Every Middle-earth game, ranked
All 2 Middle-earth games we hold, spanning 2014 to 2017: 2 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 213,638 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (GamingPickz Score 8.1), the highest-rated entry we can score.
The Middle-earth games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 2 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
2 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 2 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
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.
2 best Middle-earth games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Best for: Sinking a long time into one world
8.1GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceMiddle-earth: Shadow of Mordor at a glance Released 2014 Studio Feral Interactive Player sentiment 93% positive of 96,948 Critics 84/100 Price $3.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 44 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 93% shrinks to 93.0 on 96,948 reviews, then blends with the 84 critic aggregate, giving 8.1.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
- 2
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Best for: Sinking a long time into one world
8.0GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceMiddle-earth: Shadow of War at a glance Released 2017 Studio Monolith Productions Player sentiment 89% positive of 116,690 Critics No aggregate Price $4.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 70 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 89% shrinks to 89.0 on 116,690 reviews, giving 8.0. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- 89% positive across 116,690 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Worth checking first- Carries in-game purchases. Check what they cost before committing.
- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Middle-earth game we can score is Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor at 8.1. The lowest is Middle-earth: Shadow of War at 8.0, a 0.1-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor at $3.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Middle-earth entries on Steam:
- Verified: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Platforms across the series
Where the 2 Middle-earth games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 2 of 2 |
| Xbox | 1 of 2 |
The Middle-earth series, game by game
Every Middle-earth game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2014
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. (Steam)
Plot
Setting Shadow of Mordor is based on Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium and Peter Jackson's movie franchise. The game takes place in the 60-year gap between the events of Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings . The family of Talion (voiced and motion captured by Troy Baker ), a ranger of Gondor responsible for guarding the Black Gate of Mordor, is killed by the armies of Sauron, but Talion is revived with "wraith-like abilities" and heads into… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic . The Nemesis system was praised by critics. According to Lucas Sullivan of GamesRadar , the system elevated Shadow of Mordor to excellence by making its villains memorable and adding personality to its protagonist. (Wikipedia)
- 2017
Experience an epic open-world brought to life by the award-winning Nemesis System. Forge a new Ring of Power, conquer Fortresses in massive battles and dominate Mordor with your personal orc army in Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™. (Steam)
Plot
Troy Baker returned from the first game as the voice for Talion, the game's protagonist. He also served as the game's motion capture director. Shadow of War continues the narrative from Shadow of Mordor , following undead ranger Talion ( Troy Baker ) who is still infused with the spirit of the elf lord Celebrimbor ( Alastair Duncan ). (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception Middle-earth: Shadow of War received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic . Many critics noted the game's ambitious scope and its significant expansion of the nemesis system, but criticized the game's story and bloated size. The introduction of microtransactions and lootboxes (war chests) were widely criticized by critics. (Wikipedia)
Middle-earth, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Middle-earth vs other series
How Middle-earth stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Middle-earth vs DARK SOULS, Middle-earth vs Dragon Age, Middle-earth vs DRAGON BALL, Middle-earth vs Mass Effect, Middle-earth vs Monster Hunter, Middle-earth vs Mount & Blade, Middle-earth vs Yakuza, Middle-earth vs ARK, Middle-earth vs Borderlands, Middle-earth vs Deus Ex, Middle-earth vs Risen, Middle-earth vs State of Decay, Middle-earth vs The Witcher, Middle-earth vs Torchlight, Middle-earth vs Watch, Middle-earth vs ArcheAge, Middle-earth vs Divinity, Middle-earth vs Dragon's Dogma, Middle-earth vs Dungeon Siege, Middle-earth vs ELDEN RING, Middle-earth vs EverQuest, Middle-earth vs God of War, Middle-earth vs Gothic, Middle-earth vs Hades, Middle-earth vs Heroes of Hammerwatch, Middle-earth vs Kingdom Come, Middle-earth vs Kingdoms of Amalur, Middle-earth vs Marvel’s Spider-Man, Middle-earth vs Might & Magic, Middle-earth vs NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, Middle-earth vs Pathfinder, Middle-earth vs Prototype, Middle-earth vs South Park, Middle-earth vs Street Fighter, Middle-earth vs The Lord of the Rings, Middle-earth vs The Surge, Middle-earth vs Tom Clancy’s The Division, Middle-earth vs Two Worlds, Middle-earth vs Wasteland
Common questions
How many Middle-earth games are there?
We hold 2 Middle-earth games in the catalogue, released between 2014 and 2017. 2 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Middle-earth game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor rates highest at 8.1. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Middle-earth games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2014 to 2017. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.