As a big fan of both video games and the written works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the realm of “Lord of the Rings” video games holds a special place in this writer’s heart.
“The Lord of the Rings” stories hold up in modern times for a reason: They’re timeless tales of grappling with greed, and evil versus good that will resonate today, tomorrow and untold eons from now.
And there are epic battles, to boot.
All that means the franchise will be ripe for video game adaptations for as long as fans of the franchise exist.
“Lord of the Rings” has certainly had hiccups (some bad ones), but the video games have largely been well-regarded.
They have, however, generally been of a remarkably similar flavor: They’re mostly third-person action games.
In the early aughts, video game adaptations of “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King” were beloved versions of the films’ most action-packed moments.
They were a staple of my childhood as a popular activity for me and my friends after basketball.
Fast forward to my adulthood, and the 2014 release of “Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor” and its 2017 sequel, “Middle-earth: Shadow of War,” evoked similar childhood sensations of waging digital war in Tolkien’s carefully crafted universe.
Have you read both “The Lord of the Ring” books and watched the movies?
Both of those games were great, but both were also third-person action games.
Now, when the franchise has explored outside of that genre, the results have been far more mixed.
The 2023 third-person stealth game “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum,” for example, is terrible. But the awful nature of the game has nothing to do with its swapping out action for stealth. It’s just a poorly made, rushed cash-in on a beloved IP.
“Gollum” is also the last major “Lord of the Rings” video game to hit the market. It ultimately left such a bad taste in everyone’s mouths that nobody was sure how “Lord of the Rings” video games would continue.
Well, that question was answered on Monday when the world got its first good glimpse of “Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Video Game.”
Unwieldy title aside, the game is a stark departure from both “Gollum” and the ghosts of “Lord of the Rings” past for very apparent reasons.
See if you can spot it yourself:
Yes, it looks like your player character in “Tales of the Shire” will be swapping in the typical broadsword for a shovel and hoe.
“Tales of the Shire” will trade in epic battles for peaceful community-building, as your Hobbit character works to build out a local shire so it can become an official village in Hobbiton.
There’s no existential evil to battle and no all-conquering ring to throw into a volcano here — at least based on the trailer.
Just simple farming, bartering and building out your community a la “The Sims” or “Animal Crossing.”
It’s certainly a risky choice for developer Wētā Workshop and publisher Private Division, an offshoot of industry conglomerate Take-Two Interactive.
“Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Video Game” is slated to come out later this year and will be available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
