I am NOT exactly sure why this game is so much cheaper then the 2nd one? Is it because people are mostly going after the ROTWK expansion which makes the 2nd one such a collectors item or perhaps that generation skipped over this one?Maps:Either way I think THIS one should be the more expensive game because the maps are MUCH more crisp especially the trees and rivers and there is less problems running this on Windows 7 then BFME2 which has various issues. The most common issue for this game is the options.ini file is not put in and there is a fix for that. There is a huge variation between forest and desert/rolling hills geography in this game focusing in Southern Middle Earth or down in the land of cotton where old times there are not forgotten. This game also uses movie based icons while the 2nd one is more into book lore focusing on the more exotic places that you may never heard of if you didn't read and pay attention to the book series.In the 2nd game sequel the forests all look dead like WW2 bomb shelled which the only thing missing is dug out trenches and wired fences with land mines ready to explode.Mirkwood and Shire are about the only pretty maps in the sequel to this.Defense and Gameplay structure:This first game has better castles with doors you can watch open and close (good factions) and battle towers for defense and battering rams really do break down the doors which can be *healed* up over time (2 minutes) providing your central pillar isn't being bashed by 5 cave trolls. The 2nd game has fortresses with builders you spawn costing 500 gold but upgrades can bring the cost down to 250 gold and cut the build time by half but there is no real reason for siege weapons and why the FK doesn't the AI build walls in the 2nd BFME?The enemy on hard comes fast with trolls and siege weapons usually within the first 15 minutes of gameplay you start getting the catapults come a firing at you because the AI cheats and gets a 50% discount on stuff and can take/give more damage so make sure to find those *Great Siege Works* early and dismantle them which screws the AI up for a spell.Easy Army is actually better then medium army which the latter does almost nothing.The 2nd game you have builders you have to re spawn periodically or in my case a LOT! However THIS game it's on fixed plot bases usually 6 plots or 12 plots on castles which 6 plot lands costs 2,000 gold and 12 plots 5,000 gold. (Enemy factions DO NOT have walls or gates which I'll never know why)The 2nd game has a mod that makes it more like this game with fixed places instead of free roaming builders but I think it may be for ROTWK expansion only as it's hard to tell what games the mods are compatible with.I like to alternate between Gondor and Isengard which both have good strategy skills to offer while Rohan and Mordor don't have very good defense structures.The latest patch on outposts the central pillar can be commandeered by one unit so I put in fire archers to slow enemy AI down a bit and get a couple of quick power points before they smash the outpost to pieces.Sounds:The sounds of this game are funny from the murmurings of the Orcs to the shoutings of the Rohans and Gondor peasants such as "Cmon Soldiers move it!" or "Destroy it!" "Tear it down" "This building doesn't belong here!" "There's a cave troll near by watch out!" "Their attacking our horses (or is it forces?)The enemy like Isengard say "Move your feet!" or "I'm getting hungry" which those units die the fastest. On the enemy faction when under attack they say "Is that them?" "Their attacking from over here!"I especially like the orc laborers from the lumber mills when moving those units around.