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 that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" and those who are going to read them". The "New York Herald Tribune" also seemed to have an idea of how popular the books would become, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time". W. H. Auden, an admirer of Tolkien's writings, regarded "The Lord of the Rings" as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement of John Milton's "Paradise Lost". "New York Times" reviewer Judith Shulevitz criticized the "pedantry" of Tolkien's