ithilienranger732
Carthaen joined
Insane Lord of the Rings fan, mod tester, and writer of fiction (especially RPs at my staff position at RPGFrontier.net). I'm one of those crazy people who has way too many ideas and can't keep his mouth shut. This is how I got the title of "Head Fanatic," and later Adminship, for the Narnia mod. I was formerly WoA's Secretary of Foreign Affairs, but I've resigned that post for ModDB. Recently, I've only been lurking in the corners of moddb, leaving the PR work for Wars of Arda to the more eager Neth, but you'll still see me around from time to time. I marvel, nonetheless, at the amount of respect I get around here... it's weird, but I guess all you need is a level 10 profile and a few friends.
Reviews (0 - 10 of 13)
A perfect overhaul for BFME 1. The dwarf faction features all-new graphics, models, and voiceovers, along with beautifully designed bases and units. Aesthetically, the mod is practically perfect, and the dwarf faction fits perfectly into the game's balance.
TA:TW is quite possibly my favorite mod for any game. The most impressive part is probably the worldmap: to make such a detailed map of Middle-earth takes a lot of dedication, and the team deserves a lot of respect for that. Next is all the new units: the skins for both heroes and regular infantry are incredibly detailed, and the battles look as if you've stepped into the movies. The soundtrack from the movies certainly adds to that feel.
There are only a few issues I have with the mod. One is the AI's penchant for pulling vast armies out of nowhere, but I suppose that can be excused as balancing. The second is the long distances between settlements, meaning that moving an army or sending reinforcements can take five or more turns... although I suppose this can also be explained as a balance thing, to make you think twice before launching an atack on far-off territories. The third is that trade, which was such a critical part of the vanilla version, is all but useless in TA:TW, since it only applies to a small number of settlements.
Overall, despite a few flaws, this mod fully deserves a 10/10 rating. It's a mod I've enjoyed playing for the past few years, and will continue to enjoy for years to come.
