The Last Good Lord of the Rings Game Released 8 Years Ago Today

There’s nothing quite like stepping into a video game that truly brings you into a beloved world. While not every tie-in game is worth its salt, a solid game adaptation of a beloved IP can be an absolute joy for fans. And Lord of the Rings fans have been fairly lucky in this regard, with several great games based on the franchise. But it’s been a while since we’ve seen a truly solid entry. Arguably, nothing has really brought us that LOTR game experience we crave since 2017’s Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

Shadow of War was the sequel to Monolith Productions’ impressive Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. This game brought back the Nemesis system, a big claim to fame in the first title. When this Lord of the Rings game released on October 10th, 2017, it was fairly well-received, despite some complaints it fell short of its predecessor. Even so, most fans agree that Shadow of War was a solid LOTR tie-in game. After all, it’s hard to beat stepping into the boots of a rider of Gondor to take on an epic quest in Middle-earth. But since then, new attempts at Lord of the Rings games have fallen short for many players.

What Made Middle-earth: Shadow of War A Great LOTR Game

For many Lord of the Rings fans, the ideal game will pull you into an epic quest. Not every story in Middle-earth has us destroying the One Ring, but we still want that sweeping fantasy feel. And Shadow of War delivers on this front, as it’s steeped in Tolkien lore while also crafting a new story for players to experience. It improves upon and expands from the first game, adding new Orc traits, new abilities, and additional mechanics.

Though not everyone loved the art style of this game compared to Shadow of Mordor, it was nevertheless a fitting follow-up to one of the best Lord of the Rings games out there. It also leans more into the Nemesis system, which helps make enemies feel more dynamic as they react to past encounters. This game’s massive environments really help you feel like you’re exploring Middle-earth, which is really what any LOTR fan wants from a video game adaptation.

Yes, the gameplay in Shadow of War could be a bit repetitive. But for most fans, it felt worth it, as the game’s satisfying combat and storyline delivered on what many players wanted from a Shadow of Mordor sequel. And as an open-world game, it allows for the kind of exploration that makes many RPGs worth revisiting to uncover new nooks and crannies. In all, this game was the last one that really delivered for Lord of the Rings fans, despite quite a few new entries since it released in 2017.

More Recent Lord of the Rings Games Have Gotten Experimental, With Mixed Results

Adapting the world of Middle-earth into an RPG just makes sense. And for a while, that’s what most game developers did with the IP. We got story retellings of The Hobbit up through the Lord of the Rings books, along with the Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG. And of course, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is itself an open-world action RPG. But since then, we’ve had some interesting experiments with genre and storytelling, to mixed results.

In 2019, The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game brought us a digital card game rendition of the franchise. This deckbuilder featured turn-based strategy games using cards featuring characters and lore from The Lord of the Rings. While it did bring you through locations and stories from Middle-earth, the game was a relatively small release with the goal of adapting the physical LOTR TCG. For most, the gameplay loop simply wasn’t that fun and didn’t manage to capture the experience of playing IRL. Despite Mostly Positive reviews on Steam, it’s hard to argue that this is truly a good LOTR game compared with something like Shadow of War.

From there, we got one of the biggest disasters in Lord of the Rings gaming history – The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. This is a return to the RPG format, but puts players in the role of Gollum trying to retrieve the Precious. As an idea, it maybe could’ve worked. But it very much did not, as the game’s abysmal 33 MetaScore proves. From the graphics to the UI to technical glitches, the game simply did not live up to gaming standards, let alone the heights of a great LOTR game.

Read Next

Lord of the Rings Fans Need to Play These 5 Fantasy Games (And 1 Is Completely Free to Play)

Recent years have seen efforts to create cozy and survival games in the Lord of the Rings world. 2024’s open-world survival game Return to Moria let us play as the Dwarves of Moria, attempting to reclaim our Dwarven homeland. As a co-op game, it was pretty well received, but its combat and resource management were just plain brutal for solo players. As such, it has gotten a mixed reception from fans, delivering a lukewarm LOTR experience at best.

And then, we have Tales of the Shire. This cozy Hobbit life sim was highly anticipated by many cozy gamers, myself included. But after several delays, it released to mixed reception. The game had some technical issues at launch, and many Lord of the Rings fans felt the cozy mechanics could’ve done a bit more. Though some cozy game enthusiasts have loved the game, myself included, it has hardly gotten universal praise. For many, it fell short of delivering the kind of experience Lord of the Rings fans wanted from the first game set fully in the Shire.

Clearly, the franchise is struggling to find a formula that works for its more modern entries. So, Shadow of War is pretty much the last truly great LOTR game we’ve seen. But there’s hope for the future, as a new Lord of the Rings game designed to compete with Hogwarts Legacy is reportedly in the works. If it works, it could bring back the feeling of immersing ourselves in Middle-earth once more.

What is your favorite Lord of the Rings game to date? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!