The Lord of the Rings Game Everyone Forgot About Released 14 Years Ago Today

Over the years, we’ve had our fair share of Lord of the Rings video games. There have been truly stellar film adaptations and phenomenal new stories, along with a few pretty spectacular misses. But for some reason, when people list off Lord of the Rings games, one always seems to get left out. 11 years ago today, we got Snowblind Studios’ Lord of the Rings: War in the North. Somehow, this game got lost to time, but does it deserve its forgotten status?

War in the North comes from the same studio that brought us my personal favorite RPG from my youth, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. That studio merged with Monolith, which would go on to make what is arguably the greatest Lord of the Rings game of all time. But before we got Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Snowblind Studios gave us The Lord of the Rings: War in the North on November 1st, 2011. And honestly? You might want to dust off this hidden gem.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Brought a Co-Op Focus to the LOTR RPG

War in the North was released for the PS3 and Xbox 360, with a PC version available as well. It pulled lore from both the original books and the films to craft a story that runs parallel to the adventures of the main Lord of the Rings cast. In it, players step into the role of a trio of adventurers working to track down and defeat Agandaur, an ally of Sauron tasked with bringing siege to the North.

This forgotten Lord of the Rings RPG features hack-and-slash gameplay and was designed with a co-op focus in mind. Players can choose from three main characters: a Ranger, a Dwarf, and an Elf. In case it wasn’t clear, the trio may be original characters, but their dynamic is heavily inspired by that of Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas.

Although you can opt to play solo with NPC versions of the other two characters, War in the North allows online co-op for up to three players at once. Playing with friends has perks, from special combat options to secrets that can only be unlocked if you have someone playing all three characters. While it’s a fun idea, this heavy co-op focus could be part of what has led War in the North to fall behind other, more single-player focused Lord of the Rings RPGs. Although there’s plenty to offer for a solo player, it’s pretty clear Snowblind had multiplayer in mind when crafting the campaign, something that could have frustrated some players.

Beyond the multiplayer focus, War in the North got mixed reviews from critics at launch, landing it with a middling 66 Metacritic Score. Perhaps in part due to this lukewarm reception, the game didn’t sell as well as Warner Bros probably hoped. Fewer copies out there means fewer gamers carry forward fond memories of playing this game when it released back in 2011. But is it as mid as reviews suggest?

Did War in the North Suffer Deserve To Be Forgotten?

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Clearly, critics weren’t all in for Lord of the Rings: War in the North when it first released. In particular, many felt that the game’s combat was uninspired and repetitive. Others felt that the game didn’t quite manage to craft compelling characters in its three heroes, which could feel a bit like a pale imitation of their inspirations. But the game’s forgotten status may not have been entirely due to its flaws.

War in the North certainly isn’t a perfect game, but many who played it have fond memories of the RPG. The game lets you explore Middle-earth alongside the events of Lord of the Rings, letting you experience a lore-accurate epic without interfering with the original trilogy. Though it might have some drawbacks, it was just plain fun, and the multiplayer was a big perk for gamers eager to explore Middle-earth with friends. It may well have taken off with players despite middling reviews for critics, if not for the poor timing of its release.

If you’ve got a good memory for dates, you may notice that fall 2011 was a pretty big season for games. September gave us the first Dark Souls, and it’s likely many gamers weren’t quite ready to move on from that by early November. And then, just a little over a week after War in the North came out, a little game called The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim burst onto the scene. And we all know how that turned out, given that we’re still taking arrows to the knee and stealing sweet rolls to this day.

War in the North might not have been a Game of the Year contender, but given how many fans actually enjoyed the game, its relative obscurity is probably due to poor timing. After all, how is an RPG released in the same month as Skyrim supposed to compete? And with many other big games circling around November 2011, it’s likely that War in the North got overshadowed more than it failed on its own merits (or lack thereof).

While it may not be the greatest Lord of the Rings game ever made, it’s a solid mid-tier RPG set in Middle-earth, and one that offered online co-op at a time when that still wasn’t super common. Though you can no longer purchase the game via Steam, it was once available on the platform and earned a solid Mostly Positive review rating there. Its online servers shut down back in 2018, when it was delisted from storefronts. So, revisiting this old game requires finding a physical copy, at least for now. But who knows, maybe we could see a remake or at least a GOG release one day.

Did you ever play The Lord of the Rings: War in the North? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!