In fact, it may not be for you specifically. We’ve played both extensively and we’re here to tell you, with a comforting hand placed on your shoulder, that Skyrim isn’t for everyone. Neither approach is dishonorable-we’re effectively comparing apples to oranges-but deciding which type of gaming experience you’re looking for should color your decision between the two. For every supposed innovation Skyrim pulls out of its hat (no character classes, gaining experience by doing), The Lord of the Rings: War in the North saddles itself in a long and venerated tradition of computer role-playing games, all of which drew mechanics and inspiration from tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Most people, however, can safely live without it.Skyrim is not the be-all end-all of role-playing games, but you’d never know it from the game-of-the-year scores found Internet-wide. For those who can’t live without more Lord of the Rings entertainment, or for anybody who literally has nothing else to do, then War in the North does a fair job at amusement. There’s just no need for this game right now, and while it presents some solid role-playing action, it’s a fairly threadbare experience in a world where far deeper, more engaging RPGs are widely available. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is a decent little distraction, but it’s out during a period when “decent” distractions should be low on a gamer’s list of priorities. Even then, those fans may feel a bit let down at the vapid and flavorless interpretation of their favorite fantasy world. There are no “quests” in the game, there’s one mission with straightforward targets.Īdd to that the terrible voice acting - all the free folk have either gained American accents or poorly faked British ones (because, of course, all British people say “rarth” instead of “wrath”) - and you have a game that could only really appeal to the truly obsessive LotR fan. Even more insulting, the game’s mandatory objectives have been called “quests,” as if to try and trick the player into thinking they had any other choice. There is a single player choice in the entire game, but it comes during the final boss fight and exists solely to obtain an extra Achievement/Trophy. The dialog trees, for example, don’t influence the outcome of conversations as there’s only ever one “right” reply that advances the conversation. In games with a strong narrative or exciting pacing, linearity is perfectly fine, but there’s a dishonesty to War in the North that sees it attempting to look more open than it actually is. Despite its leveling system and dialog trees, the game only makes vague and halfhearted attempts at being anything more than a linear trek from point A to B. The fact that it resembles an RPG in only the most aesthetic of ways is fairly disappointing. There’s no joy to be had in exploring Tolkien’s universe in a game this visually unremarkable, populated as it is by dull characters who have never been seen before and will never be seen again. The Rings flavor doesn’t really add anything to the game, especially with a graphically unimpressive, corridor-based representation of Middle Earth. War in the North‘s biggest problem isn’t that it’s particularly bad, it’s just that it does what a ton of other role-playing games already do, just on a far less impressive scale. is at least really good about ensuring downed players are revived, but that’s all it’s good for. that will see friendly characters’ refusing to dodge or defend themselves in any way. The game is horrible when played alone, especially with its terrible ally A.I. Due to the swarming nature of enemies and the incredibly brutal damage they can dish out, I would strongly advise against solo play. Liberally pinching role-playing elements from Dragon Age and tossing in some basic hack n’ slash combat, War in the North is a serviceable action RPG that relies heavily on its co-op to be enjoyable. The gameplay isn’t much different, doing the bare minimum to be considered decent. NPCs aren’t any different, while the main villain could be literally any other bad guy from any other second-rate fantasy story. They have no real feelings on that and no stated goals outside of the mission at hand. Its three main characters all share the same personality, and by that I mean none have have any personality, solely defined by the fact that they must fight some Orcs in the snow. While familiar faces such as Aragorn and Gandalf show up, the story feels less like a true enhancement of Tolkien’s universe and more like a shallow, paint-by-numbers presentation of the Northern territories. As a side story, War in the North is far less epic in scale compared to the established work, and the lifeless writing doesn’t help matters.
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