Review: Lord of the Rings: War in the North

Lord of the Rings: War in the North was released on November 1st by Snowblind Studios. It’s a game that’s based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s fiction books set in Middle earth and whilst I have never read them, I did love the films a lot. That’s why I was pretty excited to get my hands on a copy of the game.

This game took me by surprise from an early point. With amazing graphics and technical art before you, there’s not a lot you can criticize this game for. You can play the game other alone or in multiplayer modes.

Gameplay: Upon arrival at the menu of the game, you have a choice to pick between the three main characters to use in battle - Eradan, Farin and Andriel. Depending on your preferences, you may find one of them more favourable than the other. That’s because they have their own personal special qualities.

Eradan is a Ranger with a Bow and sword. He is great for self defense, from my point of view. On the other hand, you may have a dilemma because there’s also Farin, who has his classy strength. Andriel is a mage, and I normally tend to go with her as she is armed with two swords in a melee attack and also has supportive magic or offensive magic.

When beginning with single player mode, you start by selecting a location in which to battle in with the other two characters that you haven’t picked. The destinations include Barrow Downs, Bree, Nordinbad, Fornost, Mount Gundabad, Rivendell, Ettenmoors and Mirkwood (some of which are not actually mentioned in the movies).

Throughout single player battles, you fight your way through your enemies with the other two characters you didn’t select to control. You can attack in several ways, including melee attacks and specialties. Depending on the character you are controlling, you may have some handy weapons. There are many allies and enemies that you are to come across throughout your single player battle. And when you have been struck, and you are temporarily down, it will only be a brief while before you are revived and can resume in the battle again. Also, you can roll, block and counter attack enemies.

After overcoming each battle, you then have to find the gateway to the next, before gathering with your companions in battle to proceed. Also, scattered all around the locations are chest boxes that you can gather around with your companions to purchase and consider what may be a handy piece of equipment.

As well as that, there are also important tools you can pick up. In multiplayer modes, you can get together a team of three to fight in the War in the North. You need to use your heroes to the fullest extent possible, if you are to succeed in battle all the way.

This includes things such as reviving your team mates. Some may get confused about this when first playing, but the thing is that when a companion of yours is down having been struck, you have to come to their aid and revive them, or they cannot resume in the battle.

Verdict: My first impressions of the game were good. It’s not the best game I’ve played, but certainly right up there amongst them. With good graphics and a strong storyline, this game is certainly one to go fot. What I think they should have improved is perhaps the selection of weapons to choose from, as there isn’t such a big variety. Then again, each character has its specialties.

To purchase the game, head here and to find out more about it, head to its official website.