Lord of the Rings: War in the North vs Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Lord of the Rings: War in the North is an action-RPG open-world game from Snowblind Studios (2011) while Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is an action-RPG open-world game from Feral Interactive (2014).
What each one is
Steam files Lord of the Rings: War in the North under Action-RPG and Open-World. In contrast, it files Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor under Action-RPG and Open-World.
Work together or die alone in this epic quest to turn the tides in the War of the Ring.
Fight through Mordor and uncover the truth of the spirit that compels you, discover the origins of the Rings of Power, build your legend and ultimately confront the evil of Sauron in this new chronicle of Middle-earth.
At a glance
| Lord of the Rings: War in the North | Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 6.8/10 | 8.1/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (81%, 9,566) | Very Positive (93%, 96,948) |
| Critic aggregate | 66/100 | 84/100 |
| Price | Not listed | $3.99 |
| Install size | — | 44 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | verified |
| Released | 2011 | 2014 |
| Developer | Snowblind Studios | Feral Interactive |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Lord of the Rings: War in the North vs Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Lord of the Rings: War in the NorthAction-RPG open-world gameMiddle-earth: Shadow of MordorAction-RPG open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Lord of the Rings: War in the NorthRPG, Action, Co-opMiddle-earth: Shadow of MordorOpen World, Action, FantasyThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Lord of the Rings: War in the NorthScore 6.8 · 81% on Steam · 66 criticMiddle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ✓Score 8.1 · 93% on Steam · 84 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Lord of the Rings: War in the North9,566 reviewsMiddle-earth: Shadow of Mordor96,948 reviews · 16 add-ons · 44 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Lord of the Rings: War in the NorthNot listedMiddle-earth: Shadow of Mordor$3.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Lord of the Rings: War in the NorthPlayableMiddle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ✓VerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueLord of the Rings: War in the North and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
- Xbox
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (GamingPickz Score 8.1)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (verified)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (96,948 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
RPGActionFantasyHack and SlashThird PersonAction RPGAdventureSingleplayer
Where they differ
Co-opOnline Co-OpMultiplayerControllerDwarfMedieval
StealthAssassinParkourStory RichDark FantasyMagic
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Lord of the Rings: War in the North is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Lord of the Rings: War in the North | Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | 2006 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 |
| Minimum CPU | Intel Core2 Duo 2.4 GHz | Intel Core i5-750, 2.67 GHz |
| Minimum RAM | 2 GB | 3 GB |
| Install size | — | 44 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Lord of the Rings: War in the North · Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Lord of the Rings: War in the North and 1 for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Lord of the Rings: War in the North and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor in scope?
Lord of the Rings: War in the North has drawn 9,566 Steam reviews. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor has drawn 96,948 Steam reviews, ships 16 add-ons and installs in 44 GB.
Is Lord of the Rings: War in the North or Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor rates higher (8.1 to 6.8). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Lord of the Rings: War in the North or Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.