Was really look forward to this game, but it clearly is a huge let down, especially if your a lotr fan, what a shame this had massive potential. Main quest runs alongside that of the original, greyed out, boring level designs with no/little interaction, three lacklustre characters, with a broken doen levelling up system. One of the most frustrating elements is the lack of being able to level up you team members characters, leaving you with later with a one person army vs a bunch of AI goons, your moves are basic, the camera cannot be adjusted leaving a clunky feel to it. Theirs is slow down, and bugs. back to the drawingboard i think.… Expand

Solid. That's exactly what lotr: war in the north is. It does nothing extraordinary, but what it does is solid, and a blast. Smacking an orc in the face with a battleaxe should never get old, and while this may not be a masterpiece as far as story goes, its a dam good time.

First off, one reviewer said that you can not customize your character. Actually you can, you need to find a mirror in a town, when you stand in front of it you can change your appearance on several fronts. Second this is at it's core a co op game, the story line is straight forward and simple, wreck as much havoc to Sourons forces as possible. In my case I am playing with my son. I do not play consul games to often and he is the hard core-est of gamers but we are having fun playing it together. The controls are simple enough for me not to get confused and the battles hard enough for him to feel challenged, and he loves the fight scene graphics. The game is beautifully balanced. It is truly a three player game and is set up so that people can jump in and out with ease. It is kind of like the return of the ring/castle crashers/dragon age. Most of all it stays true to the lord of the rings mythos. the settings look great and are places I always wanted to see from the books. It is just a simple fun game especially with other people, one of the best co op games ever. This game does what it sets out to do beautifully and if you want a little variety in the types of games and types out there support the game.… Expand

High expectations seem to have been the demise of many of the ratings found here. I think the users who are seeking a good hack and slash to enjoy with friends will be pleased with this game. Although in my opinion not quite up to par with Baldurs Gate and Champions of Norrath, the game is still quite fun and immersive. Plenty of loot for the taking.

Clunky, frustrating, tedious. . .those are words you should not be thinking or saying about a game that is supposed to be "fun". My wife and I both have played this game together and were more annoyed than entertained. It is not fun to open 50 some barrels/containers in an area, each other you having to gather up the contents, and then fight a difficult boss where you die repeatedly and are expected to re-gather the container contents again every time (or pass them by). There is no way on the OnLive version to have a private game, so level 1 players can join your game and you have to repeatedly kick them. This is one of the most frustrating games we've played in a long time. And we both love the LOTR franchise. Our advice. . skip this one.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Good but also problematic. I'm a Lord of the Rings fan and always will be. Overall i think this is a great addition to the LotR universe. I disagree with people who say the story is horrible. Personally i think it has a well thought story based on it working with Peter Jackson's vision of the LotR Trilogy. The game starts when the first movie starts and the game ends when the movies end, as far as story goes. The characters development is mediocre but its not hard to find yourself liking the character you play after awhile.The game play is fun at first and gets a little repetitive after awhile but a lot of games have this issue. One of the main things is that its not well balanced. Farin's explosive shot is a good example of this among many other issues in the games balance. Another issue i noticed when teaming with a friend was when we took a break i wanted to keep going to he turned his system off and i continued...or tried, for some reason if you use the same character slot when joining a co-op game and then go back to single player the game glitches and you can't continue the story. Other than some issues here and there i still found myself addicted to this game and still enjoy it. If your a LotR fan or a fan of the games genre i recommend it.… Expand

It's hard to find a good local multiplayer game these days; other than music games it seems like we have Mario Kart and Castle Crashers. Champions was one of my favorite games on the PS2, slaughtering things with sweet loot and learning new, devastating skills hardly gets old. War in the North builds on that foundation very nicely, but there are a few technical flaws (Even more than there were in Champions) and I feel that the talent trees are a bit shallow and uninspired. However, if you're a fan of hack-n-slash RPGs it's worth taking a look at.… Expand

You don't have to play Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance to fully enjoy this game, or watch the Fellowship of the Ring, or even read the Return of the King. All you have to do is enjoy ripping people apart, why are people pissed? Because of repetitive gameplay in a RPG, well just look at Mario. The thing is, this game is solid, it takes the Dark Alliance Engine back tot he basics of that toolset and redefines everything. Finally giving us a game worthy of using the DA Engine, worthy enough to be on the same tier as Dark Alliance, and worthy enough for people to enjoy a sequel in a different animated world.… Expand

Epic adventure with a few shortfalls.

