Quick Look: Lord of the Rings: War in the North

You know when I was a kid I dreamed that someday in the future someone would make LoTR games.

The future came. I grew up. And none of the dozens of LoTR games they made were any good compared to the books.

/sadface

Jeff hasn't seen the LotR movies? Jeff, stop being such a hipster. Watch them. They have their problems but they are enjoyable films. Just remember, LotR isn't cliched, 95% of all other fantasy is.

Also, this game is totally not LotR. Magic domes, shooting fireballs, WTF. This is a hack and slash rpg with a thinly veiled aesthetic of the LotR film slapped on.

I used to enjoy Lord of the Rings hack and slash games. But that was almost a decade ago now. This looks competent, although the areas seem a bit small, like actual arenas. I mean, Chapter 1 Part 18? Really? I'll probably still wind up playing this, as these games can be fun for a dumb Saturday with nothing else to do and young children who want to play something with you.

@VWGTI said:

Watching this reminds me that I hate the LotR.

Wow, how can anyone hate LotR? Im not judging you, but im curious about what path one walks if you end up hating LotR?

What's with all the magic? There is no magic in the LoTR universe, well not in the conventional fantasy sense. There's certainly no fireballs, elemental attacks, or force fields. WTF? This is more like Dragon Age than anything else.

"Dear Jeff,

please start posting videos at 480p/720p again for non-subscribers. Nobody

should be forced to watch 360p in 2011. Don't leave us out in the cold man,

many of us have been with Giantbomb for years now. We're poor but loyal, so

that ain't cool. Remember what drove you to create this site in the first place

and help make a good website truly great again. Yay Vinny"

@buckybit said:

@RobertOrri said:

@White said:

One Jeff to rule them all,

One Ryan to find them,

One Vinny to bring them all

and in the darkness, "Brad" them.

That's great.

... nothing rhymes with Brad. I'm just sayin'.

Nothing rhymes in that text and it's not supposed to rhyme. There are other figures of speech like for example an anaphorain that text. Not everything has to rhyme.

I found this kind of insulting to LotR fiction. The asthetic didn't even look like something Tolkien intended, it just looked like generic fantasy. And SO MUCH LIKE Dragon Age...I never thought I'd say this, but I'm pining for the days of the EA based movie games

Seems like a fun little coop game.

@Slumberpunch: Even as a paying member, I have to agree that 360p is a little too low, 480 should at least be do-able for non paying members.

seems all right, something I'd probably buy when it's discounted.

Responding to what they say in the Quick Look, you actually can change your appearance. Go to Bree, in the Prancing Pony Inn, near the stairs, there is a "Customize Appearance" prompt.

If Gandalf had a magic machine gun staff those movies would go a lot faster.

No gelatinous cubes?! No buy, good sir! Nah, this actually does look pretty good. Haven't gotten into an good old hack n' slasher in some time.

@Dtat said:

@GunslingerPanda said:

LotR still sells?

Yawn.

You realize LOTR has been around since the fifties right?

Probably why he put 'still' in his sentence.

Nolan North leaves his mark on another game. 

Wait what, they upload on youtube now? :o

These guys don't do a good job of selling the game.  There are definitely some issues (lack of control over AI companions sucks for single-player), but the fact that Ryan doesn't even seem to understand how the combo system works is a bit telling.  The fact that his attacks keep going after he's downed enemies also suggests he is doing way too much button-mashing.  Despite being a hack and slash game, you do actually have to be fairly precise about dodging and striking at enemies, especially later in the game.
 
On the brown: it gets better later in the game once you get to Sarn Ford and Rivendell.  In fact the entire first portion of the game is significantly weaker than the rest.  The game is very faithful to the look of the films, which extends both to some extremely colourful, beautiful and impressive environments, but also to some of the monotone ones.

I just had to say that D&D is based on a lot of elements other than Middle Earth. Both are based on English folklore (elves, orcs, wizards, etc.) so are alike in that they share the same common ancestor. Halflings and maybe dwarves were lifted out of Middle Earth, but other than that, there isn't very much in D&D that does resemble Middle Earth.

@Slumberpunch said:

@Moreau_MD said:

"Dear Jeff,

please start posting videos at 480p/720p again for non-subscribers. Nobody

should be forced to watch 360p in 2011. Don't leave us out in the cold man,

many of us have been with Giantbomb for years now. We're poor but loyal, so

that ain't cool. Remember what drove you to create this site in the first place

and help make a good website truly great again. Yay Vinny"

You get what you pay for. You aren't forced to watch anything. And know what's cool? Getting paid to do something you love.

Most other places we get 720p plus for free. Especially on Youtube where the obvious comparison would be something like The Cynical Brit's WTF videos which are 720p or 1080p.

@amir90: here's the explanation why the youtube switch.... http://www.giantbomb.com/news/area-man-visits-largish-website-chuckles/3767/

DAAAAAAAAVE SNIDER!!!

