Does C&C: Generals ring a bell? Well, it should. The Lord of the Rings: the Battle for Middle-earth, EA's awesome-looking game based on Peter Jackson's movie trilogy, is already shaping up into an excellent real-time strategy. I've already talked about this game many times over, so I'll just cut to the chase.

While watching the game in action, the first thing that struck me was the intense atmosphere and the epic, almost cinematic, quality of some of the clashes between Orc and Human armies.

There's no question that fans of the saga will have a blast playing this one when it hits stores come fall 2004. Basically, the game encompasses key elements of Tolkien's tales, emphasizing hero units (well-known characters from the Fellowship included) and essential events and locals from Middle-earth. First off, we saw an amazing sequence depicting the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Rohan riders were slaying their enemies, Gondorian soldiers fought to their last breath as more and more of Sauron's Orcs marched at the mighty city of Minas Tirith. All I can say is Middle-earth never looked better... from a gamer's perspective anyways.     

The AI here adds a slightly different feel to the experience, given the huge advantage of certain enemies. For example, Gondorian soldiers will fight fiercely until a troll or a flying Naz'gul comes along, which is when most of them just gives in to fear. Oliphants, mounted by the Haradrim (legions from the South), stand as one of the most powerful units on the battlefield and can also cause Rohan and Gondorian units to fly sky-high or flee for their life so they don't get trampled. The Oliphants have their Achilles Heel, however, as you can shoot flaming arrows at them and if you hit the right spots, they will panic.

Although they might be panic-stricken that doesn't mean that the Rohan and Gondorian soldiers just sit there and wait to be devoured by a troll. Each fighter will run for his life at the face of mortal danger and overpowering odds, and will continue to flee unless a hero unit is around to boost the morale. As we all know, Orcs usually fight in great numbers, but can be intimidated just as easy as humans can. We've seen a vast number of Orcs retreat in fear when Rohan reinforcements arrived (i.e. the Rohirrim). Both sides will react joyously should a battle end in triumph. So, instead of looking as mindless drones, your units, carried on the wings of victory, will become euphoric and will show great enthusiasm to slice more enemies.

Speaking of the C&C: Generals engine... what can I say. You should really see how many units this baby is capable of running on screen at once. It truly shows potential for some large-scale battles, and that's exactly what this game delivers - epic, larger than life conflicts in the Middle-earth universe.

There's a multiplayer mode yet to be unveiled, but EA remains tight-lipped on that topic. All we know at this time, is that you'll be able to chose the following sides: Rohan, Gondor, Isengard and Mordor. Take your pick.