Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Lord of the Rings: War of the North




Story

The story follows 3 characters, Eradan, Farin and Andriel, who are given the duty of going to The Shire to scout enemy forces, upon arriving, they are attacked by Orcs. The trio finds that a man by the name Agandaur plans on destroying the Free People of the North under the orders of Sauron. The 3 are given the duty of distracting the enemy forces while Frodo and the Brotherhood head towards Mt. Doom, and stopping Agandaur from completing his malicious plans.


Graphics

The graphics of LotR: WitN are very nice, areas are lush and green (or not if the area requires it), and effects are well done (blood sprays, element effects, etc). Characters look realistic (or as realistic as fake beings can be) and animations are smooth. Weapons and armour have unique skins (for the most part) and equipping something changes the look of the character.


Controls

The game relies on basic controls, normal attacks, heavy attacks, block and range attacks. Holding the right trigger will allow you to use one of three melee or ranged skills. When talking with NPCs, the game uses a Mass Effect style, allowing you to ask various questions or dig deeper into the situation, this can earn you extra quests or additional info as to what you should do.


Voice/Music/Sound

The music can be a bit buggy at times, you'll hear battle music when not in battle, or it may reset a few times before working properly, but despite that, it sounds good and is appropriate. The VO seem to be appropriate for the setting of the game, characters use old tyme speech (my lord, thus, etc) and makes the game feel authentic.


Other

The game allows for split screen play of online play, this makes some parts of the game much easier to pass.

When you level up, that level stays with you, if you play as the Ranger, but decide you want to play the Melee, you'll do so with the same level of your Ranger (with all the stat and skill points free to allocate as well as all the items you had). Your team, when controlled by the AI, will allocate points automatically, and upgrade their equipment by themselves, you can provide them with armour and weapons if you want, but they may lose them.

When you beat the game, you'll unlock a higher difficulty and will be able to use your character and retain your gear, stats and level, making it easier to progress. You'll also earn more exp and better gear as you play.


Overall

This is a very fun game for RPG fans, I don't even like LotR but enjoyed this game a lot.

8.0/10.0

Pros

- Fun RPG
- Weapons and Armour are unique
- Can be a nice challenge for the player

Cons

- Can be beaten in, literally, a few hours if you rush
- Areas are linear
- Many locations on the map, only a small number are visitable

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