I almost put the game away for good after playing a couple hours but I am glad I persevered. This game is beautiful and challenging, although a little linear, but that is to be expected as the game was designed to follow Tolkien's story.

The combat system is a little limited and tedious until you level up and acquire new skills. But then the combat dynamics and group synergies begin to play a much bigger part vs. the dark hordes, mini-bosses and bosses. I have heard some people complain about dying over and over vs. the bosses, and yes they are challenging, and that to me and many others is a good thing. The game really forces you to work together as a team, utilizing all your characters individual skills dynamic synergies to triumph over the dark forces.

The games art design is beautiful and even though you are kept on a rail through the landscape it still feels wide open and expansive. There are even secret routes that only your character can spot if you are paying attention.

The storyline overall is good, the voice acting is above average, sadly the main three characters get very little development and are a little weak, and I don't think we gamers really come to feel any connection to them.

In summary, I think the developers set their goals very high for what could be achieved on current console games and they came very close but may have been forced to cut a few corners to get it all to fit. It is still a great game and I recommend it to every fan of console rpgs, just keep in mind the game doesn't really start to reveal it's potential until a few hours in. Also be prepared to use your brain as well as fighting skills to overcome increasing and varied challenges.

8/10… Expand

Gameplay: 8 - Great. LoTR: War in the North's combat is simple, yet extremely enjoyable. 2 buttons (light and heavy attacks) allow for simple combos, but mixing in rolls and powers adds a slight layer of strategy. Adding Co-op only makes things better. Sitting down with one buddy (local) or two (online) allows War in the North to really shine. All three characters (Elf Mage, Human Ranger, and Dwarf Champion) have close and ranged attacks. All have health and mana potions. Each is better suited to a particular strategy, however. Andriel is the healer of the group, Farin is the damage-dealer, and Eradan is best at Range.
Story: 6 - Okay. War in the North's story is bare-bones. The characters are bland and their quest is forgettable.
Graphics: 7 - Good. Certain areas of War in the North are pretty, but much of it is average. It doesn't break any new grounds visually.
Sound: 10 - Perfect. Lord of the Rings music. 'Nuff said.
Overall: 7 - Good.… Expand

i loved this game right up until I ran into game progression halting bugs with quests. I was able to overlook the disappearing and then randomly reappearing secondary side quests but when you run into main line quest halting issues...its crushing. This was my very first ps3 game and it was very sad to run into this...normally I wouldn't even have reported the issue here but I made this account to complain about the even _more_ broken skyrim so I figured I might as well post on this game as well...its a 3 because I can at least play it without locking up like a certain other game.

regardless, a patch is promised and if it lets me once more play the game, then I'll certainly edit this review, its an awesome game so long as you can progress through it :)… Expand

Decent game, but they could have done so much more with it. It had potential, for them to expand the story. More impact in choices would have been more interesting (like Dragon Age style) or something like that and more character interaction. Still good if you are a LOTR fan but don't have high expectations. Hope next installment is more fulfilling.

Third best LOTR game ever before the two excellent games on the PS2. 9 is too generous for its flaws and 7 is to mean for its triumphs. This game looks beautiful and plays smoothly. Some combat gets repetitive but that improves as you level up your character. The usage of the lore is the best aspect of this game. It uses pre-established LOTR lore that's in the books to its advantage, so Snowblind used it's books perfectly. Music is stunning and I like the long drawn out conversation, very LOTR! No it isn't the best game ever but it does pretty good with what its got. 8/10 from me.… Expand

I was expecting a lot more from this game, but it didn't quite deliver like I thought it would. It could have been a great game, instead, its just ok. The RPG elements are there, but the game play is medioore. I'm not pulled into the story, I feel like I am part of the sidelines. The graphics are pretty good in some cases and bad in others. And the sounds are sometimes annoying. For me, the split screen co-op is what keeps me (and my gf) playing it. Good thing its a gamestop guarantee and within a week, I'll get my money back!… Expand

Want to play in a rich fantasy world with massive quests, monsters, characters etc. Play SKYRIM instead. Big let down after being excited by the trailers. Not the worst but definitely not the best. Shame.

