Lord of the Rings Games From Worst To Best

There are good games, and then there are bad ones, it doesn’t matter what franchise you’re in. I’m going to be here showing you some Lord of the Rings games from worst to best.

#12 Gollum

Oh yeah, I have to start out with this one. After all, not only was it a recent disaster of a video game, but it also shows just how badly people can fumble things if they’re not careful. The Gollum game was made by Daedalic Entertainment, which has made some good games in the past, and it was supposed to flesh out the story of everyone’s favorite split personality nuisance.

However, what we got instead was a drawn out, incredibly buggy, convoluted story that didn’t make any true impact on the franchise, let alone gamers.

This was considered one of the worst games of 2023, and that’s saying something, considering some of the other titles that came out that year. Gamers have complained about the game’s graphics, the gameplay stylings, bugs and crashes, etc.

The irony is that this could’ve been something fun. Instead, it turned into something far from “precious.”

#11 The Lord of the Rings: Conquest

A big “faux pas” that the gaming industry has done many times over in the past is trying to replicate the success of other franchises with its own branding. In the case of The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, they decided to rip off the original Star Wars Battlefront titles and put them in Middle-Earth. Since it’s on the bottom half of my list, you should know how it went.

To its credit, and like Battlefront, you could play on the side of good or evil as you went through both a single-player campaign and some multiplayer modes. The problem was that, unlike the original Battlefront titles, the game wasn’t as crisp, detailed, lengthy, or fun.

For example, while the Battlefront gameplay had you firing on enemies from afar or even using Jedi at your beck and call, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest was more of a hack-and-slash title, and that led to all sorts of repetitive aspects of gameplay.

When you add in dull graphics, gameplay, storytelling, and variety, you can see why many didn’t like it.

#10 The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth 

I could make the argument that The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth is the worst Lord of the Rings title ever for a basic reason: it has nothing to do with the movies or books it’s adapted from. That might seem harsh, but it’s true for this mobile game.

It was made by Kabam, a well-known mobile game creator. You might know of their title, Kingdoms of Camelot. But that’s the twist! This game IS Kingdoms of Camelot, full stop, and all they did was paste some slightly new graphics and images upon it so that you could at least SAY it had “some things” from The Hobbit films.

The game has nothing to do with being on the quest to save the Lonely Mountain or fighting off orcs and such. It’s about building a kingdom for yourself as either an elf or a dwarf and basically spending your days gathering resources and advancing technologies.

Thankfully, the game is shut down, so you don’t have to risk playing it. And if you want further proof of how bad the game was, it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page!

#9 The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest 

Aragorn is one of the best fictional characters ever and was played on screen by one of the greatest actors ever in Viggo Mortensen. The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, however, is NOT the best representation of the character and highlights the issue of trying to “dumb down” a franchise to reach younger gamers.

Case in point, the “story” of the game is literally the main story of The Lord of the Rings, but it’s told from the perspective of Samwise Gamgee, who is telling Aragorn’s story to his kids, which is odd…because he wasn’t with Aragorn for most of the story!

The game was an action-focused title that sped through the story at a quick pace and wasn’t exactly difficult. That’s why it’s on the back half of this list. It doesn’t do that much “wrong,” but it doesn’t do a lot of things “right,” either.

#8 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 

This next entry is curious on multiple fronts. I want to start with how The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring game WAS a financial success. It was! It sold over two million units, and that’s not nothing, especially for the period it was released in. The problem was that unlike certain other games I’ll touch on, the title DIDN’T directly connect to the movie that been released, and thus a bunch of things suffered.

If you’re confused about how that can happen, the answer is that the licensing for the games and movies was split, and so the team behind this title decided to go their own way through Middle-Earth, and that’s where things dropped off in the graphics, gameplay, story, etc.

While some reviewers didn’t mind it, others noted that the game had a truly “dumbed down” story and was doing things that didn’t make sense within the lore. I can personally attest that the Game Boy Advance Game was so bad that I literally couldn’t finish it because the game wouldn’t let me progress due to a bug.

#7 The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

Something that sometimes happens with key franchises is that either games or other media try to build off of what’s already been established to make something fresh. It can sometimes work, or, it can become something like The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria.

This “survival-crafting title” was created to be a new story set after the events of the War of the Ring. In essence, this was about the dwarves going back to Moria to take back their homelands from the orcs that lived there. A good idea that sadly got mixed with bad execution.

