I consider myself a person very used to reading. Perhaps that is why, when the first trailer for The Lord of the Rings was released, that little boy who once eagerly devoured The Return of the King (and the three previous books) at the age of ten or eleven, ended up taking complete control of my emotions. , obsessing over the following days with what was shown. Like the one who falls prey to the fashionable song. What a pleasure to see Gandalf, Aragorn , the Nazgul trotting … And what a brooch had the advance: Frodo putting on the One Ring!
That powerful two-and-a-half minute preview was just a tiny sample of the three-film blockbuster set to revolutionize the fantasy cinema of the new millennium. The dream come true of anyone who imagined Middle-earth and, of course, the beginning of a phenomenon that continues to this day, taking root very well in different media, including -of course- video games.
After all, the premiere of each film was covered with merchandising aimed at a more adult audience than that of other film productions.
Fans of the JRR Tolkien legacy and passionate moviegoers found themselves staring at the same shelves, fascinated with all that came from the film director Peter Jackson’s vision of Middle-earth. Figures, replicas of swords, Warhammer sets … Who knows how many golden rings inscribed in the black tongue of Mordor have been produced since then.
Logically, the New Line (Warner subsidiary) license also gave new impetus to everything that was traditionally associated with The Lord of the Rings , including a relaunch of role-playing games with updated rules and images from the movies, a new collectible card series and, thanks to a prolific and ambitious deal with EA , a video game series that would not only adapt the movies, but go further.
What New Line and EA did not take into account is that they were not the only ones who had the license of Tolkien Enterprises : Vivendi Games had acquired the rights and permissions to bring The Lord of the Rings to video games based on the books, And the truth is that the premiere of the films -in addition- would come from pearls to promote them.
From New Zealand to the screens. And from there, with a VIP pass, to the consoles
EA began production of the Lord of The Rings games shortly after filming itself began. And that was great for him in every aspect: New Line and Jackson’s team gave them a truly privileged treatment in order to bring the definitive adaptation to life. That was noticed in all the titles that will come later.
To put ourselves in context, although the simultaneous recording of the trilogy took place between October 1999 and December of the following year, the development of the first title based on the films began in February 2000 with the intention that the film and video game share a date of premiere. Or, at least, that was the initial plan.
Unlike other adaptations, Electronic Arts not only received a copy of the complete script, but also had access to the storyboards , concept art from teachers Alan Lee and John Howe . And, among the most valuable, the advice and guidance of the Weta Workshop , the company that -basically- created everything you see on screen.
So why was the launch delayed?
A year and a half after starting the adaptation, and with Jackson filming more footage, EA realized that the project at hand would not be in time for the big screen premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring . Luckily, in New Zealand they continued to bring the films to life and they opened the doors wide for them , moving to the sets and stages where the films were cooking for a week.
It goes without saying that even from the early stages of game development EA was able to view raw and freshly shot cuts from the movies, and had access to Weta’s library of resources. That was a real opportunity . To which must be added the unconditional participation of the actors (who lent their voice to their characters in the game).
Not only did they count on Viggo Mortensen to bring Aragorn to life through his voice and image, but also his motion captures, as well as those of maestro Bob Anderson , with which the choreographies and movements would be exact replicas of what was seen on screen.
After a very warm reception of the first film, in February 2002, EA officially announced its Lord of the Rings game by putting the cards on the table for the rest of the year: its deployment would reach all existing platforms, offering action and hack-n slash in three-dimensional environments in 128-bit systems and adventure in isometric scenarios in GBA.
But the most important thing is that, in addition to integrating and merging footage from the film with the game itself, the events of the first two films will be covered under the same game called: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
A smart move to go to the slipstream of the next premiere and stand out from the other Lord of the Rings game that -by the way- came out that same year: Vivendi’s Fellowship of the Ring.
The alternative: the Middle Earth of Vivendi and Sierra
We go back to 2001 . Specifically, to the month of May. Sierra Entertainment , gives the blow on the table announcing that it will bring The Lord of the Rings to video games, emphasizing that its vision will be directly based on Tolkien’s work and that there is no type of link with the films that will arrive at the end of that same year.
The reason? The adaptation rights to Tolkien’s work are owned by Vivendi, while EA’s deal is solely with New Line and the films. And that’s an advantageous situation:
- If something doesn’t appear in the movies, EA can’t include it in their game
- Additionally, Sierra can freely delve into Tolkien’s work, including other works of his
- And yet, the investment to promote the game is not so aggressive: New Line is worrying about promoting Tolkien’s work globally
Logically, this was an opportunity that they could not afford to miss.
