There are many video games that have been inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's works set in Middle-earth. Titles have been produced by studios such as Electronic Arts, Vivendi Games, Melbourne House, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. [1] [2]
There are many video games that have been inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's works set in Middle-earth. Titles have been produced by studios such as Electronic Arts, Vivendi Games, Melbourne House, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. [1] [2]
In 1982, Melbourne House began a series of licensed Lord of the Rings graphical interactive fiction (text adventure) games with The Hobbit , based on the book with the same name. [3] The game was considered quite advanced at the time, with interactive characters that moved between locations independent of the player, and Melbourne House's 'Inglish' text parser which accepted full-sentence commands where the norm was simple two-word verb/noun commands. [4] [5] They went on to release 1986's The Fellowship of the Ring , 1987's Shadows of Mordor , and 1989's The Crack of Doom. A BBC Micro text adventure released around the same time was unrelated to Melbourne's titles except for the literary origin. In 1987, Melbourne House released War in Middle Earth , a real-time strategy game. [6] [7] Konami also released an action-strategy game titled J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan . [8]
The Lord of Rings: Journey to Rivendell was announced in 1983 by Parker Brothers for the Atari 2600, but was never released. The prototype ROM can be found at AtariAge. [9] [10]
In 1990, Interplay, in collaboration with Electronic Arts (who would later obtain the licenses to the film trilogy), released Lord of the Rings Vol. I (a special CD-ROM version of which featured cut-scenes from Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation) and the following year's Lord of the Rings Vol. II: The Two Towers, a series of role-playing video games based on the events of the first two books. A third instalment was planned, but never released. Interplay's games mostly appeared on the PC and Amiga, but later they did a Lord of the Rings game for the SNES, which was different from the PC Version. A Lord of the Rings game for Sega Genesis was planned to be released by Electronic Arts but never released. [11] [12] [13] In 2000, Troika Games was contracted to make a Lord of the Rings game by Sierra On-Line based on the novel. In 2001, Sierra decided to develop the game internally. The game was cancelled in 2002, when Sierra shut down their development studio. [14]
Thereafter, no official The Lord of the Rings titles were released until the making of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy for New Line Cinema in the early 2000s, which brought the story to the mass market. Electronic Arts obtained the licences for the three films, while Vivendi Games obtained the licence to produce games based on the books from Tolkien Enterprises. This gave rise to an unusual situation: Electronic Arts produced no adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring , but produced adaptations of The Two Towers (which covered events of both the first two films) [15] and The Return of the King , [16] whereas Vivendi only produced a game covering the first volume of Tolkien's work, The Fellowship of the Ring . [17] While Vivendi's access to the book rights prevented them from using material from the film, it permitted them to include elements of The Lord of the Rings which were not in the films. EA, on the other hand, were not permitted to do this, as they were only licensed to develop games based on the films, which left out elements of the original story or deviated in places. [18]
In 2003, Vivendi produced an adaptation of The Hobbit , aimed at a younger audience: The Hobbit, [19] as well as a real-time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring , both based on Tolkien's literature. [20] [21]
Further spin-offs from the film trilogy were produced: A real time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth , [22] and a turn-based role-playing game The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age were released in 2004, [23] [24] and a PSP-exclusive title, The Lord of the Rings: Tactics in 2005. [25]
In 2005, EA secured the rights to both the films and the books, thus The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II incorporated elements of the film adaptions, and the original Tolkienesque lore. [26] EA also began work on an open world role-playing video game called The Lord of the Rings: The White Council , but it was put on indefinite hold in early 2007, [27] with no further information about its developmental or release status.
