The 11 Best Lord of the Rings Video Games

Tolkien’s Middle-earth has captured the imaginativeness of phantasy fans worldwide ever since The Hobbit was published successful 1937. And though Peter Jackson is the movie manager who successfully brought the books to beingness connected the large screen, you mightiness beryllium amazed to larn Middle-earth besides has a affluent video crippled past that goes backmost decades.

The earliest video crippled adaptation was created successful 1982 by Beam Software, which developed a text-adventure crippled based connected The Hobbit. The crippled was a immense deed and went connected to merchantability implicit 500,000 units successful Europe, contempt middling reviews from critics. Such is the powerfulness of Tolkien’s works.

In total, determination are implicit 50 video games based connected the works of J.R.R. Tolkien that span galore genres, similar action-adventure, RPG, strategy, and more. As we hole for different caller Tolkien crippled conscionable connected the horizon, we’ve gone done this agelong past and chosen the 11 champion Lord of the Rings games ever made.

11. The Lord of the Rings: War successful the North

The ineligible rights to accommodate The Lord of the Rings into video games are astir arsenic analyzable arsenic Middle-earth’s lore itself. In the aboriginal 2000s, Tolkien’s literate works and Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations were treated separately, with Vivendi and Tolkien Enterprises owning the rights to accommodate the books for games, portion EA owned the rights to accommodate Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies. In 2009, Warner Bros. was capable to bring unneurotic some movie and publication rights and, astatine agelong last, make games that incorporated communicative elements from some the literate and cinematic worlds of Tolkien.

The Lord of the Rings: War successful the North is the archetypal Middle-earth crippled to diagnostic communicative and plan elements from some books and films. This hack-and-slash RPG stars a trio of archetypal characters: The Ranger Eradan, the Dwarf Farin, and the Elf Andriel, each with their unsocial playstyle. The trio goes connected a travel parallel to the events of the movie trilogy aft they’re enlisted by Aragorn to assistance the Fellowship, each portion Frodo makes his mode to Mount Doom to destruct the One Ring. While the combat is mostly considered enjoyable, albeit emblematic of its time, the existent gully is that Lord of the Rings fans get to role-play arsenic self-insert friends of Aragorn during the iconic events of the Peter Jackson movies.

10. The Lord of the Rings Online

Since 2007, thousands of players person ventured into the galore regions of Middle-earth itself acknowledgment to the extended integer satellite of The Lord of the Rings Online. While surely not arsenic fashionable arsenic different MMORPGs similar World of Warcraft oregon Final Fantasy 14, Lord of the Rings Online has cultivated a dedicated subordinate basal acknowledgment to the mode it brings the satellite of Tolkien to life, allowing players to research the acold corners of Eriador, Rhovanion, Gondor, and Mordor. A sojourn to The Lord of the Rings: Online tin adjacent beryllium considered indispensable for immoderate Lord of the Rings fan.

Create a unsocial quality and question astir Middle-earth during the events of The War of the Ring and undertake quests and raids crafted aft events from the novels. What’s more, the crippled is inactive going beardown aft 18 years, with the astir caller expansion, Legacy of Morgoth, released successful precocious 2024. It besides remains the lone Lord of the Rings MMORPG, and volition stay truthful for the foreseeable, particularly aft Amazon canceled its ain planned Lord of the Rings MMORPG successful 2021.

9. Lego The Hobbit

TT Games, formerly Traveller’s Tales, has transformed beloved franchises into wildly popular, comedic escapade Lego games for years. Lego The Hobbit follows the aforesaid look that made the studio’s Star Wars and Harry Potter games specified beloved hits.

A zany re-telling of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies built of integrative bricks, players tin escapade done the events of the trilogy’s archetypal 2 films, An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug (the 3rd film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, had not yet deed theaters.) You tin unlock and play arsenic dozens of antithetic Hobbit movie characters successful this humorous adventure, which splices plentifulness of large skits and show gags into an different beauteous faithful (if heavy condensed) recreation of the movies. Expect to conflict goblins, thrust barrels, and bargain from a colossal dragon. But arsenic enjoyable arsenic this each is, conscionable cognize determination is simply a amended Tolkien movie trilogy with a amended Lego adaptation somewhat further down this list.

8. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth

EA Los Angeles launched a bid of real-time strategy games based connected Middle-earth successful 2004, during the tallness of the genre’s popularity. The Battle for Middle-earth is rooted successful the tried-and-tested Command & Conquer formula: you instrumentality bid of either the forces of Gondor oregon Mordor, found a basal by gathering unsocial structures and units, and past nonstop retired an service that volition combat a warfare to find the destiny of Middle-earth.

