeling that there's also plenty to do for the hardcore gamer, both for those loving fast gameplay or those that prefer to wait and defend.

Important for these competitive games is of course how easy you can control the game. It's here that we can say that the makers have made a step forward. There's good use of the thumbsticks to control the camera while the triggers and A-button allow you to quickly select units or larger groups and have them move or attack. Also building is done in a similar way and although it will take some getting used to you'll in the end be quickly able to do everything as you want.

In the end, however, I remain sceptic. Contrary to the FPS on the console I still long for my mouse and keyboard which - no matter what people say - control an RTS quicker and easier than a controller. The result is that after a while you get tired of the controls and they stand in the way of a relaxing piece of intuitive and worryless gaming. On top of that I personally still dont feel it as ideal to play an RTS from your seat, visually speaking. This genre isn't played while leaning back and 2 meters away from your screen. I wan't to bend over and sit close to my screen, heavily concentrated, with the luxury of these immediate controls of the mouse, with the key combinations that are configurable and with the details right in front of my nose.