Third Age - Total War 3.0

As Total War: Warhammer proved, the gameplay of the series is incredibly well suited for fantasy settings. In no other type of RTS can you show how truly unique the army of a faction is unless you're in control of it yourself. Lord of the Rings has had a relative shortage of quality games considering how influential the franchise is. Ironic, then, that one of the best games in the setting is a total conversion mod Third Age - Total War.

To install Third Age - Total War, make sure you own Medieval II: Total War - Kingdoms Expansion. Then, download and run the 2 part installers and then run the 3.2 patcher.

This mod features a ton of different races and factions. You have Gondor, Rohan, Silvan Elves, High Elves, Dwarves, Dale, Eriador, Arnor, Isengard, Orcs of the Misty Mountains, Orcs of Gundabad, Mordor, Harad, and Rhun. Each of these factions play very differently from one another, and also have their own campaign and starting location.

The interface is also totally overhauled, with every single settlement, location, interface, symbols, pictures, and more replaced to help fit into the Middle Earth setting. Not only that, but every single culture also has a unique set of music, unit sounds and voices to truly immerse you in your role controlling the faction.

Overall, Third Age - Total War is a fantastic mod that has quality on par with full Total War releases. If you're a Lord of the Rings fan and always wanted to get a better feel for how armies would interact on the battlefield, you should give this mod a download.