Lord of the Rings: War in the North Screenshots Released

Developer Snowblind is currently hard at work on yet another game in the Lord of the Rings series and we have been treated to some lovely new screenshots of it.

[TheStee]

I know they are loved as books AND as films but do we really need another game? Is this just a case of using a license to sell a hack and slash fantasy title?

[HarryPS3]

I might be interested in this LotR game, it looks promising so far.

[antz1104]

I'm off the wagon since LOTR Conquest....that game was HORRIBLE.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

Different developer and even a different publisher. Please enlighten me as to how a now defunct studio's game affects this one.

[antz1104]

The fact that LOTR could get liscensed out to Pandemic that made such a sloppy, cobbled together mess of a third person hack/slash shooter leaves me with little confidence on future parties producing another game. If nothing else Conquest, which I think we all can agree was horrible, left a bad taste in my mouth and makes me not want to buy another at full retail.

As stated above me this series has been milked time and again in the form of third person titles. Change the record, lol.

LOTR Online is free and I think that would do a better job at fulfilling a need to return to Middle Earth.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

You didn't answer my question. I didn't ask how Pandemic's game affects YOUR impression of the series. I asked how Pandemic's game affects the ACTUAL quality of this new one. The Batman analogy that Darkfiber offered below is quite apt.

Your comments rank among the most intellectually challenged I've ever had the displeasure of reading on N4G.

[Darkfiber]

That's just silly. That's like comparing Lego Batman to Arkham Asylum. Completely different developers (one much more likely to make a fun game than the other), different styles of games and different plots and characters. This will be a fully fleshed out action RPG based on the books with a Mass Effect style branching conversations as opposed to some crappy "arena style" action game that was sloppily put together a series of battles from the movies. They are taking their time with this game. Snowblind has a history of making games like this that are a ton of fun.

[antz1104]

Not really.

Its a third person hack n' slash, and the last one made was about as well received as a fart in church. Wasn't my bag or that of many others. I doubt Im going to be the only one wary after that, new devs non-withstanding.

The article states it "looks to be some fun hack and slash combat coupled with a nice leveling and character development system." Thats great, like all the LOTR games on PS2, which after some time, became boring due to each one being a retread on the previous installment.

Branching conversations don't tilt the scales that I'll go out to buy it. I know alot of people that played Alpha Protocol and they said it was mediocre. Compare this game to Mass Effect all you want, this WILL NOT be on the same level.

[Darkfiber]

No, it's exactly the same thing. You had a bad experience with a Lord of the Rings game, therefore you are saying that all Lord of the Rings games to be released afterwards will be the same and suck equally. Lego Batman and Arkham Asylum are both beat-em-up games just as this and Conquest are both "hack and slash" games. That doesn't mean Arkham Asylum sucks because Lego Batman does, and it doesn't mean this will suck because Conquest sucked.

Also, this is the ONLY Lord of the Rings game made by Snowblind studios. How can you say it'll suck like past Lord of the Rings games if they were made by completely different people?!

This game is not based on the Lord of the Rings story, it is being built completely from the ground up but based in the same universe around the time of the Fellowship. All previous lord of the rings games have been based on the movies, so they were not allowed to show or talk about anything that wasn't in the movies, meaning the old PS2 games were based on the movies and story covered in the movies only. This is being based on the universe created in the books. The story is completely new following completely different characters and taking place in northern parts of Middle-Earth that have never been shown before. This is not a sloppy cash in to make money off the movies.

And I didn't compare it to Mass Effect, all I said was that it has a branching conversation system with a conversation wheel a la Mass Effect...my point was, it's an RPG, not a hack and slash.

[ironcreed]

Come on, guys, This is Snowblind we are talking about. No fans of Champions of Norrath up in here? Think Champions of Norrath in the Lord of the Rings universe and with a traditional third person view. This game has great potential.

[Darkfiber]

I agree. Going to wait on more previews and probably some reviews before (if) I get it but if anyone has a shot at making a fun LOTR action RPG it's them.

[itsralf]

Ugh, quit milking my favorite book series. :((

[sonyrep17]

im glad they decided to bring back a decent lotr game! im looking forward to this!