In May 2005 Turbine, Inc. announced that they had acquired exclusive rights to create massively multiplayer online role-playing games based on the novel by Tolkien Enterprises, [28] and launched The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar on 24 April 2007. [29] Initially, the game covered the region of Eriador, from the Grey Havens to the Misty Mountains, and about as far north and south, but subsequent updates and expansion packs have more than doubled the game world, including areas such as Moria, Lothlórien, Mirkwood, Isengard and Rohan. The game is based on the books and Turbine's licence explicitly prohibits them from including any story or design elements unique to the movie adaptations. On the other hand, this allowed game designers to include lesser-known areas and references to the events, which are absent from the movies. The first expansion to The Lord of the Rings Online was released on 18 November 2008, entitled Mines of Moria . [30] The next expansion, Siege of Mirkwood , was released on 1 December 2009. [31] The third expansion titled Rise of Isengard went live on 27 September 2011 and included the areas of Dunland, the Gap of Rohan and Isengard where the tower of Orthanc is located. [32] The fourth expansion, Riders of Rohan , was released on 15 October 2012, featuring The Eaves of Fangorn and eastern part of Rohan up to the East Wall. [33] The fifth expansion, Helm's Deep , launched in November 2013 and added the remainder of the Rohan landscape. [34]
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest produced by Pandemic Studios using the same engine used in Star Wars: Battlefront was released in early 2009 on the PC and all seventh-generation video game systems except the Wii and PSP. All versions received mixed reviews, with the Nintendo DS version garnering slightly better reviews. [35] The game also marked the end of Electronic Arts licence, which had already been extended some months so that the game could be completed. Subsequently, the licence, obtained via Tolkien Enterprises, passed to Warner Bros. [36]
After Warner Bros. gained the licence to publish Middle-earth video games, the first game to be published under this new licence holder would be The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest , an action-adventure retelling of the Peter Jackson film trilogy from Aragorn's perspective, on Nintendo and Sony video game platforms, with Wii and PlayStation 3 versions taking advantage of motion controls to simulate sword, shield and bow combat. [37]
The 2010s saw the release of three darker and more violent Middle-earth video games that were rated Mature by the ESRB. The first of such games was The Lord of the Rings: War in the North , an action role-playing game that takes place in Northern Middle-earth. It was developed by Snowblind Studios and released on 1 November 2011. [38] [39] [40] Then Monolith Productions developed a two-game, non-canon Middle-earth: Shadow spin-off series, set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The main protagonist of these two action RPGs is a Ranger named Talion who bonds with the Elf spirit Celebrimbor, gaining wraith-like powers to deal with adversaries. The first game, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was released in 2014, [41] with its sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War , released in 2017. [42]
In that same decade, Warner Bros. released Lego The Lord of the Rings and Lego The Hobbit , two family-friendly Lego video game adaptations of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug . [43] [44] In 2019, The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game was released, a digital adaptation of the physical card game. [45] [46]
An action-adventure game, titled The Lord of the Rings: Gollum and focusing on the titular character, was announced by Daedalic Entertainment in March 2019. [47] The game was originally scheduled for release in 2021, which would end up being pushed to 2022, [48] [49] [50] until publisher Nacon announced a release date of 25 May 2023 for Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox, with a Switch version later in the same year. [51] The game was released to generally negative reviews.
