First released all the way back in 1954 withThe Fellowship of the Ringnovel,The Lord of the Ringshas been a staple of the fantasy genre. Almost 70 years old,The Lord of the Ringshas been adapted to just about every medium imaginable, from comics to animated specials to live-action shows and everything in between. And of course, there have also been plenty ofLord of the Ringsvideo games over the years, some being a lot more beloved than others.
With the first game dating back to the mid-1980s,The Lord of the Ringshas had a fairly consistent presence in the video game industry, whether it’s been direct adaptations of the novels, games designed to tie in with the Peter Jackson movies, or a unique blend of the two. Over the years, there have been some truly greatMiddle-Earth video games, but there have also been a good few that have faded completely into the darkness.
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Games Based on The Lord of the Rings Novels
When it comes to anyLord of the Ringsadaptation, it either belongs to the Tolkien estate and is based specifically on theLord of the Ringsnovels, or it belongs to New Line, Amazon, or any other company that has temporary rights to the franchise, in which case the game can only take from that specific version of the property. Before the Peter Jackson movies,everyLord of the Ringsvideo game adaptationwas based solely on the novels.
The firstLord of the Ringsgame ever made, not including adaptations ofThe Hobbit, was 1984’sLord of the Rings: Game One. A follow-up to the surprisingly innovative 1982’sThe Hobbit, this game is a complex text-based adventure that allows players to interact with various objects and NPCs across Middle-Earth. In 1987, a sequel,Shadows of Mordorreleased, once again as a text adventure game, but this time focusing on Sam and Frodo’s journey through Mordor. The final game in the series,The Crack of Doom, released in 1989, saw Sam try to save Frodo from Cirith Ungol, andthrow the One Ring into Mount Doom.
1998 saw the firstLord of the RingsRTS release. TitledWar in Middle Earth, this primitive RTS allowed players tocontrol iconic characters like Aragorn and Gandalfin battles that cover the entire events of theLord of the Ringssaga. 1990 saw the release of the firstLord of the RingsRPG, titledJ.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1. Players controlled Frodo from a top-downZelda-like perspective as he recruited the members of the Fellowship, faced off against the Nazgul, and helped NPCs with side quests. In 1991,J.R.R. Tolkien’s Riders of Rohanreleased, acting as a sequel of sorts toWar in Middle Earthand using many of the same mechanics on a smaller scale, focusing on Rohan and its army. In 1992,J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 2released, letting players control multiple members of the Fellowship during the events ofThe Two Towers.
In the early 2000s, things started getting a little confusing, with movie tie-ins and novel-licensedLord of the Ringsgames releasing simultaneously, often covering the same material.2002’sThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, for instance, came out a year after Peter Jackson’s first movie, but follows the events of the book strictly. A third-person action-adventure game,The Fellowship of the Ringhad a mixed reception, with most critics praising the colorful and faithful take on the source material, but condemning the game’s tedious combat, clunky controls, and rough enemy AI.
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ringreleased in 2003, and took the franchise back to the RTS genre. Playing similarly toWarcraft 3and other strategy games of the time,War of the Ringreceived mixed reviews on launch, with many critics calling the game lackluster and unoriginal.The Lord of the Rings Online, an MMO, first launched in 2007 and is surprisingly still going today, with its latest expansion releasing this year. Offering a wealth of races and classes and an open Middle-Earth to explore,Lord of the Rings Onlineis one of the most underrated MMOs available. The nextLord of the Ringsgame based on the novels that’s set to release is the upcomingTheLord of the Rings: Gollum, a stealth gamecentered on the iconic titular creature.
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Games Based on The Lord of the Rings Movies and TV
When it comes to the most memorableLord of the Ringsgames, the vast majority belong to the movie and TV licensed entries. The first of these,The Lord of the Rings: The Towers, is one such game. Released in 2002 to coincide with the movie, this EA-published hack-and-slash title is still widely considered to be one ofthe bestLord of the Ringsgames, featuring simple but extremely engaging gameplay. Just a year later, the sequel,The Lord of the Rings: Return of the Kingreleased, improving on its predecessor in every way, from including more playable characters to having a more complex leveling system.
In 2004,The Lord of the Rings: The Third Agereleased. A turn-based tactics game heavilyinspired byFinal Fantasy,The Third Agecovers the entire trilogy, albeit a little too quickly. While critics weren’t impressed withThe Third Age’s gameplay, they did heavily praise the game’s screen-accurate visuals. 2004 also saw the release ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth, another RTS. Though the game suffered criticism for a lack of depth, its visuals and sound design were praised. Two years later, a sequel,The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth 2released, improving upon its predecessor in some key ways. The gameplay was given a lot more depth, but in doing so,Battle for Middle-Earth 2became a tad unbalanced, occasionally leading to some frustrating multiplayer matches.
In 2009,The Lord of the Rings: Conquestdebuted. Developed by Pandemic Studios,Conquestis essentially aStar Wars: Battlefront 2clone, where instead of different trooper classes, the player chooses different races with different abilities. Players can even unlock the ability to play as a hero. Unfortunately,Conquestwas a little too unpolished for critics, and it ended up receiving awful reviews.
Designed to bring the story to younger audiences,The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Questreleased in 2010, following the titular king through the trilogy. The game was much too simple, landing it a low score among critics.The Lord of the Rings: War in the Northwas another poorly received Middle-Earth game, offering a co-op class-based adventure that critics found to be too repetitive and basic to recommend. 2012 sawLEGO Lord of the Ringsrelease, translating the trilogy to the usual lighthearted LEGO affair and including a surprisingly expansive open world.
The last two movie-basedLord of the Ringsgames to release wereMiddle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, andMiddle-Earth: Shadow of War, released in 2014 and 2017 respectively. FeaturingBatman Arkham-inspired gameplay, anda groundbreaking Nemesis system, theMiddle-Earthseriesis widely considered to be some of the best the franchise has to offer.
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