The Lord of the Rings Online
This video game was already released in 2007, but this Tolkien video game in particular is designed with as much attention to detail as almost any other. Be it the locations, which have been used here in great detail as a template, or the fact that the story has been expanded in such a great way that it has even been given new life. From a gameplay point of view, The Lord of the Rings Online isn't special at all, but that doesn't detract from the game at all. Because this game convinces in a very special way, because here you immediately get the feeling of really traveling Middle Earth.
This is how Middle-earth comes to life
Since the developer has acquired the book rights here and not the movie license, as is often the case, the virtual version of Middle-earth here is exceptionally beautiful to look at. The developer simply had much more artistic freedom here and more room for his own ideas. Never before have regions like Angmar, the Ettenmoors or Bleak Forest been developed so perfectly visually. Of course, everything here revolves around the War of the Ring, although the game doesn't fully adhere to the stories of the novel series. Here you even experience the effects of Sauron's campaign in unknown regions. In the meantime, the original ending has long since been transformed and an independent epic has emerged.
The Battle for Middle-earth 2
It is absolutely true that the predecessor of this game was already a great tactics game. But unlike the current game, the predecessor stuck very closely to the original and new ideas were rather absent here, and besides, only humans and orcs could go into battle here. Now, however, the battlefields have been relocated. Here, much takes place in the lesser known north of Middle Earth and the elvish hero Glorfindel plays a central role. Now it is also possible for the humans of Middle-earth to boss around the pointy ears and dwarves. Balance is considerably better here than in part one. Since both the locations seem much more interesting and the battles much more challenging, the game is really quite fun.
The Return of the King
From many other games, you're almost used to simply sending a bunch of units to sprawling battlefields and the carnage can begin. But that is not necessarily exciting. The whole thing is completely different, however, when you are standing in the middle of the battle and can simply distribute well-placed sword blows. Here, the outstanding battles are replayed in perfection from the point of view of the third party in the form of Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Sam or Frodo. Here it's all about the pure action and, in addition, unlike the predecessor, the heroes' skills have improved considerably.
Since this is a very classic movie conversion, you can experience everything step by step, just like in the blockbuster movie. Here you'll only see the places that are already familiar from the movie.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Shadow of War has succeeded in making the adventures of the unequal duo of Ranger Talion and the Ringwright's Ghost Celebrimbor even bigger and more varied. In this game, everything takes place around the actual War of the Ring. Still, there are pivotal moments, which include the building of Sauron's machinery. Nevertheless, the story takes place many years before Frodo's departure from the Shire. Thus, the story is given a lot of freedom for creativity. But castles are besieged here as well, and swords are crossed, of course.
The Hobbit
Although this game is from 1982 and you can see that, it is still one of the really good video games. For once, it's not about the War of the Ring, but about the hobbits and the Shire. At the time, this title was absolutely revolutionary. At that time it was completely new how you could interact with the environment. Even then, this game understood a complex sentence structure, so it was possible for the game to directly implement the direct command: "Take Gandalf's lamp, then talk to Thorin and finally kill the orc with the sword".
Lego The Lord of the Rings
Logically, the game is visually quite different from all other games. However, the same goes for the gameplay approach. While the seriousness is lacking here, the game can easily make up for this fact with the different gameplay elements. A total of 80 game characters can be unlocked and each one has different and unique abilities. These must be used to successfully complete the 20 levels.
After completing the main quest, however, it is still possible to explore Middle Earth further and freely explore a huge open world. For example, a character editor in Bag End can be discovered here. Ultimately, the prevailing wit and visuals here are certainly a matter of taste, but in any case, this video game can score with truly original ideas.
Of course, the Lord of the Rings movie series is taken as a model here as well. However, not as seriously as is the case with many other games. In particular, especially brutal scenes have been toned down considerably for this game. Violence plays a rather subordinate role here, but humor clearly plays a superior role.