There are SOME good things about this title, including being able to play with friends and having certain loops of gameplay that can be fun. But to many people, this was just a bland attempt at making a survival title with a Lord of the Rings skin. That’s not what players wanted, and that’s why the game suffered at launch.

#6 Lego The Lord of The Rings

Okay, now we can get into the best games and have some fun as we do! I’ll start out with Lego The Lord of The Rings because that’s a game that almost everyone can agree is fun. If for no other reason than it’s literally the Lego version of The Lord of the Rings.

The game brings together the original three movies from the franchise together and puts the “Lego spin” on things in a way that many of you will be familiar with. It’s not meant to be the hardest game ever, but it does have plenty of variety, not to mention comedy.

Easily, one of the best elements is being able to choose and unlock numerous characters from the franchise to play as. Plus, there are plenty of collectibles for your completionists out there to have fun with.

#5 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth

One of the more positive elements of adapting something like Lord of the Rings is that there are numerous genres you can tie everything into. For example, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth was a real-time strategy game that allowed you to control the various factions of Middle-Earth to see if you could command them to victory.

The best part was that while the “good campaign” had you following the plot of the films and replaying some of its key battles, the “bad campaign” had you playing as either Saruman or Sauron so that you could bring down the world of men and bring darkness to everything.

There were many reasons to like this game, and while some people did want it to be a bit deeper, they loved the experiences they were able to get from the title. It was a commercial success, too, and even got a sequel.

#4 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Oh, I know what you’re thinking for this one, too. “Didn’t you bash the previous movie adaptation games?” Yes, I did. The difference with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is simple: quality!

Yes, I said it: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a quality movie adaptation, and critics agree with me on that front. In fact, many people were surprised by how deep it was in its level design, which allowed you to truly feel like you were up close and personal with some of the film’s key battles.

Plus, allowing you to hack and slash your way through hordes of enemies as Aragorn, Legolas or Gimli was a lot of fun! Not to mention, they actually brought the actors in to do some cool behind-the-scenes stuff that you would unlock the further you got into the game.

Sure, it wasn’t the longest game ever, but it was fun while it lasted.

#3 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Finally! An original tale set within Middle-Earth that everyone can agree was worthwhile and fun. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was a breath of fresh air at a time when the franchise truly needed it. Instead of taking place within the tale of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, Shadow of Mordor told a story that was set distinctly in between both events and focused on new characters that helped flesh certain tales out.

You played as Talion, a human Ranger who is paired with the wraith spirit of the elf Celebrimbor after a tragedy befalls you both. You come together to swear vengeance against Sauron and set off to bring his kingdom to ashes before it can threaten the world again.

The title had not just fun gameplay and an expansive set of quests to do, but the Nemesis System brought nuance and consequences to your actions to life in a unique way. Sure, the sequel wasn’t as good, but this tale was one worth experiencing.

#2 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Yep, I have another movie adaptation for you, and much like The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King blew people away by how good of an adaptation it actually was. It’s always nice when game developers can surprise you.

Multiple elements helped elevate this game above its predecessor, and not exactly the ones you’re thinking of. For example, one of the biggest praises for the title was for the audio and visuals. They said that the sound effects were so good that it would “blow you away.” That included having great voice acting for the title.

Then, there was the action. While it was, once again, a hack-and-slash title, many people were impressed by how many enemies you were allowed to fight in a single battle, bringing true scale and scope to conflicts.

It’s honestly a bit sad that they don’t make good adaptations like this anymore because when they’re done right, they sell well.

#1 The Lord of the Rings Online

I’m ending this list with an MMORPG for a basic reason: it’s still going, and it’s still fun. The Lord of the Rings Online has been around since 2007, and while it has gone through a change in leadership, that hasn’t stopped the title from getting new content, including some nice expansions in recent years.

As you would expect from an MMORPG, you’ll get to pick a race from Middle-Earth and venture out to do whatever quest or mission you desire. There are numerous stories tied to the books that helped build Middle-Earth, but there are also ones created specifically for the game itself, including big expansions of story for Mordor, Minas Morgul and beyond.

The fact that it’s still active today should show you how good it is, and how it’s able to keep players going within it. So if you haven’t had the chance to play it yet, or were curious about how good it was, now is the perfect time to dive in and have fun.