Ahead of Gollum's initial release, a new mobile game, titled The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth , was released for iOS and Android on May 10, 2023 by Electronic Arts, [52] [53] and is the first game to released by such publisher since The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. It is a turn-based role-playing game developed by EA Capital Games that plays similarly to its previously developed Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes . However, just months after worldwide launch, Electronic Arts prematurely ended support for the game, scheduling it to shut down on May 24, 2024, [54] amidst the turmoil of the 2023–2024 video game industry layoffs that affected the company's development projects.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a survival-crafting multiplayer game developed by Free Range Games and published by North Beach Games, released on October 24, 2023. The story takes place during the Fourth Age and follows a company of dwarves as they try to retake their homeland Moria and restore the long-lost ancient kingdom of Khazad-dûm. [55]
Unofficial games include Shadowfax (1982) by Postern, a simplistic side-scrolling action game for the Spectrum, C64, and VIC-20, in which Gandalf rides the titular steed while smiting endless Nazgûl. Some of the most enduring unlicensed games are Moria (1983), a roguelike based loosely on The Fellowship of the Ring (and unrelated to a 1975 game of the same name with only scant connection to Tolkien); its various forks such as Angband (1990), loosely based on The Silmarillion ; Elendor (1991), a MUSH based on Tolkien in general; [56] [57] and two MUDs based on The Lord of the Rings: MUME (Multi-Users in Middle-earth) (1992) [58] [59] and The Two Towers (1994). [60]
A homebrew text adventure was created for the Atari 2600, based on The Fellowship of the Ring, by Adam Thornton. The game, which is separate and not related to the unreleased Parker Brothers game, [9] was self-published in 2002. [61]
Tolkien-inspired mods and custom maps have been made for many games, such as Heroes of Might and Magic , Warcraft III , Neverwinter Nights , Rome: Total War , Medieval 2: Total War , Warlords 3 , The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim , Mount & Blade , Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings , and Age of Wonders . The game Minecraft has been used extensively as a tool to recreate Middle-earth, most notably the servers MCME (Minecraft Middle Earth) [62] and ArdaCraft, [63] in addition to large-scale mods like The Lord of the Rings Mod: Bringing Middle-earth to Minecraft. [64] Furthermore, The Middle-Earth DEM Project released a playable dataset compiled for Outerra's engine which attempts to model the terrain of the full Middle-earth in great detail and to feature notable landmarks within the world as 3D models. [65]
Delta 4 released the two parody games Bored of the Rings (1985, not directly based on the Harvard Lampoon parody novel of the same name), [66] and The Boggit (1986). [67]
The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel by the English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.
The Two Towers is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. It is preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring and followed by The Return of the King. The volume's title is ambiguous, as five towers are named in the narrative, and Tolkien himself gave conflicting identifications of the two towers. The narrative is interlaced, allowing Tolkien to build in suspense and surprise. The volume was largely welcomed by critics, who found it exciting and compelling, combining epic narrative with heroic romance.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson, based on 1954's The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The film is the first installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, and Andy Serkis.
Elendor is a free online text-based multi-user game that simulates the environment of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Users create characters by determining species, sex, culture, description, history and then role-playing with other users within the setting and atmosphere of Tolkien's world. For the purposes of consistency, the game accepts The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion and to a lesser extent the other works of Tolkien as canonical materials. The time frame is shortly before the onset of the main events of The Lord of the Rings with Bilbo having gone to Rivendell. The game is run on a MUSH server using a variant of PennMUSH.
The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy of epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson, based on the novel The Lord of the Rings by British author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003). Produced and distributed by New Line Cinema with the co-production of WingNut Films, the films feature an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, and Sean Bean.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the real-world history and notable fictional elements of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe. It covers materials created by Tolkien; the works on his unpublished manuscripts, by his son Christopher Tolkien; and films, games and other media created by other people.
Middle-earth Enterprises, formerly known as Tolkien Enterprises, is a subdivision of the Embracer Freemode division of Embracer Group and formerly a trade name for a division of The Saul Zaentz Company. The subdivision owns the worldwide exclusive rights to certain elements of J. R. R. Tolkien's two most famous literary works: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. These elements include the names of characters contained within as well as the names of places, objects and events within them, and certain short phrases and sayings from the works.
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by EA Redwood Shores for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. A turn-based tactics version of the game was developed for the Game Boy Advance by Griptonite Games. The game was published on all platforms by Electronic Arts, and released worldwide in November 2004.
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth is a 2004 real-time strategy video game developed by EA Los Angeles for Microsoft Windows. The first part of the Middle-earth strategy game, It is based on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, in turn based on J. R. R. Tolkien's original novel. The game uses short video clips from the movies and a number of the voice actors, including the hobbits and wizards. It uses the SAGE engine. The sequel, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, was released on March 2, 2006.