Love the tight gameplay and LOTR story. Can't get past the multiple game ended bugs though. I simply cannot complete the game. Would really love to be able to, this game would easily be a 9/10 if it weren't broken.

LOTR:WITN is a great action rpg set in the LOTR universe. Think of it as Skyrim if you always fast travelled to the next story quest location, but when you get there the combat is much better, and it's co-op. This game is one of my all time favourites, and would have been an easy 10 if not for some interface annoyances with the inventory and upgrade systems. A definite BUY and a good game to come back to again and again!… Expand

In short, the low score given to this game is a shame. This game is so much fun with many upgrades and a lot of loot to be collected and used. The fighting system is nice and reminds me of Demon's Souls (block, attack, block and so on). But above all, this game immersed me quickly and I have difficulty in putting aside the controller once I start to play it. To hell with the graphics... If it reminds people of PS2, so be it. I used to love that machine. This game deserves a solid 8 in my book. But I'll give it a 9 because of the people cursing at it. In the meantime I played the game with some randoms and saw that they didn't have an idea about what to do. And I think people giving low scores are "mostly" of that kind (I mean, noobs...)… Expand

the lord of the rings also known as one of the best movies ever made. war in the north does not interfere with whats happening in the movies it focuses on three characters if your thinking argon, leglasis and gilmi it's not them. the graphics could be improved the gameplay is better than previous games but it needs to be tweaked. overall it a good game if you are a lord of the rings fan

This game purchase really pleased me. I completed this game several times and I plan on doing it again. I convinced a friend of mine to buy it and now we play together. I actually platinumed it months ago but I still love the game. Hopefully there will be add-ons coming soon.

Not what I expected. I got this game as part of my PSN Plus subscription. The story was cool. But as an RPG Action game it's missing lots of things. The game play experiance wasn't good. I didn't like when my companions step into my way. Or when I jump of a small cliff I couldn't jump up back! It's really annoying that I cannot go back in some place and that I had to finish the story line in each place in order to be able to navigate later to previous locations.
From RPG point it was bad. Just conversation that never affect your leveling up or reveal some secrets. It's like cut scene but you have the choice to pick what to say next.
Over all 5 for me… Expand

I have been waiting for some time now for a good dungeon crawling RPG that i could play with friends for some time. This game has the feel of a newer Baulder's Gate Dark Alliance but set in Middle-Earth and for that I give it a high rank. I have played almost all action RPGs on the PS3 and can say that this is one of the better ones. The story is intriguing and the characters fun. there were times when I felt that the three classes from Baulder's Gate Dark Alliance were re-used for the characters of this game. The fact that it is a LOTR game is an added bonus. I do like the feel of Baulder's Gate Dark Alliance but I wish they had more classes to chose from. If it was a bit more original in its selection of characters I may have given this game a perfect score.… Expand

War in the North is definitely not the best title in recent years, nor the best action RPG that you can buy. The graphics are good, but poorly defined, by today's standards. Combat options are there, but they remain rather limited, although the ease with which you go from melee to ranged combat offer some variety. Equip is interesting, too, but the options and statistics are narrow here, too. The story is interesting and it is noticeable that it represents a narrative line that goes parallel to the adventures of the Fellowship of the Ring. What makes the game "special", in its way, is that evokes quite well the Tolkien's setting, at least the one derived from the movies trilogy by Peter Jackson. The dialogues are very well made, as well as the visual aspect of Tolkien's world. There is definitely an exaggerated presence of magic, compared to the standards of the Oxford professor, and some poetic license clash with the context (a dragon?), but, after all, we are facing an action game, so we can close an eye. Ultimately, I find that War in the North is a fun hack'n'slash game, with strong and well made references to the Lord of the Rings. Definitively interesting for lovers of both videogames and Tolkien's saga!… Expand