Saruman than in their equivalent books, and he appears in several scenes that are not depicted in Tolkien's work. In the films, Saruman is depicted presenting himself outright as a servant of Sauron. Smith and Matthews suggest that Saruman's role is built up as a substitute for Sauron—the story's main antagonist—who never appears directly in the book. Jackson confirms this view in the commentary to the DVD. They also suggest that having secured veteran British horror actor Christopher Lee to play Saruman, it made sense to make greater use of his star status. Despite this increased role in the first two
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth for Best of E3 2004 Editors Choice. "The Battle for Middle-earth" was nominated for "X-Play"s "Best Strategy Game" and "PC Gamer US"s "Best Real-Time Strategy Game 2004" awards, both of which ultimately went to "". The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth is a real-time strategy video game developed by EA Los Angeles for Microsoft Windows. It was released in December 6, 2004 and is based on Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, in turn based on J. R. R. Tolkien's original novel. The game uses