Rise of the Witch King, Nostalgia Trip

Battle for Middle Earth is arguably the single best LOTR game ever made, allow me to present a trip down memory lane. Featuring my favorite campaign of the series, that of the expansion, the Rise of the Witch King. Enjoy!
Links:
BFME I (i found this installer easier to get working):
• Battle for Middle-eart...
Age of the Ring:
www.moddb.com/mods/the-horse-...
Edains Mod:
www.moddb.com/mods/edain-mod
The Download links and instructions:
forums.revora.net/topic/10519...
The keygenerator video:
• Video
The Canonical War in the North:
• Wars of the Witch-King...
0:00 Prologue
0:27 Introduction
1:45 Lvl 1
5:56 The Sound
7:51 Lvl 1/2
11:01 The Graphics
12:03 Lvl 2/3
16:10 The Gameplay
17:24 Lvl 3/4
20:13 The Clunkiness
22:23 Lvl 4/5
25:01 The UI
27:00 Lvl 5/6
29:10 The Factions
34:01 Lvl 6/7
36:10 God Powers
36:49 Lvl 7/8
39:36 RTS Campaigns
41:05 Lvl 8
41:39 Conclusion + Downloads
42:59 Epilogue

[@dr.feelgoodmalusphillips2475]

Also, want to praise the excellent transition from Glorfindel being the Narrator to being the main Protagonist of the Epilogue. "And so it is at the will of my people that I change from Storyteller to Bladebearer once more." Awesome writing.

[@Achillez098]

I miss this game so much, gameplay may not have been the most balanced, but it was fun as hell, and a love letter to anyone who loved the movies. Also, the voice acting was god-tier, I always played as Mordor just to hear the Haradrim and Rhun warriors talk.

[@Amoth_oth_ras_shash]

seconds the ''not most balanced..but fun'' ...a lot of games sort of owns ther iconic impact to that , and a lot of them honestly would blow the cookie cuter 'service blackmail' crap of big publishers out of the water today if being curated for modern systems able to cater to either things like steams servers or customers private set up ones

[@ringofasho7721]

I played as the elves because I liked putting shatterhorns on the walls of helm's deep. Really liked the addition of "where there's a whip there's a way" btw

[@Amoth_oth_ras_shash]

@@ringofasho7721 aye , that addition was tasty... its like the saying ''everything's possible with enough lube and brute force'' ...where there is a whip there is a way also rings true , of course most often its to rip the whip out of the bastards hands and strangle them with it but hey...it still got a nice ring to it right ;)

[@HandleMyBallsYouTube]

You need to give Edain mod a shot, it's an amazing mod that just got a new release not long ago, and there's much more to come.

[@Wanderer1258]

@@ringofasho7721 I'm glad to see someone else also recognized the song from the "Return of the king" cartoon. :)

[@SoulMrGame]

My personal favourite bfme part was hero creation and conquest mode. While clunky there and there, this offered so much to feeling of "your own middle earth story", which still such a highlight! Out of base campaigns, my favourite would be good side from BFME 2. Some levels, like this lake city, were amazing.

[@MarktheRude]

31:15 "Where there's a whip, there's a way. We don't want to go to war today, but the Lord of the Lash says, 'Nay, nay, nay'

[@wibble2482]

I'm glad I stayed subscribed to you for 7 years, the Australian prophecy foretold of your return

[@nsporiginals888]

Goddamn the algorithm for not making this masterpiece show up in my recommendations-- its a good thing I always check back here every other month, and have done since the original Rome 2 vids! Keep up the amazing job, mate- you're one hell of an inspiration!

[@EleaxustheFlawless]

YO you are uploading again. First ever long form game critique I watched was yours for Rome 2 and it got me hooked instantly. Thank you for your content Mr Sanity.

[@autistegaming6937]

Best and most honest Total War content.