The Lord of the Rings Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows and OS X set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, taking place during the time period of The Lord of the Rings. Originally developed by Turbine, the game launched in North America, Australia, Japan, and Europe in April 2007 as The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Players could create characters of four races and seven classes and adventure throughout the region of Eriador. In November 2008, the Mines of Moria expansion was released, adding the region of Moria and two new playable classes. It was followed by the Siege of Mirkwood in December 2009. In 2010 the game underwent a shift from its original subscription-based payment model to being free-to-play.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2002 action-adventure video game developed by WXP for the Xbox. It was ported to the Game Boy Advance by Pocket Studios and the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows by Surreal Software. The game was published by Vivendi Universal Games under their Black Label Games publishing label. In North America, it was released for Xbox and Game Boy Advance in September, and for PlayStation 2 and Windows in October. In Europe, it was released for Xbox, Windows and Game Boy Advance in November, and for PlayStation 2 in December.
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II is a 2006 real-time strategy video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. The second part of the Middle-earth strategy game series, it is based on the fantasy novels The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien and its live-action film series adaptation. It is the sequel to Electronic Arts' 2004 title The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth. Along with the standard edition, a Collector's Edition of the game was released, containing bonus material and a documentary about the game's development.
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring is a 2003 real-time strategy game (RTS) developed by Liquid Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal Games. Set in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional Middle-earth, it expands upon the events of the War of the Ring as told in his fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings.
War of the Ring is a strategy board game based on The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The game was made by Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello, first produced by Nexus Editrice (Italy), and is currently published by Ares Games.
Gollum is a monster with a distinctive style of speech in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became important in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings. Gollum was a Stoor Hobbit of the River-folk who lived near the Gladden Fields. In The Lord of the Rings it is stated that he was originally known as Sméagol, corrupted by the One Ring, and later named Gollum after his habit of making "a horrible swallowing noise in his throat".
Middle-earth is the setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the Miðgarðr of Norse mythology and Middangeard in Old English works, including Beowulf. Middle-earth is the oecumene, in Tolkien's imagined mythological past. Tolkien's most widely read works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are set entirely in Middle-earth. "Middle-earth" has also become a short-hand term for Tolkien's legendarium, his large body of fantasy writings, and for the entirety of his fictional world.
Hobitit is a nine-part Finnish live action fantasy television miniseries directed by Timo Torikka, originally broadcast in 1993 on Yle TV1.
"The Shadow of the Past" is the second chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's bestselling fantasy work, The Lord of the Rings, which was published in 1954–1955. Tolkien called it "the crucial chapter"; the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey labelled it "the vital chapter". This is because it represents both the moment that Tolkien devised the central plot of the book, and the point in the story where the protagonist, Frodo Baggins, and the reader realise that there will be a quest to destroy the Ring. A sketch of it was among the first parts of the book to be written, early in 1938; later that year, it was one of three chapters of the book that he drafted. In 1944, he returned to the chapter, adding descriptions of Gollum, the Ring, and the hunt for Gollum.
The Switch version will follow later in 2023.
Elendor is a very large and successful Mush dedicated to role playing and exploration in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth. This is the same universe immortalized in the classic Lord of the Rings trilogy, the books that defined sword-and-sorcery fantasy. If you don't want to encounter a lot of other players, this is the wrong Mush to play in. Elendor is well populated, and it is hard to move around without encountering other characters.
Elendor, an old-school Middle-earth multiuser shared hallucination, remains one of the most popular text-based worlds in cyberspace.
MUME IVMulti-Users in Middle Earth, or MUME, simulates Tolkien's world of Middle Earth. [...] Role-playing is encouraged, but this is primarily an adventure and combat MUD. [...] Server: Diku
MUME [...] The action takes place in the late Third Age, before The Hobbit and after the loss of the One Ring by Sauron. The key of Erebor was just found by Gandalf and all the epic tales narrated in The Lord of the Rings may take place.
Two Towers Multi-User Dungeon http://www.angband.com/towers This page serves as an entrance to the Two Towers Multi-User Dungeon, allowing game players to step into the world of fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien. Intrepid visitors can learn about the game or link to Tolkien sites dotting the net.
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