When comparing The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II vs Stronghold Crusader HD, the Slant community recommends Stronghold Crusader HD for most people. In the question“What are the best RTS games for PC?” Stronghold Crusader HD is ranked 3rd while The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Stronghold Crusader HD is:
Easy to learn mechanics of economy, castle building and army production. Does not overwhelm players with choices.
Specs
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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 Great for RTS beginners
Easy to learn mechanics of economy, castle building and army production.
Does not overwhelm players with choices.
Pro Deep yet intuitive interface
Many options are available in the game along with good tutorials that introduce the player to these. While not all options are necessary the inclusion of them is welcome for those that would like to take advantage of them.
Pro Unique Gameplay
A unique blend of real-time battles and castle-sim, which the Stronghold series is famous for
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 Lacks polish in some areas
Things like buttons on the bottom of the screen that are not intuitively placed as well as notifications that can not be filtered to the more important. This can detract from the gameplay as it is immersion breaking to have to rifle through inconvenient button placement as well as notifications looking for what you need at the time.
Con Multiplayer is a hassle
A third-party connection app like Tunngle, Hamachi, GameRanger is needed to play the non-steam version of the game and therefore multiplayer games are mostly unresponsive and error-prone