The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s legendary fantasy series, currently has a few projects in development: these span video games, films, and the continuation of the Amazon Prime series. The three Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings films were both critically, and commercially successful, but the newer Lord of the Rings material has struggled to step out of the shadow of the original Trilogy. Some cherish the Hobbit films but they never lived up to the Lord of the Rings trilogy for others.
The Amazon Prime series, while its casting has been called “woke,” the acting and writing have been criticized even more than the original criticisms of “woke” casting. Despite this, I thought it was a fun watch. I will watch the third season when it is released. Then there’s the anime, the Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. The anime was under two hours long and is a great family-friendly title that I’d recommend to anyone wanting a wholesome Lord of the Rings experience. The main and most mysterious news for Lord of the Rings fans has been the announcement of a new film being directed by Peter Jackson named The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum which will have many of the original cast returning over 20 years after the original trilogy. For me, this was a shocking announcement.
The Hunt for Gollum
When I was a kid, the Lord of the Rings movies felt like the most epic, inspiring pieces of media I had ever seen. I was a huge fan as soon as I first watched The Fellowship of the Ring in the cinema. I only had a vague idea of what the Lord of the Rings was before seeing it in the cinema that day. I was about ten years old and Harry Potter had been more my thing up to that point. However, after watching Fellowship, I metaphorically threw Harry’s wand away and picked up the one ring. The Lord of the Rings had hooked me, and although the movies don’t seem as epic to me today, I still am a keen Tolkien fan.
In the years that followed the release of the original trilogy, I often thought about the possibility of unique Lord of the Rings film projects that would explore different storylines in the Middle-earth universe. Eventually, the Hobbit films got made and when I first saw the first film in that trilogy I was slightly disappointed. I didn’t think it captured the magic of the original trilogy. Anyway, the point that I’m trying to make, is that now, finally we will get some unique storylines turned into films. My younger self would have been excited about this. My current self is happy about it. However, there are still some unanswered questions. We know that the new film will explore a period that is shown in The Fellowship of the Ring. That is, when Gandalf searches for Gollum around the time Gollum is tortured by Sauron and reveals the name of the Shire. So, does this mean some of the original cast will return? With modern technology that is certainly a possibility. Will the films go for a similar style and use similar themes? I guess we will find out in the coming months.
Video games – History
There are some great Lord of the Rings video games. The first that got widespread media and fan attention, and also arguably the best, are LOTR The Two Towers, and LOTR Return of the King for PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube. These games used animations from the movies and looked exceedingly realistic. For me, they showcase the power of their respective systems better than most other titles. The gameplay is great hack-and-slash arcade-style action. Although, the games could also be described as action RPGs. There’s leveling up, and new moves to unlock, but then the games are level-based and exploration isn’t really a gameplay element. The character follows a set path. Regardless of this, I think The Two Towers in particular is highly underrated. The GBA versions of these games are also worth mentioning, they are great Diablo clones.
The next few Lord of the Rings console games such as The Lord of the Rings Conquest, and The Lord of the Rings War in the North were slash-em-up action games. The first is a similar game to Star Wars Battlefront, and the latter is a PS3/Xbox 360 attempted upgrade of the gameplay found in LOTR: TTT and LOTR: TROTK from the previous generation. Both games were average experiences. Around this time Lego Lord of the Rings started releasing and these are like all the Lego games. They combine simple puzzles with platforming and collecting. If they’re your kind of game then that is great, but I really don’t find the gameplay loop addictive or rewarding.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was released in 2017. It used a very similar engine to the Assassin’s Creed games that were released around that time, but it also had an exclusive ‘nemesis’ system where the Orcs that the player comes across have a set hierarchy and there is much interaction between the player and the Orcs in the game. I haven’t experienced it fully, but the game is great. Imagine the combat and platforming of Assassin’s Creed mixed with an addictive, unique way to remember previous enemy encounters. Shadow of Mordor, the sequel is a similar great game.
Video games – New Titles
That brings us to the latest game. Named after the corrupted Hobbit, Gollum, was released May 23, 2023 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S/X, and PC. The game flopped. It must have had issues during development since the game was full of bugs and lacked solid gameplay which resulted in a poor quality experience. I haven’t played it. I would have given it a chance but the Switch version never released. The design of Gollum looked unique and I’m sure the concepts that they first developed were great. The art style may have been a breath of fresh air for the Lord of the Rings franchise, but I guess things never came together for the project to succeed.
Tales of the Shire is a title that will be released on all current major platforms. It’s been delayed twice over the last year. It’s now due to be released on July 29. The game looks like an Animal Crossing-style social simulation. The delay may turn out to be good for the title. As Miyamoto is often misquoted as saying, “A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever.” If you’ve ever enjoyed playing The Sims you might like This entry in the Lord of the Rings game library. I’m personally really excited about this title.
I think the idea of playing a game that you can relax with, and is set in the Lord of the Rings universe with all its interesting lore, is very appealing. Get ready to trim some Kingsfoil in the heat of the summer! The last game that I will mention is The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. This title is a survival game coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. It centers around a group of Dwarves who are trying to retake Moria. Be prepared to do a lot of crafting and possibly some hunting.
Amazon Prime- Rings of Power Season 3
The Rings of Power series has received detailed and lengthy criticism from most YouTubers who discuss fantasy franchises. The “woke” nature of its casting has received backlash mainly because Lord of the Rings fans argue that people of different races should be cast appropriately, such as those from the south of Middle-earth having darker skin, rather than the series just having a completely random choice of ethnicity for each character. The series has also taken flack for bad acting, bad writing, and even bad special effects. You’d think that the most expensive streaming show ever would have achieved at least some critical acclaim. However, I think that the show is still enjoyable if you are a Tolkien fan, and don’t mind the “woke” casting.
Season 3 of Rings of Power is rumored to arrive in August 2026. We still have quite a wait until its release. With The Hunt for Gollum releasing in 2027, the main Lord of the Rings media to release in 2025 are Tales of the Shire, and Return to Moria. Let’s hope that these two titles can capture the magic of Tolkien.
The future’s bright
The Lord of the Rings franchise has many upcoming projects to be excited about. The series has had few releases since the Peter Jackson trilogy and some would argue that has been good for the brand. The Two Towers and Return of the King video games were great experiences, probably only rivaled by Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War in terms of the best Lord of the Rings video games. We have Tales of the Shire and Return to Moria to look forward to this year. No doubt there are other games planned for major consoles. The video games of Lord of the Rings has a bright future.
In terms of film, The Hunt for Gollum announcement was a pleasant surprise for many LOTR fans. There’s some fear that it will be milking the franchise dry and may flop and turn the Lord of the Rings into Star Wars in terms of how damaged that IP has become. However, this stand-alone film is being developed by Jackson and Boyens from the original trilogy. I can’t wait until it releases. I really enjoyed War of the Rohirrim and feel more standalone entries could be really good for the fans.
