It has elves, hobbits and magic, and so it is no surprise that The Lord of the Rings books (and later movies) have been turned into a video game. No gamehead ever turns away from something that takes him out of the toil of real life.
So, whether you read the printed trilogy version each summer, or have the film series on your laptop ready to binge at any time, the Lord of the Rings, is one of those stories that true fans want to experience over and over again.
It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that most people have been entranced by the world of Middle-earth since the 1930s. J.R.R Tolkien created gold when he published The Lord of the Rings in 1954.
The book is split into three volumes and it has been one of the most talked-about books of all time. In the early 2000s, Peter Jackson was able to accomplish the impossible by successfully adapting this book into cinematic form.
He was the only director who believed that such a project could be carried out without complete embarrassment. Many developers have attempted to enter Mordor, but this road has been littered with defeated and broken people.
Now, amidst the sea of half-baked cash-ins and cheap mobile titles, there have been many truly fantastic games to have graced our presence, here are some of the best Lord of the Rings video games.
The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth II (2006)
This game was a follow-up of the surprisingly good – Battle for Middle-earth. It fine-tuned the gameplay and brought the franchise on par with the best real-time strategy games on the market during that time.
One feature that was notable between the battle for Middle Earth II. Middle earth II allowed players to create as many buildings as they wished anywhere on the map, and this allowed for plenty of creativity and flexibility with the gameplay.
The game added dwarves, goblins, and elves as playable factions. The expansion pack of the rise of the witch-king also added the Angmar as well to the game.
This game additionally features the war of the Ring mode from the previous first game that clearly combined turn-basic tactics with the real-time strategy gameplay. Battle for the middle earth – II was met with some positive criticism on its release.
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)
Most people will agree that when it comes to franchise games, you expect them to average at best. They are always lazy cash grabs that are meant to capitalize on the popularity of the summer blockbusters.
However, this is not the case with the Lord of the Rings – Return of the King. This game proved surprisingly fun and it did do well following the main events of the movie, and it had engaging gameplay.
Now, just like its predecessor, Return of the King is a hack-and-slash kind of game where the developers likened it to a modern Gauntlet.
Unlike the previous game – Return of the King, has multiple storylines and much more playable characters with unique environmental interactions.
This game has also got a co-op mode that enables you to play with a buddy. It is also significantly larger than The Two Towers game where players would explore maps twice as large and fight double the enemies.
LEGO the Lord of the Rings (2012)
LEGO games have always been decent for kids as they recreate major franchises in the most humorous ways. This particular game is a perfect example of this.
It was the first in the LEGO large game pool that actually included audio clips from the film and the developers managed to put in their own comedic twist on the scenes as well.
This game covers the events from the original three films and the players can also control more than 80 characters. Each of them has its own unique abilities that are able to help them solve puzzles.
Conclusion
Most of these games are still available, and there are plenty of other Lord of the Ring Video games that you can access. So, if you are a huge fan of this incredible trilogy, check out the games above for some out-of-this realm play.