Review: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

Posted on November 1, 2011 by geelw

Platform: PS3 (also on Xbox 360, PC)

Developer: Snowblind Studios

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE)

# of Players 1 – 3 (online 1 – 3)

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: A-

Attempting to expand upon a revered and well-established canon such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth saga is indeed tricky business, particularly in the case of The Lord of the Rings trology. Get it wrong and it’s a trip into the bowels of Mount Doom as some poor development team and publisher face the wrath and ruin of legions of longtime fans. Fortunately, The Lord of The Rings: War in the North delivers an epic (and Mature-rated) tale that ties in nicely with the trilogy as well as an addictive hack & slash that’s challenging and highly replayable. It also marks Snowblind Studios’ first current generation title (finally!) and yes, they’ve done a very solid job here. The visual presentation is grand and fitting, the music is perfect and the familiar gameplay is brutal, simple and about as fun as can be for a game of this type. The game is not without its flaws, however. Some chinks in the armor show up in the form of a a weird sound bug in one area, occasional AI stumbles plus a wee bit too much repetition of quest-related dialog. Nevertheless, this is one journey well worth taking whether or not you’re a fan of the books and films. Continue reading →

This Time, It’s War (In The North)…

Posted on October 28, 2011 by geelw

Guess what JUST showed up (well, around 12:30 this afternoon)? Looks like my weekend plans are shattered to heck, but in a REALLY good way. Off to get to work on a review, which should hopefully go live on ~~Monday~~, er. Tuedsay*. Now about that Batman: Arkham City I didn’t get, feh… you win some, you lose some, I guess. Anyway, I’m off to kill a bunch of Orcs and try not do die by U’ruk Hai. Back in a bit!

Yeah, yeah, I’d initially written this as MONDAY for the review, til I noticed the embargo. Oops. Tuesday it is.

The Lord of The Rings War in the North Pre-Order Teaser Tempts Away…

Posted on October 24, 2011 by geelw

Too many people online are out of their minds comparing every RPG to Skyrim or whatever other fantasy-themed open world experience on the way when it’s clear that Snowblind Studios is making a different type of adventure entirely. I’m definitely looking forward to this one as I’m a fan of the developer’s work and trust them to make a pretty good action RPG (as it’s something they’ve done a few times previously). We’ll see if the game defies the skeptics and becomes one of those “Hey, this is really good!” word of mouth titles pretty soon, as that November 1 release date is right around the corner. Of course, in this stupid era of games needing to sell a bazillion copies over a weekend to be considered a “success”, I truly hope that this game gets enough time to gain momentum before any judgment is placed on the potential of future installments…

The Lord of The Rings War In The North Boss Battle Vignette

Posted on October 8, 2011 by geelw

I like the quote in the email that prefaces this trailer, so here it is:

“The enemy knows you have entered here. What hope you had in secrecy is now gone.”
Celeborn, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings

Snowblind Studios is really going all out with this one and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s all turned out. I think fans of the books should be pleased as the game doesn’t shy away from the violent elements found in the books and it’s looking as if it will let you venture to a few areas chopped from the movie trilogy. Granted, the M-rating might be a initial turn-off for those expecting one of the simpler hack & slash movie games geared toward the entire family. However, I say let’s see what happens as people play the game and share it with friends in co-op. I’ll bet any hesitance over a purchase based on the amount of blood in the game disappears once folks see how much fun it all is.

E3 2011: The Lord of the Rings: War In the North Trailer: Massively Impressive Multiplayer, But Also Solo If You Want It!

Posted on June 10, 2011 by geelw

Like a lot of you out there, I’m a HUGE admirer of Snowblind Studios’ gorgeous work, so every bit of info on this one has been swallowed whole and digested so it’s absolutely on my most wanted list. This tiny teaser of things to come shows promise and I can’t wait to dive into the more brutal (and accurate) version of Middle-Earth the team has crafted. Let’s hope there’s at least ONE portable version in the works (Vita, Vita, Vita!). Even if I don’t magically get a review copy, I’m buying this outright, day one…

Gallery: The Lord of the Rings – War in the North

Posted on September 7, 2010 by geelw

If Snowblind Studios made a Tic-Tac-Toe game, I'd still buy it. While the developer has only a handful of titles under its collective belt, the Action/RPG genre just wouldn't be quite the same without games such as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath, or Champions: Return to Arms. The versatile Snowblind Engine in the right hands means you're getting a supremely addictive chunk of gaming for your money. Snowblind's knack for visually intricate locales mixed with instantly accessible gameplay even made for a solid super-hero treatment in WBIE's sleeper, Justice League Heroes (which wasn't exactly an instant classic, but was a ton of fun to play, had a great story and more Green Lanterns than you could shake a stick at).