Thus, the use of legal rights at that time is a master maneuver that will not only coincide with an emerging phenomenon, but also serves as a claim for the most purist fans of The Lord of the Rings . Something that they took care to make clear throughout the development phase and until its launch:
The game seeks to fulfill the dreams of die-hard Tolkien fans who demand fidelity to the books. In the end, what will make fans weigh which game based on Tolkien’s work to buy will be the fact that it offers larger levels, more character diversity and the attention to detail of the story itself.
Vivendi created for the occasion Black Label Games , a new publishing label from which projects of this caliber would depart and began to shape the Fellowship of the Ring as an action-adventure title whose playability would depend on the events and which of the three characters ( Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf ) we control. From that point on it was only necessary to do things right.
In addition, the project was put in the hands of WXP Games and initially presented for Xbox, although little by little versions for all systems will be announced, indicating a really ambitious roadmap :
- Initially, the official video game of The Fellowship of the Ring will be launched in 2002, which will be continued by the rest of the books that make up The Lord of the Rings.
- In addition, the following year an adaptation of The Hobbit will be published , the adventure that is promoted as a kind of prequel to The Lord of the Rings.
- And the thing does not end there: in the medium term an MMORPG located in Middle Earth will be launched. Sierra went with everything.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings coincided on the shelves with EA’s The Two Towers game, anticipating it and the homonymous movie a couple of months. However, the reception it received was not really positive . That Vivendi Middle Earth did not match the charm that Peter Jackson had instilled in the first part of the trilogy and the gameplay did not play in his favor either.
Better luck had The Hobbit , although not enough to shoot rockets, interpreting Tolkien’s book as a colorful adventure game more or less in the vein of the three-dimensional The Legend of Zelda games of the time. Of course, without standing out.
The two announced sequels of The Lord of the Rings would be canceled, although demos of The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard , the game that would replicate EA’s The Two Towers , were produced. On the other hand, the following projects, titled Middle-earth Online and War of the Ring , completed their development and were launched with a better reception than the previous projects.
Beyond the Movies: The Joint Legacy of The Lord of the Rings and EA
In 2003, and coinciding with the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Electronic Arts will launch the official video game of the third film, taking a step forward in everything that worked wonderfully with The Two Towers and polishing what We wanted to see on 128-bit systems: more selectable characters and local multiplayer . This was a dream come true.
EA was able to masterfully transfer the epicity and majesty of Peter Jackson to his two titles and delight fans, allowing them to relive and take sides in the best scenes of the film a thousand times , alone or in company. Not only did he seize the moment, but he made the opportunity a must for Tolkien fans. And after that?
Although what happened in the movies (and, by extension, what they could lead to the games) was released in theaters around Christmas 2003, by 2004 EA planned to launch two new games based on The Lord of the Rings .
New projects that extended and gave interesting twists to the universe created by Jackson , tackling new genres such as RPG with The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age and real-time strategy with The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth .
Two genres that, it must be said, fit the Tolkien universe like a glove.
The following year another equally attractive bet would come to PSP and under the same terms to PSP, Sony’s first laptop: The Lord of the Rings: Tactics . EA kept stretching the license and the truth is that all fans (even those who were fascinated directly from the books) were winning with it.
In 2009 The Lord of the Rings: Conquest would be published and, beyond offering new excuses to travel to Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth, it would mean a change of hands of the property: EA lost the cinematographic rights in favor of Warner, who was From that same year, it will commission to produce and publish new games for consoles, PCs and mobiles inspired by The Lord of the Rings.
Just in time, on the other hand, to repeat EA’s move with Tolkien’s return to the screens with The Hobbit trilogy.
And so we get to today, and -seen in perspective- the panorama has not changed too much in many aspects:
- Warner continues EA’s legacy by expanding Jackson’s version with titles like Shadows of Mordor and its sequel. Establishing itself on mobile devices and even daring to experiment with characters from Tolkien’s Legendarium.
- But there are also other game proposals based on the official Tolkien Enterprises license, such as The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game and soon the Gollum game.
The next big stage? The new change of decade comes hand in hand with Amazon’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings series , and also more projects related to Middle-earth such as a very promising MMORPG.
While Jackson’s films were a booster for book lovers, the biggest challenge for these new initiatives and formats is – precisely – to live up to what was experienced two decades ago. And what was experienced was a lot.