Battle for Middle-Earth was a captious and commercialized occurrence erstwhile it was released, acknowledgment to its satisfying single-player communicative mode that included separate, implicit campaigns for some Gondor and Mordor. Many praised the mode it perfectly translated the satellite of Middle-earth to the RTS genre, and EA LA would spell connected to one-up their achievements with a acold superior sequel that you’ll besides find successful this list.

7. The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

The Lord of the Rings is the benignant of spot that allows for each kinds of adaptations. RTS? Sure! MMORPG? Absolutely. How astir a Final Fantasy-esque turn-based RPG? Surprisingly, besides yes – you’ve recovered your mode to The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.

Criticized for being possibly too inspired by Final Fantasy 10, close down to having a akin conflict menu, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age nevertheless combines a familiar, turn-based combat strategy and class-based enactment strategy with the satellite of The Lord of the Rings. The effect is simply a satisfying RPG that has go an enduring fan-favorite. The Third Age, similar War successful the North, is acceptable parallel to the events of the Peter Jackson films, with players taking connected the relation of characters who are blistery connected the way of the Fellowship. Along the way, you sojourn galore of the aforesaid locations that look successful the movie trilogy, and conflict acquainted foes similar the Balrog. There are adjacent moments wherever you tin temporarily squad up with members of the Fellowship itself successful battle.

It’s not the astir archetypal crippled connected this list, but The Third Age is simply a large mode to consciousness similar a portion of The Lord of the Rings movies without simply playing arsenic Aragorn, Gandalf, oregon Frodo.

6. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth 2

EA LA followed up their Tolkien RTS with a superior sequel, The Battle for Middle-earth 2. Like the archetypal game, you tin take betwixt a Good oregon Evil single-player campaign. The former’s communicative is centered connected the Elf Glorfindel, who allies himself with the Dwarves to support Rivendell from Sauron. Meanwhile, successful the Evil campaign, Sauron sends his commander, the Mouth of Sauron, and the Nazguls to invade the North.

Similar to the archetypal game, players rise armies consisting of infantry, bowmen, pikemen, cavalry, and siege machines and bid them utilizing characters from The Lord of the Rings. The sequel besides adds adjacent much factions, including Goblins, Dwarves, and Elves, for a full of six factions. It’s the amended crippled of the 2 Battle for Middle-earths by far, but sadly, neither is disposable to bargain contiguous acknowledgment to EA losing the Lord of the Rings licence, and adjacent owners of the aged carnal editions cannot conflict online arsenic online servers were shuttered successful 2010.

5. Lego The Lord of the Rings

Like the Hobbit crippled we’ve antecedently spoken about, Lego The Lord of the Rings is TT’s brickified adaptation of the archetypal trilogy of movies directed by Peter Jackson. And if you’re lone going to play 1 of them, this is the 1 you want to play. You tin play arsenic immoderate of the 80+ disposable characters successful Lego form, from Frodo and Aragorn to Lurtz and Tom Bombadil, each portion running, jumping, and gathering your mode done the events of the superior Tolkien movie trilogy.

The Lego games usually unrecorded oregon dice depending connected which fashionable franchise they're adapting, and TT had a large instauration successful the vast, varied satellite of The Lord of the Rings. There’s thing peculiarly charming astir seeing Middle-earth brought to beingness successful Lego form, which makes it casual to urge to immoderate fan. Do you similar The Lord of the Rings? Do you similar Legos? Do you similar amusive platformers? Boom, 1 of the champion Lord of the Rings games ever.

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Back during the epoch of authoritative movie tie-ins successful the aboriginal 2000s, , EA published a mates of hack-and-slash games based connected The Lord of the Rings films wherever you took power of members of the Fellowship and made your mode done the cardinal events, leaving a heap of orc corpses successful your wake.

The Gauntlet-like gameplay suited the phantasy swords-and-sorcery battles of The Lord of the Rings well, but The Return of the King was particularly notable for its inclusion of section co-op, allowing you to signifier your ain mini-Fellowship and spell done the escapade together. Using existent scenes from the Peter Jackson movie to service arsenic cutscenes (a payment unlocked acknowledgment to the PS2’s DVD drive) and gameplay that captured the standard of the films’ battles, Return of the King was caput and shoulders supra galore authoritative tie-in games released astatine this time. But it didn’t rather bushed its ain predecessor…

3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King are precise akin games built connected the aforesaid hack-and-slash foundations, and truthful your favourite of the 2 is mostly up to idiosyncratic preference. Which country from the movies bash you astir privation to experience? For our money, the Helm’s Deep level successful The Two Towers is among the precise champion moments successful immoderate Lord of the Rings video game.

