Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II

The game makes use of the book license in addition to the existing license of Peter Jackson's film trilogy, which also results in some characters which were not seen in the films being present in this game. Also included are some original characters, like Gorkil and Drogoth. The campaigns are once again split to the Good and Evil, but instead of taking place on a meta-map, they are entirely linear in nature.

The game features six playable factions: Men of the West (combination of Gondor and Rohan from the first game), Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, Isengard, and Mordor. The base system has been completely overhauled, allowing for free-form construction around the map. Resources are still primarily gathered by farm-type structures, but they have to be built far from each other and on suitable terrain for optimal income.

The game introduces new features such as neutral buildings that can be captured by infantrymen, production structures that need to be manually upgraded, and custom heroes that can be designed and trained in skirmish and multiplayer modes. The player can also train a Ring Hero - Galadriel or Sauron - by taking the One Ring to a fortress.

A new game mode is introduced - the War of the Ring, which is available in singleplayer and multiplayer. The player chooses a meta-map scenario and the armies that will be present on it, after which the game is played in a turn-based fashion over the regions of Middle-earth, where players establish bases and task forces.