I'm sure someone will enjoy this game, but it isn't for me. Shame, got excited when I heard it was from the dudes who made Dark Alliance. But I'd much rather dust off my PS2, or better yet, reinstall DA:O.

If you're still not a premium member, then I think you're crazy.

Looks decent, but Skyrim is just around the corner.

@thebigJ_A said:

Lore-master?

Sigh.

I'm a LotR purist, I guess, so maybe I'm weird that it bothers me, but that's just not how magic works in Tolkien's universe. And most especially not with elves.

Gandalf doesn't chuck fireballs.

I'm such a nerd... !

Edit: Who is Aragorn? I don't even...

Ok, I can see not having an interest in seeing the movies. But to exist in gaming culture and not have read LotR... I mean, just for his job he should. Fanatasy wouldn't exist in its current form, Sci-fi would be drastically different, were it not for Tolkien. Thus, the gaming landscape would be another beast altogether. Man. Poor Jeff.

Double edit: Then again, if all he's been exposed to is tripe like this, I can see why he has no interest.

I agree completely. I fucking HATE the way every developer who gets this franchise feels the need to video game it up. I would love to see an accurate depiction of the universe. Like Dragon Age but more grounded without all the crazy magics. Or maybe something similar to Dark Souls, but with the cinematic set piece moments and the less intense more adventure/exploration focused bits from Uncharted.

As for needing to read LotR just because of being a gamer, I think you're being a bit unreasonable. Most gamers I know have NOT read the books. Maybe they read The Hobbit, at most. It's a hard series to get into for a lot of people. I love the books, even the incredibly slow opening, but I can certainly see why a lot of people haven't read it, particularly folk like Jeff. He's already kind of not a fan of fantasy, particularly the kind of fantasy that stems from this fiction. Maybe he could enjoy the books, but I am 99% certain he'd have to struggle through a significant portion of the beginning of the first book before it became interesting to him.

Does anyone else not feel that Ryan was playing the 'mage' class completely wrong?? I mean I haven't played the game but it was frustrating not seeing what the class can do... and no bow action on the ranger.

Talking eagles?! Yes. Sign me up.

I need this game.

You know this actually looks pretty good! I wont be buying it new, but I could see myself buying it when its cheaper.

@zoner said:

@Dtat said:

@GunslingerPanda said:

LotR still sells?

Yawn.

You realize LOTR has been around since the fifties right?

Probably why he put 'still' in his sentence.

Duh.

@Dtat Considering I have the three books and The Hobbit sat to my left on my bookshelf, yes, I realise LotR has been around since the fifties. Thank you, Mr. Condescending.

Dunedain's are not human.

Uncharted 3 and LOTR in the same week? More like... War in the Nolan North...

"Who's Aragorn?" God fucking damnit, Jeff.

@GunslingerPanda said:

LotR still sells?

Yawn.

Shakespeare still sells? More like Lamespeare, right?

I don't care about or know anything about fantasy elves so I am cool adult man. *goes back to searching ebay for NES copy of DuckTales*

The idea of the elven loremaster seems super dumb to me, and I'm not even a big Lord of the Rings lore fan. You don't have to know much about the series to know that magic isn't supposed to work like that.

@jASPWN said:

Does anyone else not feel that Ryan was playing the 'mage' class completely wrong?? I mean I haven't played the game but it was frustrating not seeing what the class can do... and no bow action on the ranger.

Well, in general, he never used any of the class abilities he unlocked other than that healing sphere. I don't think I saw him use the dwarf's unlocked abilities or even his crossbow at all. Ditto for the ranger.

But whatever, it's common that they do a QL of a game that they've only played for an hour or two, so I'm not surprised. Still, some of the GB guys level of gaming comprehension seems low, and they clearly miss multiple really obvious mechanics or objective markers in video games, so at times I wonder if all of them need glasses or something.

If someone had said this was a Dragon Age 2 mod, I would have believed them.

Looks like a $20 game to me.

Nolan North sure gets around, but so does Laura Bailey who also has 2 games out this week, the annoying Chao thing in Sonic Generations and the elf in this.

Edit: Those twins are totally Liam O'Brien.

Talking eagle..................... what.

I'm glad you're with me, Quick Look.

It looks pretty cool.

Looks like a PS2 era hack and slash with updated graphics. I was kind of looking forward to it, but not this.

"I wanna backstab - double damage. I wanna turn undead, I want a cleric."

@Shaanyboi said:

"Who's Aragorn?" God fucking damnit, Jeff.

You think he was trolling? I'd find it a lot funnier if he wasn't.

From this video it seems pretty obvious that Ryan hasn't been paying attention and doesn't even know how to play the game. He isn't using the combo system and critical heavy hits right at all, paying no attention to the arrow that appears above enemies. And the info about leveling and resetting was wrong. And of course you can repair your equipment, had you bothered to talk to the blacksmith in town you would have easily found that out.

And the fact that Jeff hasn't read or seen anything to do with Lord of the Rings is just pathetic. Who's Mario?