Review by Odysseus95 - Edain Mod for Battle for Middle-earth II: Rise of the Witch King

Well, what is there to say?

The Edain mod have done such a baffling, astounding, astonishing, exquisite, spectacular, fantastic and marvelous job that they are reviving an old game to the point where I could still play it a decennium later. I can't really put my satisfaction into words, but I will try nonetheless.

I joined with the Edain 4.0 version and I had followed Edain mod for a year or two here and there since I had some technical difficulties with my BFME II ROTWK installation and was therefore unable to play. Nonetheless, when I finally got it to work, it was time to explore each faction and how it would look and play according to the videos and pictures I saw on this page and the Youtube channel.

I never really played BFME I. I started thus with the BFME II building system, but by all that is mighty and grand in the universe, does this mod bloody deliver. It's like BFME I was made for Edain, let alone, the strategic decision one has to make considering when to build a resource structure, a unit production structure, a defensive structure, a healing structure, a combat boost structure etc. It's like an intricate system of rock, paper, scissor where it's not hard to understand, but there is still enough depth for a player to find new options, strategies and tactics. Enough depth, to keep playing the factions again and again.

So far, 5 factions have been introduced: Gondor, Rohan, Dwarves, Mordor and Isengard.

I do not even have a particular favourite from these since every faction has so much to give and I find myself trying out new unit combinations, build orders and hero/spellbook abilities almost each time.

So what is really the defining feature of Edain mod?

The visuals? The lore? The gameplay? What if I told you it's all three of them combined? Because it is. Edain mod has done such an amazing job combining lore based on the LOTR and Hobbit movies and Tolkien's work, combining defining key features for each faction incorporated into gameplay, while also giving new life to dated graphics and improving their own visual presentations of units, heroes, buildings and much more, that I simply have to search for something really bad to say.

The fact that they pay attention to unique features for each faction while also incorporating the lore is just baffling. Gondor is this overall solid faction with iconic heroes and good options throughout the entire game working with formations and protecting your buildings, Isengard takes some time to get going and thus are bit weaker early-game, but if you manage to reach the mid-game and late-game you can churn out a fricking grey streamroller of an army, Mordor is simply the ultimate late-game faction with the ringwraiths tied to the Dark Lord's power thus leading to all of them growing in strength as Sauron levels with his amazing objective-based mechanic, the Dwarves are this very sturdy, beefy and stubborn faction that revolves around three different realms that have subtle differences with a Tunnel system as well as powerful siege engines and creating impregnable fortresses, and Rohan are early-game initiave takers and the cavalry powerhouse faction.

I am seriously not even scratching the surface yet. All factions do share some similarities here and there so that you can understand the general mechanics of the game, but it's extraordinarily well pinpointed.

Oh, want to hear the best thing? They are not even done yet. They are not only revising and adapting all factions that were in 3.8.1 to the 4.0 system, but they have told the community they might even work on two new factions when all of this is done. This is just years worth of content and it is all for free! FREE!

After reading this review, and I applaud you if you did, there is but one thing left to say. Play this mod. I'm not joking. See for yourselves how this masterpiece enfolds and how they put the original games, made by professional developers, to shame.

I'm out. Going to play some more Edain mod.