Here Are Those Free Middle-earth Video Game Ideas That You Asked About
You didn’t ask for these. Nobody asked for these. Here they are. Enjoy these free ideas for games set in Middle-earth, suddenly feasible in the wake of Shadow of Mordor.
These specific would-be games are unlikely, of course, because I am neither Monolith nor Warner Bros. I have an appreciation for Shadow of Mordor and for Middle-earth — problematic though they are — but I have no license to create games in Middle-earth, so I do this instead.
Storytelling in the half-lit aura of Lord of the Rings, whether it takes the form of a film or a video game or a tabletop RPG campaign, is something like wonderfully researched fan-fiction even with a talented cast of artists and performers. All material set in Middle-earth and not written by the Professor himself is a kind of “fannish” what-if exploration of lands left unexplored by Tolkien himself. Put another way, it’s not canon.
It might be more apt, here, to say that tales set in a Middle-earth are not canon. Though not as clearly delineated as, say, the expanded universes of Star Wars (which benefits from know-how learned in response to fan-driven expansions of universes like Star Trek’s), we interact with many a Middle-earth.
Material written for the films of The Hobbit is true in that instance of Middle-earth but doesn’t need to carry directly to, say, the roleplaying game of The One Ring or the MMORPG of Lord of the Rings Online. (For what it’s worth, I’m a big-enough fan of LOTRO that I’d love to see WB release additional games drawing on that game’s expanded and respectfully exuberant vision of Middle-earth.) It’s easy to draw a line between, say, the Middle-earth Cinematic Universe directed by Peter Jackson and the original canon by Professor Tolkien himself. But other works stem from both, be it video games descended from the films directly or paintings and poems descended through homage from the novels.
In this way, I think it’s noteworthy that Shadow of Mordor is officially called Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and not Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor, though I don’t know exactly why that is.
Are Alan Lee’s lovely depictions of Middle-earth, drawn prior to the films, a part of the literary universe or the cinematic universe? What about the sets and costumes designed in homage to Lee’s art? It’s all beautifully tangled.
I might be in the clear to say that only material written by J.R.R. Tolkien is strictly canonical, technically a part of his legendarium, for example. But he wrote The Silmarillion and left it unpublished in doubt, so I sometimes consider the seam between Tolkien’s writings and what he chose to publish. Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn’t. Carry on.
The point is: Not all Middle-earths exist in the same literary continuums. This is good! This helps us maintain a potentially ongoing cycle of inspiration and homage without exhausting the raw material of the canon.
Tolkien once wrote:
Part of the attraction [of The Lord of the Rings] is, I think, due to the glimpses of a large history in the background: an attraction like that of viewing far off an unvisited island, or seeing the towers of a distant city gleaming in a sunlit mist. To go there is to destroy the magic, unless new unattainable vistas are again revealed.”
(JRRT, Letter #247, 20 September 1963)
By not assigning some official canonical seal to Alan Lee’s vision of Moria, Peter Jackson’s vision of Hobbiton, or Jon Hodgson’s vision of Lake-town, though each is lovely, we get to reimagine these places over and again as readers and players ourselves. One game’s Mordor remains an interpretation, a dramatized fan-fiction headcanon version, so we each continue to imagine our own adaptation of Tolkien’s material.
Even the visited city remains distant and gleaming, if you will.
Anyway, that’s why I feel comfortable sharing these ideas. If Monolith or Warner Bros. wants to make these games, they probably already know it and certainly have their own inspired artists to make them. But, yeah, if any of you at Monolith or WB want me to write any of these games, just say mellon.
Shadow of Moria
In which Dwarves attempt to reclaim the mines of Moria from the Enemy’s goblins — and worse.
What are the essential ingredients of Shadow of Mordor that a sequel or sibling game must include to be a part of the same franchise? How much of the first game’s recipe was — and should remain — unique to the relationships and styles of its characters? How much can change to reflect the unique dynamics of a new cast, a new landscape, and a new story?
