5 Things We Want To See In Warhorse’s LOTR RPG (And 1 We Really Don’t)

For over seventy years, The Lord of the Rings has captured the hearts of fans, growing from the delightful world Tolkien created in The Hobbit into a grand, sweeping story. While it’s been adapted into games and other media many times, the newest version looks particularly promising.

As a huge fan of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, I’m so excited that Warhorse Studios is making a game set in Middle-earth! Right now, we don’t know a ton about it, but the possibilities are amazing. I’m really hoping they’ll use this chance to show us parts of the world we haven’t seen much of in other games, create some fresh faces, and maybe even play around with the existing stories in cool and unexpected ways. Here’s what I’m most hoping to see – and one thing I think they should probably steer clear of!

We Want To See A Lot Of Middle-earth

One of the biggest draws of a game based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s world is the opportunity to experience that incredible setting in a fresh way. Middle-earth is full of amazing places, from iconic locations to lesser-known areas rarely depicted in movies or other games. A game by Warhorse Studios, known for building detailed and immersive environments, would be a perfect way to explore both the familiar and the hidden corners of Tolkien’s world, creating a truly captivating adventure.

We’re hoping the developers don’t simply repeat familiar ground and locations from other games. The real excitement lies in the potential to explore new and existing settings with the same deep level of realism and immersion found in the first Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Ideally, the game will strike a balance between what fans expect and fresh, surprising experiences from the Warhorse team.

We Should Get A Specific Place In The Timeline

It’s exciting to think about how Warhorse Studios will bring their unique style to the world of Lord of the Rings. They’re known for creating deeply immersive stories in their games, and that will likely shape how they approach this new project. While the main story of Lord of the Rings is well-established, there’s still room to explore and expand within that universe.

Games such as Shadow of Mordor have demonstrated how successfully developers can build upon Tolkien’s established world. It would be great to see them do that again. Whether they choose to focus on a time period before The Rings of Power, retell the events of the main Lord of the Rings story in a new way, or even adapt Tolkien’s unfinished ideas, it’s important that the developers clearly define the game’s time setting to create a cohesive experience.

We Need The Combat To Not Become Overwhelming

The large scale of battles in the Lord of the Rings could be both a strength and a weakness for the developers. While it allows for epic scenes with huge armies clashing, it also risks making fights either too chaotic or too simple. A key success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance was its ability to keep combat focused and manageable for the player, and maintaining that focus with larger battles will be a challenge.

The game needs a balance between exciting action and avoiding repetitive gameplay. Too much fighting could break the player’s immersion in the story. We’ve seen many Lord of the Rings games focused on defeating large numbers of enemies, but Warhorse’s game should prioritize a more thoughtful and suspenseful combat system, similar to what Kingdom Come: Deliverance II did – making each fight feel meaningful and tense.

We Can Live Out Our LOTR Life

What really set Kingdom Come: Deliverance II apart was its ability to feel like a truly immersive role-playing game where your choices mattered, all while still delivering a strong, focused story. It’s a difficult combination to pull off, but Warhorse Studios clearly knows how. That’s why there’s so much excitement about them working on a game set in the Lord of the Rings universe – fans are hoping for the same blend of player freedom and compelling storytelling, with a fresh, unique story within that beloved world.

Honestly, the Warhorse LOTR game I’m dreaming of wouldn’t just be about the main story. A huge part of what makes Middle-earth so amazing is just being there, living a life within it. It’s a tough balance – letting us players make our own mark on the world, but still giving the developers space to tell a compelling story. They’ve done some cool stuff with open-world games lately, so I think they could pull it off, but it’s a big ask and I’m really hoping they nail it!

We’d Love To Explore Characters We Haven’t Seen Before

Okay, so as a gamer, I’m expecting to see some characters I recognize in Warhorse’s Lord of the Rings game – it’s kind of unavoidable with a franchise this big, and with characters like Elves and Wizards living so long, it makes sense they’d show up for bits and pieces of the story. But honestly, I really don’t want it to feel like we’re just replaying old moments. I’m hoping this game can break new ground, not just with the places we explore, but also by introducing us to fresh faces and letting us forge new stories alongside them. It needs to feel exciting and original, not just a retread of everything we already know.

This would allow Warhorse more freedom to tell their own stories, particularly if they can cleverly incorporate new ideas into the existing world and history. Introducing fresh characters or focusing on lesser-known figures from the source material would be perfect, especially if it helps resolve unanswered questions from the original story – such as what happened to the Blue Wizards – in a way that feels grand and fitting for the franchise, while still keeping the focus on compelling characters.

We Don’t Need To Be Part Of The Fellowship

The characters of the Fellowship are well-known, and we’ve had the chance to play as most of them in games already. Their story has been adapted many times, leaving little room to add anything new without changing what’s already established. A new game doesn’t need to focus on them directly; revisiting their quest would feel repetitive rather than innovative. While a game set during the War of the Ring could include the Fellowship through cameos or brief team-ups, that approach has been explored before.

Fans are hoping the upcoming Warhorse Lord of the Rings game captures the detailed world and compelling story found in their previous titles. A smart move might be to focus on lesser-known characters, allowing players to create their own unique journey within the established lore. Ultimately, we’re eager to see Warhorse deliver a truly immersive Lord of the Rings RPG, rather than simply retreading familiar ground.

2026-05-25 20:12