Lord of the Rings Video Games, Ranked Worst to Best
J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy book series The Lord of the Rings has long been an inspiration for videogame designers, with the first game adaptation (of The Hobbit) arriving in 1982, to be followed by dozens of additional game adaptations over the next four decades. The arrival of Peter Jackson's film trilogy in the early 2000s only accelerated the game industry's rush to put Middle-earth on consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. And the games are still coming, with two new titles released during the first half of 2023 alone.
Some of those games have been well received by critics and gamers alike, while others were far from precious. In the gallery on this page, we rank every Lord of the Rings video game adaptation (of both the books and the films) released in the modern era of gaming, starting in 2002. The games are ranked from worst to best by their Metascores, which reflect the consensus views of professional game critics.
Note that titles must have at least four reviews from professional critics in order to have a Metascore. (That four-review cutoff means that many mobile-only games, including the recently released The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, are not listed here.) If a game was released on multiple platforms, only the version receiving the highest quantity of critic reviews was eligible for inclusion.
Xbox 360, 2011
also on
PlayStation 3, PC
A hack-and-slash with RPG elements, 2011's War in the North was the first game released following Warner Bros. Interactive's 2009 acquisition of the rights to adapt both Tolkien's books and Peter Jackson's films. (Previously, the rights to adapt the book and film franchises were held separately by Vivendi and EA, respectively.) Developed by Snowblind, the studio behind the excellent Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, the game borrowed its overall look from the films, though it used new voice actors and drew elements from the books that were not in the movie trilogy—but it didn't really share a focus with either, instead depicting a side quest taken on by a trio of playable characters: a ranger, a dwarf, and an elf, who can be played separately or all at once via online co-op.
Unlike some of the LOTR games already discussed, North was aimed at older audiences, but that maturity didn't necessarily translate to a better game. Some critics liked the co-op gameplay, but many complained about the poor AI and lack of originality, and quite a few reviewers felt that North wore out its welcome after just a few hours.
“Lord of the Rings: War in the North is fine for a few hours of jolly good fun, but once you realise that the game has played its hand early and really has nothing else to offer then the lustre is soon lost. Poor AI, boring combat and pointless quests all add up to a disappointing game that would be better off dropped into the fires of Mordor.” —Xbox Achievements
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