Tenkahubu on 17/2/2009 at 10:49

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A friend recently lent me 'Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth 2 and the Witch King expansion.
I went straight to the create a hero bit and made an Uruk warrior.
Uninterested in linear campaigns, I chose the 'War of the Ring' open campaign. I chose the Isengard faction and was having a good time conquering provinces Risk-style. The fun ended as soon as I decided to resolve a battle in RTS mode.
The enemy was on me before I had a chance to build a basic base. An endless stream of dwarves that soon destroyed my entire army.
Attempt 3: I manage to hold back their initial onslaught enough to build a barracks type building. I then fortified a bottle neck where the enemy was constantly slaughtered by my troops and towers.
'Fine' I thought 'now I can make some sort of plan.'
Not so.
In a few short minutes the trickle of enemies became a flood, their catapults destroyed my fortifications and my units in seconds.
I set my barracks to constantly produce (as my cash was absurdly plentiful) and the game degenerated into a resource contest as two streams of mindless agression clashed over and over again.
Is this what RTS means now? Where is the S? It's supposed to stand for strategy right?
I used to love the Dune series, and the Total War series. I was expecting something like a cross between the two. A game where mistakes count and you have to use a bit of intelligence, not just speed, and where there is more than just the one option:CHARGE!
I'd like to play a Realtime Strategy Game, if there are any good ones.
But right now I think I'll play Wesnoth instead.