Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II

As enjoyable as the Lord of the Rings games were, those hack’n’slash titles hewed too closely to the film’s familiar narrative. Not only does a Real-Time Strategy version get you off the Fellowship’s beaten path, but EA bought the license to Tolkien’s books, incorporating previously unseen locations and characters. Thanks to the 360’s extra oomph and smart use of the controller, this marks not only the first successful RTS on any console but an improvement on the months-old PC version’s online multiplayer. The genre can still seem like a chore to more action-oriented gamers, but running an entire war campaign turns you into Peter Jackson.