Lord of the Rings: Rise to War, also called Lord of the Rings: War, is an online strategy game where you play against other players in factions and try and conquer land. It includes all of Tolkien's world, from Hobbiton to Rivendell and Isengard to Barad-dûr in a huge map filled with monsters and resources you can use to expand your army. This combines with deep combat and strategy to make it an engaging and unique way to build an army and conquer the land of Middle-Earth.

Set concurrently with the events of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, a rising darkness grows in the east, one which you can either choose to ally with or fight against. You are given a ring of power, and choose one of several factions to align with, such as Isengard, Mordor, Rohan, Gondor, and Lothlórien. You start a small settlement somewhere in that faction's land and must grow and expand your power and control to prevent other factions from taking control.

You conscript soldiers to join your cause, and grow your army, sending it out to capture more land and gather resources. You can recruit commanders to your army as well, including the likes of famous characters such as Gandalf, Elrond and Boromir. Your work in your faction of hundreds of players to capture regional capitals and gain control of areas of land.

There are also smaller daily quests, campaigns, and special missions that unlock extra rewards. You can use the resources and rewards you get to upgrade your settlement; building forts that can expand your movement range, upgrading barracks and resource production, and unlocking extra forces you can draft into your army.

Within your large faction, you can join a smaller fellowship of players. In this fellowship, you exchange resources, unlock more rewards and complete missions that can help you claim victory. You can join with other players to take down particularly large challenges, such as capitals or dragons, and you can befriend individual players to mutual benefit.

It's a complex game that features a surprisingly deep combat system, along with a huge map brimming with life, and puts you in total command of your play style. It's a good game for fans of games such as Clash of Clans, or the world of Tolkien, be it in the form of video games such as the Middle-Earth series, books or films, and offers a new way to engage with players around the world in a strategic and tactical setting.