When Warhorse recently casually announced via X that it was currently working on a long-rumored Middle-earth RPG that it had previously denied involvement in, it was music to the ears of many fans of both the studio's past work and lord of the rings similarly. There is no doubt that Kingdom Come: Deliverance a team that also happens to be made up of passionate LotR fans, they were able to pull off the definitive open-world RPG that Middle-earth always deserved, and that alone makes the idea that you'll end up playing it like something only dreams are made of. However, apart from the quality lord of the rings What the RPG is expected to have is also highly likely to be the most grounded video game the franchise has ever seen, if the studio's previous work is any indication.
Of course, by “grounded” I don't mean that it will be without magic, or even that it will give up the kind of cinematic spectacle that the franchise's books and movies are known for. On the one hand, calling something “grounded” implies realism, but if anything is true of a historical game series like Kingdom Come: Deliverance and fantasy franchise like lord of the ringsis that realism is ultimately defined by its space. First, realism is actually rooted in the history of the real world. But for the latter, realism is defined by the fantasy world of his own making.
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Warhorse's desire for authenticity undoubtedly shifts its focus to Middle-earth
As the Middle-earth RPG is apparently only in pre-production at the time of writing, Warhorse has yet to reveal any details about it beyond the setting and genre. The only frame of reference we currently have for what the game could be is the studio frame Kingdom Come: Deliverance series. But while it's easy to look to each RPG's open-world design, combat, and even story as examples of what a Middle-earth RPG might look like, considering Warhorse's priorities behind those things might be a more telling sign of the genre. lord of the rings the game we get.
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In fact, what I'm getting at is how important authenticity is to this developer, perhaps even more so than gameplay gimmicks and impressive visuals. If there is one thing that separates Kingdom Come: Deliverance series from other RPGs, it's a philosophy that focuses on ensuring that most of what players see and experience on screen is an authentic representation of the reality they're aiming for. And in the case of those games, it is medieval Bohemia.
Warhorse has long made it clear that its goal is Kingdom Come: Deliverance was always to give players a chance to experience medieval history in a way that made them feel like they were legitimately there, not because everything looked real, but because it all was real. From how people interact with each other and how cities are designed, to how a sword feels when it swings, or the fact that not everyone alive at the time could read, Warhorse's intention has always been to ground players in a world that, while adapting here and there to modern gaming expectations, asks them to experience it on its own terms, not theirs.
Ultimately, she achieved this through careful research, even involving historians in the development process of both games, to ensure that there would be few noticeable gaps between the actual history and the virtual representation. In the end, players got two open-world games that accomplished something that only a limited number can actually do. When they entered the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series, players entered a living, breathing world not far from their own, whereas most games of the genre offer something closer to an escape from reality than a deep immersion into it.
If there is one thing that separates Kingdom Come: Deliverance series from other RPGs, it's a philosophy that focuses on ensuring that most of what players see and experience on screen is an authentic representation of the reality they're aiming for.
However, this approach does not always mean that everything in Warhorse will be 100% accurate, because that is not possible. At the end of the day, this is video games, and video games still have to be fun. And since reality does not always equal entertainment, embellishments and exaggerations must be offered as compensation. Even so, it demonstrates the studio's desire to root its work in a level of authenticity that eludes most modern RPGs—and most games, for that matter. That, in a nutshell, is what could make the upcoming Middle-earth RPG the most grounded entry in the franchise yet.
Middle-earth deserves Warhorse's Knack for authenticity
History and fantasy are two very different things, with the former having almost zero malleable boundaries and the latter offering immense freedom to those who want to create within its space. But that changes when a world like Tolkien's Middle-earth comes into play, which comes with its own internal history, languages, cultures, maps and genealogies. It's one thing to create a fantasy world that players have never heard of, but it's quite another to adapt a fantasy world that countless people already know, but are incredibly knowledgeable about.
And yet when I saw what he was able to achieve Kingdom Come: Deliverance and its transformation into medieval Bohemia, it is reasonable to expect that Middle Earth will be treated similarly. The same care and attention to detail that went into ensuring players get an accurate representation KCDThe actual setting and time period will likely be set in Tolkien's world as well. Where else lord of the rings games have either merely adapted the films or closely followed Tolkien's teachings, Warhorse's open-world RPG could be the first game to make Middle-earth truly feel like Middle-earth.
And therein lies the notion that it might be the most grounded lord of the rings still a game. The more Warhorse strives for accuracy in rebuilding Middle Earth, the more believable the world will become. Tolkien's world itself already feels like something that could actually exist in another reality, so Warhorse doesn't need to go beyond those boundaries to prove anything. Instead, neatly resting them is probably the best course of action, and is the one the developer will likely choose. This is good news for lord of the rings fans like me.
- Created by
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JRR Tolkien
- Where to watch
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HBO Max
- movies
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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
