Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle Earth Review

A New Ring Emerges 

All Lord of the Rings fans know there are 20 rings:

“Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for mortal men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, 

In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.” 

However, there is a new ring of power, one for the hero who will help save Middle-Earth. In Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle Earth, developed by Electronic Arts, players can relieve the events of the Lord of the Rings series. This turn-based strategy game adds new original scenarios that rewrite the original story with the power of this new ring. Form a fellowship of unlikely heroes to set things right in Middle-Earth. 

Build a Fellowship 

As the bearer of this new ring of power, the player must build teams from all over Middle-Earth. Recruit characters from the elves of Rivendell, like Legolas, to the hobbits of the Shire, such as Samwise Gamgee. The player will start the game with Frodo and Strider, the ranger. LotR: Heroes of Middle Earth offers fan-favorite characters to collect and brand-new original characters. 

 There is a gacha mechanic in place to unlock all the characters to join your fellowship. LotR: Heroes of Middle Earth offers a few ways to unlock new characters. The first way is to level up through experience points. These are gained by completing quests and other objectives. Another way to unlock more characters is through in-game currency that can be obtained by completing quests or by spending real money. While players can directly purchase the characters they want for their fellowship, spending a single dollar to collect them all is unnecessary, which is always appreciated. 

Change the Fate of Middle-Earth 

With the power of this new ring, the player can change the course of the history of Middle-Earth. LotR: Heroes of Middle Earth lets fans experience alternate timelines. These alternate timelines allow fans to see many “what if” scenarios, like Gandalf turning evil. In addition, seeing fan-favorite characters making different decisions than they did in the original story is a refreshing way to revisit these heroes. 

The goal for the bearer of the new ring of power is to set these timelines right. To do this, the player summons characters from different timelines to band together and fix the history of Middle-Earth. This allows players to build teams with the same character from different timelines. However, this only adds a little to the story itself. It would have been nice to see these characters interact with each other. In addition, having two versions of the same character that went down two different paths would make it more enticing for players to collect every character. 

Frodo Fights for You 

LotR: Heroes of Middle Earth is a turn-based strategy game with minimal strategy. Heroes have a variety of different abilities, each with its unique effects. Some abilities deal damage, while others heal allies, buff stats, or debuff enemies. In addition to their abilities, heroes have various stats, including health, attack, defense, and speed. These stats determine how much damage a hero can deal, how much damage they can take, and how quickly they can move.

However, these mechanics mean little. The tutorial level with Frodo and Strider is overly easy, with enemies dying in one hit and no focus on any real strategy. After the tutorial section, LotR: Heroes of Middle Earth does not get any more difficult. Regardless of team build, or what attacks or skills are used, the player is almost guaranteed to win. On top of that, each battle has an auto option that will play the whole battle for the player, eliminating any gameplay. 

If the enemies and battles were more difficult and strategic, it would give them some purpose. However, they are not rewarding since it takes no effort to win. Building teams of different characters and upgrading their gear is often more engaging than using them in combat. 

 The Final Quest 

Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle Earth is good from a story perspective. Being able to relive moments from the franchise and exploring new scenarios and timelines is engaging. Collecting all of the different characters and building a fellowship is also enticing. However, where the game needs to improve is the actual gameplay. There is no strategy or challenge in LotR: Heroes of Middle Earth. If you are a fan of the Lord of the Ring franchise and want to see all of these new scenarios, put on the auto-battle feature to get right back to the story. Otherwise, there is little here in terms of a fun game.