 It was given generally favorable reviews , receiving an aggregated score of 84 % at Metacritic for its Windows version . Praise focused on its successful integration of the Lord of the Rings franchise with the real @-@ time strategy genre , while criticism targeted the game 's unbalanced multiplayer mode . The Battle for Middle @-@ earth II was given the Editor 's Choice Award from IGN . At the end of its debut month of March 2006 , The Battle for Middle @-@ earth II reached fourth in a list of the month 's best @-@ selling PC games , while the Collector 's Edition peaked at eighth place . In the second month after the game 's release , The Battle for Middle @-@ earth II was the 12th best @-@ selling PC game , despite a 10 % slump in overall game sales for that month . 