[@jordinagel1184]

On the topi cb of voicework, I need to give a shout-out to the German dubbing team; they did an amazing job. The sound and delivery of “Das Böse war nach Arnor gekommen… und hatte gesiegt” (translates to “Evil had come to Arnor… and it triumphed) never fails to send chills down my spine

[@GAdmThrawn]

God, I played the first TBFME game so many times as a kid. Unfortunately, it became harder to play as my family never upgraded the home computer. Having never bought this game and since it's not available on Steam (IT SHOULD BE!), seeing the gameplay is such a nostalgia trip.

[@JonatasAdoM]

My game would always freeze on the computer I played it on. I'd have to reset the machine. So, I started to save every few minutes at some point. It was only much later that I got to install it in a lan place and realize to my incredulous self that the buildings had really amazing animations! What a game.

[@omarsudan6011]

The way he snuck Rings of Power Miriel in there took me off guard and i almost choked on my drink. I salute you good sire for if my hour of doom comes i wish to go laughing my ass off.

[@Wanderer1258]

"The black numenorians". :)

[@ForlornFea]

Everyone who loves this game should try out the age of the ring mod. It’s genuinely jaw dropping.

[@stefanski48]

I must've watched your Rome 2 critique parts 1 and 2 about 20 times. I love the combination of comedy and chill you put in your videos

[@GAdmThrawn]

"Let the ravens feast on his flesh." I never expected a literal Viking saying in a game. I love it! Very Tolkien-esque.

[@Keln02]

The way this video was put together is brilliant. The mix of gameplay and game critic is excellent

[@voxistaken]

I already own the physical copies of BFME2 and the expansion, just finished the Witch King campaign but you’re making me feel nostalgic lol Great video.

[@Wanderer1258]

I like the mention of the "Third Age" mod on Medieval 2 Total War game, it was really interesting and brought a gameplay of Middle-Earth at a larger scale. "The Battle for Middle-earth" I and II games had really nice visuals. I personally played only the first game, so it was interesting to watch review on the campaign about the Angmar!

[@Stoildan]

Just watched your AOM video, it was incredible! One of my favourite games ever! Also did you see they confirmed a definitive edition?? Age of mythology Retold! Really hope it gets similar treatment as AOE2 did!

[@Laureasairon]

Excellent video, I especially must praise the lore timestamps! Thank you for those, they were very useful!

[@andrewjackson7511]

Loved this game when it came out. They even made it localised in sweden. The campaign was great.

[@ShaDO118k]

I'm on the first 10 seconds of the video and I'm already excited. I love this game and the series. One of my favs from my childhood.

[@ConradJD777]

LMAO that was a perfect ending. Thanks for another amazing upload, always top notch reviewing!

[@MiguelSanchezDelVillar]

The dwarfs of the Blue migrated to Moria at the start of the Second Age, they only got back when Smaug attacked and even less stayed once Erebor got retaken, so probably nobody helped them with the Dragon because nobody knew that they existed

[@B2ark]

I laughed so hard at the final ork spawn crashing the game. Thank you for an amazing video all the way through!💙

[@Anon13378]

woah 2 videos in 7 years?! were blessed

[@sickjuicysjamshack3580]

There's a team of people releasing patches for the game (legal, since it's abandonware), and they buffed melee infantry to do better damage to pikes and against buildings as well as fix several balance issues. The 2.02 patch also comes with a no-CD fix so you don't have to keep that big ISO on your hard drive after you install the files

[@gerardadri9389]

If you decide to also start playing this game I very much recommend you also look in the discords surrounding it for online play. It has a really active scene going on that hosts tournaments that are broadcasted on youtube and twitch. Shanks and Ruuddevil are two examples of this. There's community made mods and patches, so it's not a dormant game. It may be abandoned by EA, but there's a great community surrounding it still!

[@utubefuku7132]

This game will forever be my favorite RTS of all time. It's absolute perfectness. And here some of my favorite units war cries: WARG RIDERS! EASTERLINGS, RISE UP! And of course, my absolute favorite and with their accent that makes it even better HARADRIM WARRIORS!

[@LilyZayli]

My first RTS game. It's hard to not view it with intense nostalgia goggles, and thats even having played it on xbox back when it launched. Goblins were always my favourite, but your critics of them do ring true. I will definitely be giving those mods a shot at some point, and thanks for the awesome video.

