First released all the way back in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring novel, The Lord of the Rings has been a staple of the fantasy genre. Almost 70 years old, The Lord of the Rings has 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 of Lord of the Rings video 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 Rings has 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 great Middle-Earth video games, but there have also been a good few that have faded completely into the darkness.
Games Based on The Lord of the Rings Novels
When it comes to any Lord of the Rings adaptation, it either belongs to the Tolkien estate and is based specifically on the Lord of the Rings novels, 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, every Lord of the Rings video game adaptation was based solely on the novels.
The first Lord of the Rings game ever made, not including adaptations of The Hobbit, was 1984's Lord of the Rings: Game One. A follow-up to the surprisingly innovative 1982's The 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 Mordor released, 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, and throw the One Ring into Mount Doom.
1998 saw the first Lord of the Rings RTS release. Titled War in Middle Earth, this primitive RTS allowed players to control iconic characters like Aragorn and Gandalf in battles that cover the entire events of the Lord of the Rings saga. 1990 saw the release of the first Lord of the Rings RPG, titled J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1. Players controlled Frodo from a top-down Zelda-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 Rohan released, acting as a sequel of sorts to War in Middle Earth and 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. 2 released, letting players control multiple members of the Fellowship during the events of The Two Towers.
In the early 2000s, things started getting a little confusing, with movie tie-ins and novel-licensed Lord of the Rings games releasing simultaneously, often covering the same material. 2002's The 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 Ring had 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 Ring released in 2003, and took the franchise back to the RTS genre. Playing similarly to Warcraft 3 and other strategy games of the time, War of the Ring received 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 Online is one of the most underrated MMOs available. The next Lord of the Rings game based on the novels that's set to release is the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a stealth game centered on the iconic titular creature.
Games Based on The Lord of the Rings Movies and TV
When it comes to the most memorable Lord of the Rings games, 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 of the best Lord of the Rings games, featuring simple but extremely engaging gameplay. Just a year later, the sequel, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King released, 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 Age released. A turn-based tactics game heavily inspired by Final Fantasy, The Third Age covers the entire trilogy, albeit a little too quickly. While critics weren't impressed with The Third Age's gameplay, they did heavily praise the game's screen-accurate visuals. 2004 also saw the release of The 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 2 released, improving upon its predecessor in some key ways. The gameplay was given a lot more depth, but in doing so, Battle for Middle-Earth 2 became a tad unbalanced, occasionally leading to some frustrating multiplayer matches.
In 2009, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest debuted. Developed by Pandemic Studios, Conquest is essentially a Star Wars: Battlefront 2 clone, 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, Conquest was 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 Quest released 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 North was 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 saw LEGO Lord of the Rings release, translating the trilogy to the usual lighthearted LEGO affair and including a surprisingly expansive open world.
The last two movie-based Lord of the Rings games to release were Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, released in 2014 and 2017 respectively. Featuring Batman Arkham-inspired gameplay, and a groundbreaking Nemesis system, the Middle-Earth series is widely considered to be some of the best the franchise has to offer.