Gamers can rejoice in a variety of new playable races, including dwarves, elves, and goblins, the latter have a perverse love of riding giant spiders and scorpions. The battlefield expands this time to include the oceans, so prepare yourself for massive naval battles, too.

Players define their armies by designing a hero on which in-game avatars are based, giving your army a look all its own. But beyond the creation of your scrappy rabble, BME2 invites players to construct a landmark castle out of prefabricated chunks of fortresses and walls that can be upgraded and built out over time. Introducing a feature called "build anywhere," BME2 takes terrain into account when erecting bases, adding depth of strategy to the placement of castle walls and eliminating the issues of claustrophobic design from the first game. Where the first game offered only cookie-cutter palaces and boring ballista emplacements, BME2 gives you the tactical flexibility to place your strongholds wherever you see fit.
 
Focusing more attention on the strategic side of real-time strategy games, this game promises to forge past the standard "build up a vast army and trounce your foes with sheer numbers" mentality by including improved rule sets for flanking and close combat. Tactically minded macro-managers interested in the bigger picture can control the battlefields at a higher level through a Risk-style take on the game utilizing the Living World Map. More intelligent enemy and allied units will arrange themselves into smart formations and battle lines, while a handy planning mode lets you develop the framework for crushing victories without actually laying your forces on the line.

With the ridiculous amount of content EA has injected into this title, this Battle should run rings (yawn) around its predecessor.