PlayStation 3
XBox 360
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Product Features

Genre
Action
Publisher
Warner Bros. Interactive
Release Date
November 25, 2011
Available Platforms
PlayStation 3, XBox 360

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LOTR War of the North

The Lord of the Rings War In The North is an epic multiplayer action/RPG video game based on the renowned stories by J.R.R. Tolkien. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment holds the rights to develop video games based on both the literary and motion picture content from The Lord of the Rings, allowing Snowblind to explore original and familiar narrative elements in more than 12 areas, of which only three have been seen in the films. Breaking new ground as the first mature-rated LOTR video game, The Lord of the Rings War In The North evolves the RPG genre through innovative online, interdependent co-op play for up to three players who form their own Fellowship and engage in brutal combat. Exploring previously unseen lands, story elements and characters as well as elements familiar from past...

  • Paul Martin March 05, 2013 360
    ****

    Introduction

    Lord of the Rings is one of the many franchises in modern society that cannot create a video game to equal the motion pictures magic and brilliance. It is such a shame considering the vast world, structure and history that Middle Earth has to offer, yet Snowblind Studios has attempted to break rank and deliver on such a massive request in a modern fanboy world.

    Story

    Lord of the Rings: War of the North is actually set at the same time and follows through the same period Frodo, and the Fellowship embark on their quest to Modor to destroy the 'one ring'. The story follows a Ranger, Dwarf and Lady Elven wizard throughout the most Northern areas of Middle Earth. An unlikely combination, but banded in the attempt to stand in the way of the mighty Dark Lord and his quest for Power. Sauron has come back, and in doing so he has sent his most trusted General Agandur to descend on the most Northern areas of Middle Earth, and turn them into Ash. With the fate of so many in the balance, can the will and bravery of but a few, protect the lives of so many.

    Gameplay

    The game is played in a third person perspective, similar to Star Wars: Force Unleashed, or the God of War series to name but a few of the similar style hack and slash gameplay. Upon starting the quest you have the option to choose between a Lady Elven Wizard, Dwarf, or Dunedain Ranger. All classes, despite small differences play very similar, which is unfortunate as you would have hope certain characters would be heavily favoured in certain skills and traits. I.e. all characters have ranged attacks, some slightly more powerful, and yet all can handle close combat very well also. It leaves the characters feeling less unique, and if playing with friends you will most likely use the phrase "I can do something similar with this." as you compare small upgrades to your skill tree throughout your playthrough. The game almost attempts to be an RPG, but isn't so bold and feels very linear, with no real freedom as you progress. The most freedom you will receive is a map of those places you have visited already, allowing you to revisit markets/tradesmen to upgrade armour or weapons. It is almost like a missed opportunity, given the possibility of having a free, open Middle Earth to explore, similar to perhaps a Red Dead Redemption, or Fallout environment it's a fanboys dream. As stated you are instead forced to choose your next destination by a simple flick of analogue stick and a simple press of a button. The game can be played alone or 3 player co-op, with each player taking the role of each character. This is where the game is at its most fun, the fact you can have a little banter, share your thoughts and request help from friends instead of a untrustworthy A.I when playing alone. It is such ashame the world could not grip me on a single player play through, it felt more focused and repetitive compared to my coop play through, perhaps this is because I had more enemies to slay, and less distraction from the game itself I am unsure. The gameplay itself as stated is very repetitive, with similar button mashing required with the occasional switch a long distance weapon to add small variety. If you have experience with the previous Lord of the Rings movie games, the gameplay is not so different, only you are playing as one character over a course of the campaign instead of swapping throughout levels. Overall the game itself will take 10-12 hours to complete if you wish to explore small hidden pathways and complete the limited, and yet easy side quests the game has to offer. Upon completion the game unlocks new harder difficulties, which can be frustrating as you must complete the game a total of 3 times to complete the game on its hardest setting, which is not so hard when you bring all your character experience and equipment along for the next playthrough. Instead it makes boss battles that seemed difficult and challenging on the easier difficulty the first time, simple and easy without the second and third time despite the increase of difficulty. Infact the final boss fight took a matter of seconds, compared to approx. 10-15 minutes and several attempts in my first playthrough, even with friends. Overall the gameplay is fun at first but lacks the depth and imagination to interest a player playing alone, however with friends the game shines, and can be seen amongst one of the best co-op game experiences I encountered.

    Audio

    The audio is hit and miss, the music, and dramatic set pieces are excellent, flowing with what you will see when watching the movie adaptions. The music and sound effects have all been included and allows the player to feel like they have stepped into Middle Earth. The biggest distraction however, the most disappointing aspect of the entire game is the voice acting. The game lacks the.. Oomph the motion picture can deliver, and even I can do a better Gandalf voice impression than the one included in the game. It's the small things that damper the whole experience. Why oh why didn't Snowblind Studios approach Ian Mckellen, especially since his character Gandalf is the opening narrator of the game. It almost immediately turned me off the game, and if I am being completely honest came across as a joke of an attempt. Yet it did not stop there, upon finishing the opening cinematic you are greeted by Aragorn in the 'Prancing Pony' of the town Bree, and his voice is almost just as abysmal. It is again such ashame that the gaming studio could not reach out to the movie stars themselves, or when needed recognise the poor attempts to mimic them. Overall the audio is great when musical score and sound effects are blaring but the main characters and even well-known characters lack any real dramatic effect to engross you into the main narrative. I felt at times distracted, especially by the character Beleram voice which was greeted with thunderous laughter when playing co-op. Yet how did Snowblind Studios not notice this, or more importantly fail to fix it before release.

    Graphics

    The graphics of the game are actually not that bad, I would certainly say they are an improvement over the highly acclaimed Dragon Age franchise, which is very similar and has shown that visuals are not as important as gameplay and story. Yet they do lack cutting edge, big budget graphics like Mass Effect or even God of War. The characters lip syncing needs tuned up, the mouths themselves simply wobble up and down, with no real movement to bring characters to life. I was impressed with some of the enemy models however; Agandur, Trolls and even Beleram have very impressive character models which to me is odd. The reason I believe so is surely the main 3 characters, those that speak, and the player(s) see the majority of the game need to be more lifelike, than those you see but a handful of times. It again allows players who are engrossed in the story to lose focus and fall out of the games narrative due to small little quirks the Studio should have resolved, perhaps improved before the game seen the light of day. Overall it's not bad, it's not good with a few impressive surroundings and character models the game falls short when the main characters look as though they have been sculpted from play dough. Therefore admittedly falls short of my expectations for such a massive franchise like Lord of the Rings.

    Overall

    The game itself is actually good, it's not amazing but it does a lot of things right for a Lord of the Rings game. The game lacks the ambition to be the next Batman Arkham Asylum and give the fan boys what we most desire. Like so many movie franchises like Star Wars with The Force Unleashed and Aliens with Aliens vs Predator, although these are good or average, they are not brilliant nor worthy of recognition when we talk about the franchise we love and adore. Lord of the Rings War in the North is arguably one of the most fun games I have played in a long time, but mainly because of the company I played with, and not the game itself. The game could have used more polish especially in the audio department when coming to characters voices, and the graphics when looking at the main character models. The game is good, especially for the price I paid, but had I bought it at full price on release I would have severely disappointed. Being such a big Lord of the Rings fan, I wanted to love the game instead I enjoyed it but it lacked the ambition required and needed. Still like I said it's not a bad game, it was good, but that is it, beyond that I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone, only the fanboys of the Lord of the Rings franchise should check this out, especially for the lower price. 6.5/10