You’ll be rewarded with cutscenes at each juncture, and then you’ll do the same thing again in a new location.įights largely consist of hitting the basic attack button over and over again and dodging when necessary. Along the way you’ll fight your way through groups of orcs and trolls, maybe you’ll even search for treasure or equipment, but your main goal is to travel the linear path between A and B. The main goal of War in the North is to get from one area of a map to the other.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS WAR IN THE NORTH XBOX GAMEPLAY PC
As a game – and as a PC game specifically – there are a few more things to complain about. On the flipside, I can’t imagine the base gameplay alone would be enough to interest anybody who hadn’t seen the films.Īnd that’s what it comes down to really: as an extension of Middle-Earth, there’s nothing wrong with War in the North. It’s a pretty nice balance of new and old and more you know about Middle-Earth, the more you’re going to get out of it. You’ll be given a chance to roam through Bree and Rivendell, to discuss events with Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn. There’s the odd thing that lets it down – magic has never been a big part of Tolkien’s universe and yet every other character you meet will be casting spells left and right – but for the most part it’s a chance to see a new story, away from the overly done battles, away from the Fellowship, from the march through Mordor.Īlong the way you’ll come across things you recognise. As an entry into the Lord of the Rings franchise, War in the North is mostly well made. You’ll see some of the most deadly creatures of Middle-Earth and you’ll overcome them. Your adventure will take you through mountains and castles, through thick forests and into ancient dwarves. Each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages the ranger with his melee moves and deadly arrow (also his voice work is done by Nolan North, which I’m counting as a power) the dwarf with his heavy axe and the elf with her grasp of magic. Each character has their own play style and you can switch between them as you complete levels, so you’re never chained down to the one race. Lord of the Rings: War in the North is an action-RPG that puts you into the role of a ranger, a dwarf or an elf during the third age of Middle-Earth.
There’s a nice combination of original characters and characters from the wider Tolkien lore, although both of these throw their own problems into the mix.
The plot is passable, although if you don’t like the gameplay you probably won’t feel you’re missing much by not fighting through to its conclusion.
War in the North is the story of a small group of adventurers fighting against the forces of evil in locations not really touched upon in the films and only briefly referenced in the books. Thousands of people will give their lives in the hope that the Dark Lord won’t suspect the ring grows ever closer to the fires of Mount Doom, and thousands more will help in other ways. Sauron has returned and the only thing between him and total domination of Middle-Earth is a small Hobbit and his attempt to destroy the one ring. War of the North was also publisher Warner Brothers’ first chance to show the world what they could do with their newly acquired Lord of the Rings licence. It was going to have a deeper story, more intense combat (complete with decapitations and blood – adult stuff) and it was going to show a side to Middle Earth we’d rarely seen, let alone in video games. Lord of the Rings: War of the North was supposed to be a darker, more adult game for those of us old enough to appreciate the films when they first came out.
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