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 History of The Lord of the Rings Ring"; and Book VI, "The End of the Third Age". The title "The Return of the Shadow" was a discarded title for Volume I. Three of the titles of the volumes of "The History of The Lord of the Rings" were also used as book titles for the seven-volume edition of "The Lord of the Rings": "The Treason of Isengard" for Book III, "The War of the Ring" for Book V, and "The End of the Third Age" for Book VI. There is an inscription in Fëanorian characters (Tengwar, an alphabet Tolkien devised for the High-Elves) on the title pages