Remember that brilliant troll battle from the first Lord of the Rings film? Remember how tense, unpredictable and exciting it was? Now imagine that scene, but with the Fellowship standing in a circle around the troll, repeatedly hacking away at its legs for five minutes until it suddenly falls over and dies. You've just imagined War in the North.
The story runs parallel to Frodo's quest to destroy the Ring, but stars three heroes that are completely unique to the game: Andriel (healer, pointy ears), Eradan (bargain bin Aragorn) and Farin (dwarf, likes axes). They all have their own special attacks, skill trees and weapon proficiencies, but they're some of the dullest characters ever pressed to disc.
At first you might be quite impressed. Not by the characters, but by the combat. There's a great feeling of weight and power as you swing your weapons at the Dark Lord's hordes. Critical hits sever limbs in gruesome slow motion, it's nicely animated, and the characters feel distinct. Eradan can dual-wield swords and attacks with elaborate, acrobatic flair, and Farin's axe is heavy and satisfying.
Andriel is the least fun in terms of combat, but the most useful overall. She can use magic to create a shimmering sphere that heals anyone who steps inside it, and she'll automatically cast it if your health begins to dip. She's maddeningly suicidal, though.
In one level we were about to die, so she ran over and cast her spell. While we stood inside restoring our health, she didn't bother joining us despite being close to death. "I need healing!" she shouted, standing about a metre away. Then she died.
Well, characters don't die exactly. Providing another hero still has health, they can run over and revive their pal. This is something you'll find yourself doing a lot, because the game is inexplicably hard, even on the normal setting. Basic enemies can drain your health in seconds, and healing items are infuriatingly rare.
Another problem, and perhaps the biggest, is that the whole experience is built on repetition. Enemies come in near-endless waves, but the combat isn't deep or nuanced enough to justify it. It only took about an hour for our attention to waver. Limited use special attacks add some flavour, but otherwise it's a dispiriting grind.
Then there are those troll battles, which are achingly dull, and seem to occur every ten minutes. The only way these brutes differ from regular enemies are their size and strength. You don't have to switch tactics, you don't have to approach the combat in a different way - it's just more listless hacking and slashing until they groan and keel over.
There is some brief respite from the endless repetition. The town of Bree, where the Hobbits meet Aragorn for the first time in the Fellowship of the Ring, serves as the game's hub. At certain points in levels you can warp back here, buy or sell items, and talk to the locals.
It's a cool idea, and useful for selling off unwanted loot, but the area is tiny and its denizens are as lifeless as the three heroes. (Though Loot is one of the few things War in the North does well. Chests will regularly spit out new armour and weapons, some of which have stat-boosting effects. Armour appears on your character in-game, and there's a decent range of weapons to choose from.) Snowblind are the team behind the superb Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, one of PS2's best action RPGs. But in the transition to the current generation of consoles - this is their first big multi-format title - something has gone awry. There's a place in gaming for a really great combat-focused Lord of the Rings role-player - but, sadly, this isn't it.
Comments
14 comments so far...
fionn1 on 25 Nov '11 said:
Bye Skyrim ! Hello LORT WITN
Megatrons_Fury on 25 Nov '11 said:
Lord of the rings was so 2002, enough already.
Glad this is bad, expected it and hopefully this is the end of this totally over used franchise. People should buy either Dark souls / demon souls or Skyrim instead.
Oh and buy Disgaea 4 as well, i need new user maps to farm for EXP and CP ( nudge, nudge)
jim2wheels on 25 Nov '11 said:
I actually had some hope that this would be a decent slasher. Dark Alliance was one of my favourite PS2 games back in the day.
Sangor on 25 Nov '11 said:
Christ knows why Snowblind decided to make a ARPG in such a restrictive universe. I would have loved to see something along the lines of Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, or maybe Champions of Norrath.
Imaduck on 25 Nov '11 said:
Had hoped this would be basically a cross between Dragon Age: Origins and LOTR, aw well
BenThomasFoster on 25 Nov '11 said:
Overly dificult...
10/10 dark souls. (which also has repetition and even worse visuals.) just sayin
BenThomasFoster on 25 Nov '11 said:
Another idiot who thinks lord of the rings were movies before books(which were amazing)
AndyPSM3 on 25 Nov '11 said:
Dark Souls balances its difficulty with an expertly designed risk/reward system. It uses repetition to teach you how to play. You learn from your mistakes, evolve and adapt. It's a world with a delicate, deadly set of rules that rewards mastery, patience and skill.
War in the North is a game where you bash X to kill Goblins.
Just saying.
jim2wheels on 25 Nov '11 said:
Agreed. DS puts hairs on your chest - grey ones.
Malmo on 26 Nov '11 said:
Having played through some of it, i find the game can be fun at times, but overall pretty disappointing. I don't really mind that they've written in their own characters but i do agree they're instantly forgettable. The combat is terrific at times, but it is very hard and the looting system is awful, you smash about a hundred barrels and are lucky to get one thing, you use your few healing potions in stages where seemingly endless goblins spawn.
Sadly there is very little you can do to prevent this other than hold block for eternity and take about an hour to move on to the next bit. There's pretty much no tactical option besides block and smash attack buttons. Apart from some meaty combat the game is disappointing, and i'm one to like a good hack n slash with little point to it.
Snowblind, just bring back champions of norrath please, at least if thats not wonderful you'll get some sales from the still decent fanbase that would love it.
MANYOO4EVA on 26 Nov '11 said:
"Deeply, deeply repititive."
Okay so COD is not then? Run, shoot, repeat. Run, shoot, repeat.
I will get this, just will wait till it's cheap. Looks like it won't take long either.
budge on 26 Nov '11 said:
I'll wait for Dragon's Dogma.
billysastard on 26 Nov '11 said:
werent some reviewers calling this Lord of the rings: press x in the north?
Jerdon on 5 Mar '12 said:
LOTR has been a let down from the beginning.