War in the North is hardly the most memorable adventure through Middle-earth, but you won't regret any of the time you spend fighting across its grim battlegrounds.
Lord of the Rings War in the North is the best lotr game yet. I picked it up 2011 at the midnight launch and I haven't stopped playing it since. I'm on my third play through doing co-op with my brother and i'm still finding new content and things to do. The graphics and art style of the game blends perfectly with something you'd have pictured in the books and it also looks very much like the movies. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing, probably one of the best soundtracks i've heard in any game or movie for that matter. Snowblind did a great job making the music match with the gameplay, story, and the surroundings. It just made me feel like I was actually in Middle-Earth. War in the North hardly had any glitches, for my version at least, the only thing that could've been better is when you use the long range weapons. The mechanics are fine but when you're zooming with a weapon and moving it left or right slowly it tends to jump just a little. I don't have Xbox Live so i'm not sure if they patched it yet, but even if they didn't then it's no big deal becasue I doubt most people will even notice it. I also honestly believe that Snowblind must've had some insight on the orc designs for Peter Jackson's new movie, The Hobbit, because they look very similar lol. Please make another Lord of the Rings gsme Snowblind! =]
This game is great (if not a little odd). When I first started playing it, I thought "OK, it's a mild action RPG with not much freedom, but hey, the combats fun". But now, after playing for hours and hours (I'm at around chapter 4 I think) all I can say is "awesome".
The combat becomes very fluid once you understand the mechanics, and once you unlock more skill sets, the combat becomes very addictive. The game is actually VERY large. I'd compare it to Dragon Age: Origins in terms size. The graphics are great, armor covered in snow, water (and gore/blood) after battles, huge draw distances, great lighting and some of the best shadowing I have EVER seen on a console game (Mirkwood forest anyone?).
The one thing that really ads to the game, is the music. its fan-f***ing-tastic. I cranked up my surround sound when I was taking on two trolls, and it sounded like a movie.
I'm very impressed with this game, but the trailers and videos the game maker released do it no justice. It's NOT just hack & slash, its a full blown RPG. And YOU CAN change your characters face/hair/beard etc. You just need to find a mirror in any of the cities.
Anyone who likes a good action RPG (seriously, think DA:O), and especially LOTR fans, I highly recommend this game.
When it works it really works well and its attention to the canon and lore of the Lord of the Rings is phenomenal, but it does too many things poorly to put it in the same league as a game like Dark Souls or The Witcher 2.
Although the story is original and its combat and roleplaying gameplay is a good idea, there are things that doesn't work well. Roleplaying elements are well-made, but they are not that important, and combat lacks depth, and the enemy AI is limited. An average game that won't make history.
This game is the best in the saga of The Lord of the Rings, for all: atmosphere, graphics, sound, length, fun ... some people say it is very repetitive, they do not understand, really. Great game.
If you're hoping for a good experience like the Lord of the Rings game on the PS2 Then I must tell you that this is a bad beat em up with RPG elements , I can compare it to Diablo in the way that It's about equipment and levels and it just never feels satisfying to play , The only redeeming thing about it is that you can played in Co-op but even then you will slowly be racing for Death the longer you play it ,
Lord of the Rings War in the North
ist kaputt, die Speicherung von Daten funktioniert nicht wie gewünscht, so musste man bestimmte Kapitel komplett von vorne spielen und die Checkpoints wurden so platziert, dass auf einmal alle Gegner nach Spielstart verschwunden sind und ich wieder das komplette Kapitel wiederholen musste. Es gibt keine besondere Story, im Spiel kann man sich zwischen dem Waldläufer, Zwerg oder Zauberin entscheiden, so kann sie heilen und die anderen sind stärker, jedoch gibt es hier nichts neues, die RPG Elemente sind langweilig, da das leveln keine besonderen Fähigkeiten bereithält. Die Kämpfe sind anspruchsvoll, jedoch eher wegen der schlechten Balance, die Ki-Kameraden helfen minimal, stehen im Weg rum und sterben, wenn man beide nicht schnell heilt muss man den Kampf wiederholen oder man stirbt beim Versuch sie zu heilen aufgrund der hohen Gegnermassen. Im Coop kann das Spiel Spaß machen, Orks töten und looten.
XBox 360 Co-Op Player Review
My friend and I bought this to play co-op. This is our thoughts about it.
Pros:
-Fun to play with friends.
-New LotR story is entertaining if you are a fan
-Nice to see fresh faces instead of the usual cast you would play in a LotR game
-Overall fun hack-n-slash with RPG elements to add flavor
-Each player receives their own loot from chests and such.
Cons
(Tried to focus more on technical cons)
-No save button or easy way to activate the auto-save when you need to quit mid-level. This is the biggest problem we're having. My friend and I both started characters together but the game claims we are both at different points in the game and therefore won't allow us to play together unless we wish not to save our characters anymore.
-Lacks menu options depth
-No changing controller layout
-Split screen is only vertical. No horizontal view.
-One early scene is unbeatable because the area won't load and we can't fast travel out of the area to reset it. Have had to reset our characters twice because of it.
-Cut scenes won't load. Screen will go black with background music and then eventually will load but everything becomes disabled. Can't even pause game. Have to shutdown and restart.
-Text like "Waiting for Player..." and quest objectives or tutorials won't disappear off of the screen. Takes away from the already small screens in vertical split.
-Backpack is nice and expansive but the tough to navigate or sort. Also lacks certain elements you see in RPGs.
Overall, the technical issues we're having with the game are taking away from the experience. We want to like it more, just not fun when you have to replay the first several chapters over and over again because the game says that one player is not at the same point as the other player, even though they are the same level and have all their gear from the last time you played.
SummaryIn The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, players can become the heroes in the great battle of the North as part of the epic War of the Ring. Exploring unseen lands, story elements and characters from Middle-earth as well as elements familiar from past feature films, gamers will experience extensive character customization and developm...