Some titles are great in their original form, but others reach an entirely different level when they get their first mods. In the past we've explored a selection of the best GTA V mods along with its spectacular 4K graphics pack, and it would be a serious mistake to ignore Enderal, which transforms Skyrim into a new game. Following a similar line comes Tales of Middle Earth, a mod compatible with Age of Empires II that drops the endless Microsoft classic into the magical world of Lord of the Rings.
A phrase that is repeated a lot on the Web is "mod it until you break it", and basically it suggests that we should install mods into a game until we completely break its execution. This practice is very common in Bethesda games, with Skyrim and the Fallout series at the forefront, but despite the technical difficulties, users are willing to defy all limits. Something similar happens with Doom. The new "Hello World" for dozens of platforms has received a wide number of strange and funny transformations alike (among which Brutal Doom stands out), and it's worth exploring each of them, however, it's far from being the only "modded" classic. Today the very Age of Empires II joins the list, converted into nothing less than Lord of the Rings.
Discovering Tales of Middle Earth
The mod is called Tales of Middle Earth and includes a total of 18 realms in Middle-earth (which function as factions), including Elves, Men of the West, and of course Mordor with all its evil hordes. The mod promises games ranging from the Fall of Beleriand to the War of the Ring, using dozens of different units (with "super" units that stand out), heroes, and new technologies. Tales of Middle Earth incorporates optimizations for mechanics already present in the game, starting with naval battles, and unique elements like tax collectors.
Current Limitations
Tales of Middle Earth is not finished yet (in fact, it has been in development for about six years), and it suffers from some technical limitations. First, the campaign mode doesn't work (for now), and second, the Steam edition of Age of Empires II is not compatible. I suppose nothing prevents you from obtaining a copy of the classic version if you already paid for the game on Steam, but don't forget that it needs a little more time, although it looks great so far.
