The Lord of the Rings: War in the North that co-operation amongst traditionally antagonistic races is such a major theme in the novels, they wanted to replicate it in the game. Having experimented with two, three and four-player co-op, they ultimately decided to go with three-player, thus mirroring the classic triptych in the novels; Man (Aragorn), Elf (Legolas) and Dwarf (Gimli). Lead designer Andre Maguire explained that "how" players experienced co-op mode was equally as important as them simply playing it; However, according to Tomandl, the focus on co-op gameplay did not mean single-player mode was neglected; "War in the North" is the first "Lord of the Rings" game
The Lord of the Rings also incorporated many Tolkien references into their music. American heavy metal band Megadeth released two songs titled "This Day We Fight!" and "How the Story Ends", which were both inspired by "The Lord of the Rings". German folk metal band Eichenschild is named for Thorin Oakenshield, a character in "The Hobbit", and naturally has a number of Tolkien-themed songs. They are not to be confused with the '70s folk rock band Thorin Eichenschild. In 1988, Dutch composer and trombonist Johan de Meij completed his "Symphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings"," which encompassed 5 movements, titled "Gandalf", "Lothlórien", "Gollum",