There are a lot of reasons to be pumped up for next month’s release of The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II on Xbox 360. Not only do we stand to get a fresh serving of pure Tolkien goodness from a team that has proven itself pretty skilled at adapting the license, but we’re alsဣo witnessing the first next-gen attempt at a real-time strategy game - a genไre that has been woefully scarce on consoles.

Now you can add another incentive to the list. Following our recent hands-on session with the multiplayer portion of the game, we’re convinced BFME II could also provide one of the m൲ost thrilling online experiences currently available through Xbox Live.