Summary
TheLord of the Ringsfranchise has been around for almost 90 years now, and it’s remained one of the most popular fantasy franchises in the Western world for that entire duration. It’s only natural, then, thatThe Lord of the Ringshas plenty of video game adaptations under its belt. Though it’s only the same handful that are talked about time and time again, with those being theTwo TowersandReturn of the Kingmovie tie-in games, theLEGO Lord of the Ringsgame, theBattle for Middle-earthseries, and the most recent additions to this exclusive list,theMiddle-earth:Shadowduology.
But there have been quite a fewLord of the Ringsgames released sinceMiddle-earth: Shadow of Warback in 2017, they just haven’t been remembered too fondly. Back in August 2022, the controversial Embracer Group acquired the IP rights to makeLord of the Ringsvideo games, and after it was revealed that the company spent almost $400 million on doing so, its board member Matthew Karch stated that the company needed to “exploit” the franchise as much as possible. This seems to be responsible forThe Lord of the Rings' new video game approach, which is seeing the release of games from a variety of different genres. While it’s an intriguing approach, it hopefully won’t be all the series has to offer.
Lord of the Rings Video Games Need to Return to Their Rightful Place Eventually
SinceEmbracer Group’s acquisition ofThe Lord of the Ringsback in 2022, there have been several newLord of the Ringsvideo game releases, all of which have come from different developers, and all of which have adopted a different genre. The most infamous release was last year’sLord of the Rings: Gollum, a game that had technically been in development for years before Embracer acquired the IP rights. WhileGollumwas a buggy mess that was reviewed horrifically, its adoption of the stealth genre was intriguing, though obviously, its execution left a lot to be desired.
In October of last year, anotherLord of the Ringsgame released. TitledLord of the Rings: Return to Moria, this survival-crafting game saw players head into the titular dwarven mine with their friends to reclaim it from the darkness that had haunted it duringthe War of the Ring. Again,Return to Moriawas far from a perfect game, but it took the franchise in another new direction.
The same will likely be said forTales of the Shire, an upcomingcozy life-sim gamethat sees players take control of a custom Hobbit as they cook meals, harvest crops, and turn the town of Bywater into a bustling village. ThoughThe Lord of the Ringsis yet to have a win on the same level asShadow of Mordor, it is interesting to see the franchise adopt so many different genres, ensuring that the property caters to as wide of an audience as possible.
Lord of the Rings' True Video Game Home Is Undeniable
But while all of these different types ofLord of the Ringsgamesare fun to see, there’s no denying that the series is at its best when it leans more into the large-scale nature of the source material. At its core,The Lord of the Ringsis a fantasy epic, where even its smallest-scale adventures involve multiple factions, armies of characters, and a wealth of sprawling settings. It’s only natural that such an epic series warrants more larger-scale video game adaptations, and big-budget open-world action-adventures seem to be the best fit.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic names in entertainment. The franchise started with novels from J. R. R. Tolkien before being adapted onto the big screen by Peter Jackson in one of the most critically-acclaimed film trilogies of all time. There have also been numerous The Lord of the Rings video games of varying quality.
