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 been adapted for radio four times. In 1955 and 1956, the BBC broadcast "The Lord of the Rings", a 13-part radio adaptation of the story. In the 1960s radio station WBAI produced a short radio adaptation. A 1979 dramatization of "The Lord of the Rings" was broadcast in the United States and subsequently issued on tape and CD. In 1981, the BBC broadcast "The Lord of the Rings", a new dramatization in 26 half-hour instalments. This dramatization of "The Lord of the Rings" has subsequently been made available on both tape and CD both by the BBC and other publishers.