History YMMV / TheLordOfTheRingsWarOfTheRing

* ScrappyMechanic: When you beat the campaign, it locks your hero units at the level they ended at. An example being that you could beat the game with Gimli at just level 3, but by beating the game, he won't be able to receive experience anymore to reach level 10. This can be a bit annoying if you wanted to play certain levels again without starting the campaign over.

* ScrappyMechanic: When you beat the campaign, it locks your hero units at the level they ended at. An example being that you could beat the game with Gimli at just level 3, but by beating the game, he won't be able to receive experience any more to reach level 10. This can be a bit annoying if you wanted to play certain levels again without starting the campaign over.

* ScrappyMechanic: When you beat the campaign, it locks your hero units at the level they ended at. An example being that you could beat the game with Gimli at just level 3, but after beating the game, he won't be able to receive experience any more to reach level 10. This can be a bit annoying if you wanted to play certain levels again without starting the campaign over.

* HilariousInHindsight: The game was a moderate success, but it was criticized by some fans (including the reviewer for the site Gamespot) for the creative license it took with the lore for gameplay purposes. This was despite ostensibly being based on the books alone instead of the concurrent films. The game has stuff like the different cultures of Men, Elves and Dwarves combined into one faction and fighting together against Orcs, Goblins and Giant Spiders as the other faction. As far as the books go, the armies of Elves, Dwarves and Men never teamed up except in offscreen events (for the latter two), the Giant Spiders never worked together with Orcs, Shelob the giant-est of Giant Spiders at the time ''preyed'' on Orcs, and Goblins are just Orcs under another name, not a separate sub-type (even the Uruk-hai supersoldier orcs are sometimes called goblins). Then the ''Battle For Middle-earth'' movie-based RTS games came, and the second one and its expansion in particular took similar liberties to the point of ''deja vu'' - combining Gondor and Rohan into one faction of Men unlike the first game, and separating Orcs and Goblins into different factions/units, and associating the latter with Giant Spiders (with a type of goblin unit even ''riding'' a Giant Spider). The Dwarf faction in the second game onward also has axethrowers for ranged units, akin to the earlier ones here.

* FandomRivalry: With the ''[[VideoGame/TheBattleForMiddleEarth Battle For Middle-earth]]'' series from Creator/ElectronicArts, due to being overshadowed, and due to not being movie-based unlike it. Though many people who've played those games may well have played this one too, since it came out slightly earlier, just a year before.

* HilariousInHindsight: The game was a moderate success, but it was criticized by some fans (including the reviewer for the site Gamespot) for the creative license it took with the lore for gameplay purposes. This was despite ostensibly being based on the books alone instead of the concurrent films. The game has stuff like the different cultures of Men, Elves and Dwarves combined into one faction and fighting together against Orcs, Goblins and Giant Spiders as the other faction. As far as the books go, the Giant Spiders never worked together with Orcs, Shelob the giant-est of Giant Spiders at the time ''preyed'' on Orcs, and Goblins are just Orcs under another name, not a separate sub-type (even the Uruk-hai supersoldier orcs are sometimes called goblins). Then the ''Battle For Middle-earth'' movie-based RTS games came, and the second one and its expansion in particular took similar liberties to the point of ''deja vu'' - combining Gondor and Rohan into one faction unlike the first game, and separating Orcs and Goblins into different factions/units, and associating the latter with Giant Spiders (with a type of goblin unit even ''riding'' a Giant Spider). The Dwarf faction in the second game onward also has axethrowers for ranged units, akin to the earlier ones here.

* HilariousInHindsight: The game was modeled after the original books, and released to moderate acclaim. ''One year'' after its release, EA released ''[[VideoGame/TheBattleForMiddleEarth The Battle for Middle-earth]]'', based entirely on the movies, to massive acclaim. OvershadowedByAwesome, indeed.
** Even better: not long after [[VideoGame/TheBattleForMiddleEarth BFME1's]] release, EA gained the rights to the books, prompting them to release [[SerialEscalation BFME2]], and an ExpansionPack to that not long after.

* DemonicSpiders: Invisible units like upgraded Elven Archers and Haradrim Slayers. Don't have detection units ready? Enjoy watching your units be struck down one by one without the ability to strike back.

* DemonicSpiders: Invisible units like the Haradrim Slayers. Don't have detection units ready? Enjoy watching your units be struck down one by one without the ability to strike back.