The early 00s was a particularly special time for those of us growing up as massive nerds. Not only did we get our fair share of truly excellent sci-fi and fantasy flicks, but we seemed to live in an age where the video game tie-ins that were released to cash in on those films were actually good.
Thanks to the likes of Spider-Man 2 and The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, it was possible to come home from the cinema and pick up our adventures... only this time we were in control of the heroes. It was The Lord Of The Rings PS2 games in particular that left an indelible mark on so many of us, and it's not hard to see why.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers and its sequel were exactly the games they needed to be. EA did the best it could with what it had at the time to bring the massive scale of Peter Jackson's movies to living rooms around the world, and it succeeded in stunning fashion. The games might not look great by today's standards, but they effortlessly captured the chaos and brutality of the trilogy's largest battles, from Helm's Deep to the gates of Mordor itself. The fact you could invite a friend to jump in and play as any one of the Fellowship? Well that was just the icing on the cake.
Unsurprisingly, all these years later those of us that grew up with the PS2 classics are still clamouring for a remake. To this day, there are petitions all over the internet from gamers like Thibo V and Chris Rishoi that call for the return of The Return Of The King and The Two Towers.
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"In the early 2000s, Electronic Arts made deals with AOL Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) to make and publish video games based on both the Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings franchises," Rishoi writes in a petition that has reached over 10,000 signatures and is still being signed almost every day.
"However, the LOTR and Harry Potter games that were made under EA cannot be published due to the licenses having expired years ago," he continues. "Therefore, if Warner Bros could work out a possible licensing renewal deal with EA so the latter can publish their old Harry Potter and LOTR games, it would mean a great deal to both Wizarding World and Middle-Earth fans alike."
While this certainly sounds like a great plan on paper and the demand is clearly there, it's sadly highly unlikely that it'll happen anytime soon. For starters, Amazon is already working on a massive MMO based on The Lord Of The Rings, which is expected to release in 2022. Remaking two of the best LOTR games out there would only detract from all the fans Amazon would be trying to get to play its brand-new game, after all.
Featured Image Credit: EATopics: News, Warner Bros, EA