[@simcoe4045]

I absolutely loved playing the BFME games. The first one will always be my favorite as it was the first video game I really played and it was what introduced me to Lord of the Rings. Thanks for taking us on this trip down memory lane.

[@vulcanjoe8258]

I remember this game - I always remembered playing this expansion just for the map conquest mode. Great to see you making videos again mate 👌

[@forlornfoe352]

Sweet, sweet nostalgia tinged with great little edits. Special thanks for all the information about the game's current unofficial state.

[@HoHhoch]

Literally just found you earlier today because of the Mythology review. Timing was wild.

[@ajavierb2078]

Found your channel yesterdag and have wachted every video. Love you content please make more.

[@starfthegreat]

If you want to play this game today, I suggest you check out the Age of The Ring mod, it improves everything about the original game :)

[@abclove97]

I'm thankful I still have this game, it's such a gem Edit: The strategy i'd use for this game on very hard was the dumbest, they'd vary between building a shit ton of towers or walls and just chaining them together slowly expanding towards the enemy base lmao

[@reynoldsanity4320]

The best offence is a good defence.

[@abclove97]

@@reynoldsanity4320 agreed

[@Zanator1]

The nostalgic runthroughs are really fun, I remember all these games very fondly as some of the few I had access to as an anxious non-PC smart kid. However I would like to request more angry reviews if possible. You have a real talent for humorous contempt.

[@lumeronswift]

One of the absolute best RTS campaigns I've ever missed... this and its predecessor

[@l.s.9095]

Best Lord of the Rings game I know of. Played this a lot in my childhood and just downloaded it recently, because I watched RoP and wanted to play something Middelearth. I honestly think that the Rise of the Witchking story would have been a better setting for the amazon show, that the creation of the Rings.

[@LordVader1094]

I would rather not see Amazon mess up with the Witch King like they have with Galadriel.

[@matthuie3567]

You should try the Age of the Ring mod, it revitalizes the game and adds a lot of content.

[@l.s.9095]

@@matthuie3567 I shall try, but I'm often too stupid to install mods😅 Very happy that I got the game running!

[@jackbacon3723]

such a good game still playing age of the ring

[@Costin_Gaming]

You have to give credit to Arnor: They stood against the Iron Crown for over half a millennium.

[@totalmadnesman]

Altough I never played this game, it was a treat watchign your vids!

[@reynoldsanity4320]

thanks for watching mate

[@mediocreswiss7609]

I still quote your video reviews to this day. The empire total war review is a classic

[@CaptainLungi]

still my favorite RTS of all time and middle earth fan and peter jackson movies, these game were the vibe.

[@riordian2]

love both games, I think I only finished the witch king campaign, but I played tons of first and second games. Playing Helms Deep and exploiting Legolas's and Thranduils increased range to kill orcs before they triggered their aggresive ai was one of the best times to have in this game

[@tacob0]

Bfme 1 and 2 where a large part of my childhood. some of the best rts games to this day

[@CullenTheDuck]

Just watched your AOM video a few days ago and was sad to see it had been 5 months since your last upload. Thought you were dead again. Instead you dropped a video on one of my favorite games!

[@kassieking]

You should check out the Age of the Ring mod for ROTWK, I'm sure you'd like it!

[@s.w.4409]

God damn that game looks still so good...

[@ariellubonja7856]

I think I like more the videos with heavy commentary. Great to have you back though!

[@DukePegasus]

Great to see you upload again man, it is a great video. Hope you are doing well and keep up the good work :).

[@reynoldsanity4320]

Thanks mate

[@TheRadPlayer]

I actually have both of these on disc, as part of a box-set I was gifted many, many years ago. Though I mostly played the first game.

[@bartekmazurski8132]

Oh man, its good to see you back

[@autistegaming6937]

Good to see you again. I hope you keep roasting Total War games.

[@JonatasAdoM]

I'd rather have he roast Age of Empire games; but since SEGA lost and then deleted my forum account, just have at it.

