When comparing The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II vs Command & Conquer: Generals, the Slant community recommends The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II for most people. In the question“What are the best RTS games for PC?” The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II is ranked 5th while Command & Conquer: Generals is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II is:
Everything about the game has been improved over the original including the gameplay. With improved base building it now easier to keep the flow of the game going. There has also been 3 factions added to the game making for more choice for the player in how their game will play due to each having different skills and weaknesses.
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Pros
Pro Refined gameplay
Everything about the game has been improved over the original including the gameplay. With improved base building it now easier to keep the flow of the game going. There has also been 3 factions added to the game making for more choice for the player in how their game will play due to each having different skills and weaknesses.
Pro Six different factions to pick from
There are six different factions you can play as: Goblins, Dwarves, Elvis, Men of the West (Rohan and Gondor), Mordor, and Isengard. Each faction has their own unique units and specializations allowing for different play styles across each chosen race.
Pro Great soundtrack
With a great soundtrack as well as realistic battle sounds the game has a high polished sound that fits right in with the movies.
Pro The Zero Hour expansion adds even more ways to play Multi-Player
While Command & Conquer: General's Multi-Player is a solid addition to the series, it is heightened greatly with the addition of Zero Hour. In this expansion, each faction has different generals the player can choose from, with specific specializations and drawbacks. One Chinese general specializes in infantry, allowing them certain upgrades to increase their effectiveness, while a Global Liberation Army general has an advantage with toxins, giving their vehicles the ability to have Anthrax-laced explosives that deal extra damage. With this addition, Zero Hour gives players the freedom to choose whichever general that fits their playstyle.
Pro Classic Command & Conquer gameplay reimagined with moderate realism
The staple of the Command & Conquer series has always been its resource gathering, base building, and large armies, all of which return in this Real-Time Strategy classic. While most Command & Conquer titles feature bombastic and over-the-top units (and storylines), Generals reigns in the franchise to tell a semi-realistic story with semi-realistic infantry and units. Gone are the signature wildly imaginative units from series like Red Alert, replaced with the United States' M1A1 Abrahms tanks, Chinese APCs and the GLA's Vehicle-Based IEDs.
Pro Many fantastic mods for this game
Just an awesome game because it reinvents itself through the many good mods that's out there. Mods like Contra 009, Shockwave or C&C Generals Untitled. The last one of these has an amazing AI.
Pro Three factions with different stories
Command & Conquer: Generals features three playable factions: The United States, China, and the Global Liberation Army, each with their own unique storyline. Every storyline tells a concise and mostly cohesive story, with most of the encounters taking place in the Middle East.
Pro Satirical portrayal of factions
All the factions are exaggerations of current real-world countries or organizations, in the case of the GLA, which adds quite a bit to the experience.
Cons
Con Hub building lacks the logistics of other titles
Battle for Middle Earth II features a main construction building with different hubs branching outward from it. These hubs are the sole areas where you can add on to your base and, with a limited number on your first construction building, expanding to another base is essential if you want to build all of the units available to you and keep up your economy.
Con Actually a 4X game with a touch of RTS
This game is in the 4X genre and should not appear in the top RTS games list, it incorporates good parts from RTS like base building but is not an actual RTS.
Con Micromanagement a necessary skill for success
Like many other high-skill intensive Real-Time Strategy titles, this game is far from simple. Players will suffer a unit capacity limit, meaning you will have to do more with a few units rather than rely on a horde. Unfortunately, micromanagement is not for everyone, and some may see the skill requirement as an unfortunate addition to and otherwise great RTS game.
Con Slightly dated graphics
While great for their time, the graphics in Command & Conquer Generals have not withstood the test of time, thus those who did not play it when the game first came out may find the graphics and art style too appealing and not to their liking.
Con Near-offensive portrayal of factions
While it can easily be viewed as a satirical take on possibly then-current views of each culture represented in Command & Conquer: Generals, some players might take offense to how each faction is portrayed. The United States includes units that state they are doing what's right, the Chinese army units worship the Red Dragon, and the Global Liberation Army are shown as terrorists and near-barbaric. It is because of these tongue-in-cheek depictions that some may be turned off from this title.