In this game, players portray brave Dwarf-lords in two distinct eras, linked by ambition and fate, within the grand halls of Khazad-dûm, and across centuries. Play alternates between the era of Balin’s bold efforts to reclaim the mansions of Moria (after the events of The Hobbit) and later efforts by the folk of Durin to do the same (after the events of The Lord of the Rings). The player’s character in each era is haunted by a specter of greed — a wraith not unlike the Bright Master of Shadow of Mordor — created through the dread of the Rings of Power gifted by Sauron long ago and lingering in Moria’s mithril veins as a fell shadow. This is an adventure about greed and mithril, of fellowship and hubris, of gold — and other things that glitter in the gloom.
Where the protagonist of the first game is a Ranger of Gondor, swift and agile, this game is about stout and steady combatants of great poise. Battle goblins galore along precarious fire-lit heights and crumbling, narrow bridges. Loot gleaming treasure-vaults and marvel at grand mansions. Customize and level-up your axes and armor to withstand more ferocious foes in rhythm combat focused on shield-bashes and stamina. Baruk Khazâd!
Meanwhile, the Gilded Specter bestows ever-more-powerful magical abilities that allow us to find artifacts, unlock new depths, and mine precious gems and metals for advancement. The Specter brings us back to life, again and again, in its search for grand treasures —compelling us ever deeper beneath the mountains.
But in the time of Balin, the Balrog roams those depths. Story missions set during those days culminate in a boss battle against the Balrog itself — a battle we can complete but cannot “win.” The latter story concludes with a battle against the Specter himself — a battle against our own greed.
Shadow of Mirkwood
Elves battle wicked forces swarming out of Dol Guldur.
This is roughly the time and place when the first of The One Ring’s tabletop campaigns occur, and for good reason: Mirkwood fairly teems with monsters and perils easy to tie in to lore written by Tolkien himself. Elves and Dwarves, humans and Orcs, spiders and spirits — this haunted forest is rife with adventures to undertake.
Mirkwood is one of the big reasons to propose this idea, of course, but this one makes some degree of sense also because it could make use of art sources and assets inspired by Shadow of Mordor and The Hobbit alike. Feasability’s okay, I guess.
This time, I imagine we play either a bold and cunning Woman of the Woods, perhaps sent by Radagast to live among the Wood-elves in her youth so she has a foot in the realms of King Thranduil and mortals alike. Otherwise, at the risk of too-closely resembling badass lady Elves like Arwen or Tauriel, our heroine could be a badass Elf-lady. Maybe we fight with bows and spears, because spears deserve some more screen time in video games.
In some ways, this could be the pitch here closest in style to Shadow of Mordor, even while diverging aesthetically. We might still have spirit-towers and Orc hordes here, but also Wood-elf ruins, webbed forests, and the sorcerous fortress of Dol Guldur. Where Shadow of Mordor offers DLC featuring additional characters like the warrior, Lithariel, this game could offer missions for a character of the Beornings — including the ability to become a bear!
If we need Wraith-style game elements here, perhaps they come from the spirits of Elves rescued throughout Mirkwood, fallen or corrupted on their journeys into the West. Rather than a single mysterious Wraith, these beings grant unique and potent alterations to the core gameplay depending on which we “carry” with us. Some are still good and true, others bear traces of the Shadow and cannot be borne for too long. Ultimately, we must help them all leave Middle-earth and their pasts behind.
Shadows in the North
Reclaim ancient cities of Arnor from deathless knights on behalf of King Elessar.
The Two Kingdoms of the Dúnedain in Middle-earth were twins: Arnor in the North, Gondor in the South. Gondor you know. Strife and woe broke Arnor apart into three kingdoms, each of which eventually perished in plague and war, much of it crafted by the Witch-king of Angmar (mightiest of the Ring-wraiths in service of Sauron).