[@CasaTelvanni]

its really nice to see someone give these older underground games the love they deserve, do you plan on doing something with rise of legends one day?

[@tackjens]

Goblins proably my fav, just love the giants you get and the spider riders are really great,

[@FuckTheNewAliasSystem]

I stumbled over these games as a kid because i saw Third Age Total War Videos on KZbin and had no idea what i was seeing. I played a lot of medieval 2 at the time and didnt know modding even existed so my dumb kid ass had the idea that i needed to buy this LOTR game ive always seen at the store and have this and Medieval 2 total war installed at the same time for them to merge into Third age total war. When it obviously didnt work i was disappointed at first but then i started to play them and it turned out they were actually a lot of fun.

[@JonatasAdoM]

Similar story!! I had played Return of the King at my uncle's house and then I was gifted Battle for Middle Earth. I thought BFME was the Return of the King game and kept trying to play it or unlock the ability to play the game. I couldn't accept that it was another game, even thought there were signs of it. I got to by coincidence play both of them.

[@eprohoda]

that's splendid vlog! hvae a good day~🤝

[@tequilawhiskey]

Funnily enough, Jamie Chistopherson was the music guy behind these games. He would later go on to do the meme'd and esteem'd Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance soundtrack.

[@LegomanTheMatt]

Some of the issues that you've brought up, AI choices, usefulness of unit diversity, balance, clumping, graphics, are much better in the Age of the Ring mod, which has a great Lord of the Rings campaign if you'd like to try it out.

[@thtb]

Jeff bezos joke got me good xD

[@apollorainer1991]

Sublime stuff, really glad I found you. Looking forward for more!

[@Mr_D-o-proprio]

YES THE FANTASY RTS KING!

[@TheYamsinacan]

I appreciate your meme style--well memed sir

[@snikersa23]

oh nice ,i discovered your channel from the age of mythology video few days ago,i hope these uploads continue,its great content ,hope you do a dawn of war video some day

[@reynoldsanity4320]

one day!

[@MegaRomsey]

Well done with this video

[@kaltssausageshack5745]

Great vid 👍 keep it up.

[@nietzscheshorse8566]

Welcome back

[@thesci-ficafe3050]

Ok, so you've put together this awsome video and all I can think about is: 1) You use Scrivener! How does it work for you? I ditched it after a while. Too organized for me... 2) SNIPER ELITE 5? SERIOUSLY!? So is it-uh.... Is it any good..!!??? Best wishes, man! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[@Estuways]

A rare treat

[@bubbasbigblast8563]

In fairness to the Dwarves, they probably had little idea the war wasn't just in-fighting among men, and the Dwarves were facing their own problems with orcs.

[@ivanthehighman177]

Hes back... W

[@balisaurioTV]

"Charge of the light brigade", i understood that reference, lightsworn main here. Also insta liked and subscribed when jeff bezos joke

[@reynoldsanity4320]

Nah haha never knew that was a Yugioh thing, I was refering to the doomed charge of british cavalry in the Crimean war.

[@balisaurioTV]

@@reynoldsanity4320 i feel like an absolute dumb dumb.... still excellent work !!!

[@constantinethe27th33]

holy shit your back

[@StirFryLah]

I don't know if you ever played command and conquer 3 tiberium war and i would really love if you are able to do a critique on it. Because it was one of my favourite childhood games

[@Tadicuslegion78]

Still got all the discs. but I remember, and maybe because I was too use to how the other two games worked, Being SO frustrated with how Angmar played in the ROTWK campaign and it seemed like no matter what I tried I just always barely won

[@igloo.550]

Oh he's back from the dead

[@azgarzir3010]

This does really seem like a friend being resurected. ;-;

[@AgeDrain]

I still quote the orc builder lines at work. No one knows the references though. They think I’m being sincerely mean.

[@enomisv9830]

Does this also include base game battle for middle earth 2? I'm hoping this works because I have legitimately spent the last 8 years trying to get BFME2 without success. I've bought old CD's from people which didn't work. I bought an Xbox 360 just to play the base game (which is almost unplayable because of lag) and I've searched out dozens of websites where I can download it only for it to not work or it requires a really specific software which isn't available anymore. I didn't even realize rise of the witch king was an entirely new campaign. I genuinely hope the links you've left finally work.