Like successful The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, you’ll find galore of The Two Towers’ cardinal moments re-created present (as good arsenic a fewer from The Fellowship of the Ring, too.) But the existent joyousness is recovered successful taking power of 1 of the members of the Fellowship themselves. Whether it’s the hack-and-slash sword combat of Aragorn, the speedy ranged bow attacks of Legolas, oregon the dense axe swings of Gimli, The Two Towers’ combo-heavy combat felt arsenic bully arsenic immoderate enactment crippled released successful the aboriginal 2000s. Throw successful astonishing visuals taken consecutive from the movies, and The Two Towers is simply a standard-bearer for authoritative movie tie-in games.

2. Middle-earth: Shadow of War

As antecedently mentioned, complications astir the rights to The Lord of the Rings person led to a assortment of restrictions. The Middle-earth: Shadow games, though, were developed during a clip erstwhile Warner Bros. had the rights to some Tolkien’s works and Peter Jackson’s movies, which meant developer Monolith Productions was capable to instrumentality inspiration from the wider beingness elaborate successful the legendarium, the lore book that The Lord of the Rings is built on.

Shadow of War, the 2nd crippled successful the series, goes to immoderate antithetic places due to the fact that of that freedom. It involves figures similar Shelob (here depicted arsenic a woman, alternatively than a spider, due to the fact that of lore reasons) and the never-before-seen Entwives, and ties protagonist Talion’s destiny straight into the communicative of the Ringwraiths. Shadow of War’s overly analyzable story, with its convoluted attempts to necktie its satellite to the movies, is the crushed wherefore galore person the sequel ranked beneath its predecessor erstwhile it comes to Monolith’s 2 Middle-earth games.

But communicative isn’t everything. Shadow of War features a overmuch larger, much varied satellite than its scorched brownish predecessor, allowing you to research much of Middle-earth. The aforesaid fantastic combat and, of course, the Nemesis system, each instrumentality from the archetypal game, but they’re bolstered by a fortress siege strategy that captures the epic standard of iconic battles specified arsenic Helm’s Deep (albeit you’re warring alongside an amassed service of brainwashed orcs, alternatively than men and elves.) All this helps skyrocket Shadow of War towards the apical of our rankings, beaten lone by its fantastic predecessor.

1. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Set betwixt the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor sees the Gondorian Ranger Talion enslaved with the wraith of Celebrimbor, the elf who unwittingly aided Sauron forge the Rings of Power. Together, they spell connected a travel done the depths of Mordor to get revenge connected Sauron’s generals who murdered Talion’s family. With less ties to the movies than successful the sequel, Shadow of War, Shadow of Mordor tells a much cohesive communicative of revenge successful Middle-earth.

But the existent prima of Shadow of Mordor is Monolith’s patented Nemesis system. Every Orc successful Shadow of Mordor is unsocial to your playthrough, each fixed a random design, traits, and name. But beyond conscionable procedurally generating an service of unsocial foes for you to kill, the Nemesis System shifts and changes each Uruk’s narration with some you and their peers depending connected however you interact with them. If 1 kills you successful combat, for example, they volition get promoted for their valiant deed and volition bring up their triumph the adjacent clip you brushwood them.

This system, combined with the satisfying, Batman Arkham-style combat and a communicative that isn’t conscionable a retread of Peter Jackson’s movies, easy makes Shadow of Mordor our favourite Lord of the Rings crippled of each time. Sadly, Monolith Productions was unopen down successful 2025, and truthful we’ll apt ne'er spot different Shadow game, nor the Nemesis System again. And truthful the 2 Middle-earth games service arsenic a arrogant bequest for this departed studio.

With a caller enactment of The Lord of the Rings movies connected their way, arsenic good arsenic the ongoing Rings of Power TV amusement connected Prime Video, determination volition apt beryllium adjacent much Tolkien games coming successful the future. Next up is the cozy crippled Tales of the Shire from Fictions and Weta Workshop, which volition present an wholly antithetic video crippled instrumentality connected Tolkien’s world.

Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.