The great and kingly city of Annúminas, on the shores of Lake Evendim, fell to famine and ruin. The Dúnedain kings displaced to Fornost, north of the Shire. Fornost later fell to the armies of Angmar before Gondor and the Elves could retaliate. The Dúnedain called Arvedui the Last-king, ruler at Fornost, was carried north by sail to the frozen Bay of Forochel, where he died. Angmar’s victory over the Dúnedain would have been complete, then, but Arvedui’s eldest son — Aranarth — yet lived, becoming Chieftain of the Dúnedain. Long centuries later, a descendant of his would be crowned by the Wizard, Gandalf, to rule the Two Kingdoms anew as King Aragorn Elessar in the aftermath of the War of the Ring.
Here I consider the excellent work done to research and design the ruined lands of Fornost and Evendim for LOTRO and I find myself wanting to explore them all over again. If we involve the ghsot of the Last-king, we could include the frigid arctic territory of Forochel in the distant north, as well. So let’s make lingering ghosts and memories a big theme in this game.
Our hero could be a Ranger, again, this time perhaps from among the Rangers of the North in honor of Aragorn, or perhaps the child of Éowyn and Faramir (whose infant son might be safely kept in Gondor or even Bree). I’d like to see a hero or heroine with an intact family, whose motivation is to protect them rather than avenge them. Correspondence or messengers could even bring word from them throughout the game (for loading screens and such). This time, reclaiming towers and advancing time can allow for the game world to be populated by allied Rangers who dwell in makeshift or restored outposts throughout the land.
Here the ruins of Annúminas and Fornost provide us with stuff to climb and fight over, with plenty of haunted wilderness in between. Instead of surly Uruks, though, we battle grim wights, oath-breakers, and other bloodthirsty dead from ages past. Perhaps wild Men and Women of Rhudaur want to reclaim the North as well since their royal line stems from Arnor’s as well, even if Rhudaur did side with the Witch-king in ages past.
As a tale of the Fourth Age, this one’s a little more hopeful. The end of this game sees the Last-king laid to rest, the arrival of King Elessar in the North, and our protagonist reunited with their family.
Shadow of the Mountain
Fight Sauron’s forces in the War of the Ring around the Lonely Mountain.
Want to see how the War of the Ring unfolded around Dale, Lake-town, and the Lonely Mountain? Here you are. Mostly I just want to be able to parkour around Lake-town and Dale, the rest of this game is up to you.
Shadow of the Enemy
Heroic folk harry and hold back armies bound for Sauron’s attacks on Gondor.
Let’s look at the edges of Tolkien’s map, at the lands of the Easterlings and the Haradrim, at heroes harrowing and diminishing the armies in league with Sauron. Each victory here lessens the forces brought against Gondor and helps to win the War of the Ring. Brave Southrons and Easterlings opposed the Dark Lord and needled the efforts of their leaders to serve the Enemy — even when the lands of Gondor were the prize.
I won’t speculate a whole lot on what this game would look like, but I’d hope it would involve Oliphaunts, corsairs, and chariots. I’d hope it could combine some of the visual tropes inherited from other Middle-earth sources with other historical influences.
What had Bilbo heard about were-worms, anyway?
Whatever the supernatural forces at play in this game, be it wraiths, Blue Wizards, or the local magics of these far-away lands, it can be honed form scratch to suit this game’s guerilla-war gameplay, rather like Talion’s war in Shadow of Mordor but perhaps with squad-based AI? Maybe multiplayer even appears in this one.
Here we have a chance to showcase diverse heroes and heroines, to write the lore of these cultures, to witness the fearful drama that comes from watching your homeland align with a wicked force out of, what — desperation, envy, or revenge? Consider the heroism of the Haradrim who opposed their rulers. Imagine what was at stake for the Easterlings that spoke out against Sauron. The old heroes-we-didn’t-see-made-the-canonical-adventures trick is rather tired in licensed games, I admit, but there’s a powerful story to be told here about those who helped Gondor… and went unnamed.
So, yeah, all of this is essentially fan-fiction. Hell, it’s fan-fiction about a licensed spin-off from a secondary world, which means I’m playing several degrees out from direct originality here. That’s cool. Maybe you’ll think back on this when you get a Lord of the Rings license. Maybe you’ll draw on these ideas for a campaign in The One Ring.
Or maybe I will! Let’s see.