[@backisgabbeYT]

I will not have this Goblin hate, half-trolls and spider riders will make grown men cry

[@pigeononbread5477]

Could someone explain to me how the age/yearing system works in LOTR? Also dope to see you uploading again

[@Lalle524]

The ages are sliced up as per in-universe scholars, with the first age being the events of the Silmarillion, the Second Age being the events following the btfoing of Morgoth into the Gate of Night, where Sauron rose and was put to the sword as shown in the opening of the movies, with the battle of the last Alliance, starting the Third Age, which ended with Sauron's defeat at the end of the War of the Ring, etc. etc. The idea is that usually, a Dark Lord's defeat kickstarts a new Age.

[@teeffw2776]

@@Lalle524 Don't forget the Years of the Trees and the Years of the Lamps, which have years and days and weeks that last for different amounts than the Years/Days/Weeks of the Sun. Oh and there's the Shire Reckoning calendar too.

[@OmegaFart]

Whew, had to wait only 6 months this time.

[@reynoldsanity4320]

:P

[@OmegaFart]

@@reynoldsanity4320 excellent stuff my man 🙏

[@sickjuicysjamshack3580]

Be careful, some BFME replay channels I watch got strikes for sharing how to download the game

[@reynoldsanity4320]

hopefully ill be right since its somewhat hidden in the video, wait and see I suppose. I was going to link Deepys download guide but I saw it had gotten taken down in the last month

[@JonatasAdoM]

I better keep an image copy of my disc that refused to work properly out of the box.

[@nikolozgilles]

nice :)

[@thentts]

There's a upcoming Remaster of BFME2 called BFME2 Reforged... they intend to make the game with Unreal Engine 4

[@szabolcskecskes]

It is using SAGE engine. The same one used for C&C generals and C&C 3 and its extensions.

[@GAdmThrawn]

Can this game and the other BFME games be played on a gaming laptop? Or is there certain hardware and/or software systems that prevent that from happening? Because I tried to download the game and play using the forums link (the first YT link didn't work out for me) and it seemed to download and install just fine up until a certain point. Or would it be preferable to build my own PC and do it that way?

[@osdbest]

The lack of RTS games that are worth playing is a shame.

[@Walterdecarvalh0100]

Have you seen the ck3 LOTR mod?

[@LegomanTheMatt]

LotR: Realms in Exile. Which interestingly is a sister mod to the Age of the Ring BfME mod.

[@chaospacemarine8330]

"black numenoreans" lmao

[@headlessgunner5234]

"'Its the only game Ive seen that does stand ground wrong" No one tell him about War of The Ring lol

[@wladyslawderstreiter9078]

16:40 are you into yugioh :D

[@Mezcon2]

Ok, the joke of jeff bezos just made my guts hurt I laughed so hard! XD

[@Hell_O7]

39:51 40:15 40:31 Interesting part talking about RTS's campaign design, and why shifting to multiplayer is a pretty big leap for players

[@MrLoskanos]

NO WAY

[@Harry_S._]

Treatise Pharaoh Total War pls lol

[@BucketBoatable]

Talk bout the age of the ring mod

[@JonatasAdoM]

I think that Total War and lotr has something that others games do not have nor will ever have (total war included): It's how grounded it is. One thing present in lotr and total war is that you have it closer to what you don't usually see in fiction nowadays. Although I like having the abilities/powers that resemble the movies and age of mythoogy, I think they have gone too far with the second game. Everything is heading toward the too much territory. In a sense becoming followers of Warhammer craziness.

[@CullenTheDuck]

Please make more videos

[@n0rman908]

What has prompted your sudden return?

[@reynoldsanity4320]

honestly no idea, I've had a lot of drafts I wrote over the years I never got round to making, just pulled my finger out and got cracking on some of them lol

[@n0rman908]

@@reynoldsanity4320 Awesome :) i will stay tuned