LOTR: War in the North Dated for November 1st

Sharpen your axe, string your bow and polish your staff because the War in the North is near! Snowblind Studios, the same studio that brought us the Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath series announced today that Lord of the Rings: War in the North will be available for PC, PS3 and XBox 360 on November 1st. Originally the game was slated to be released on August 24th, but this doesn't mean you shouldn't be excited.

Why should you be as pumped up as these guys for Lord of the Rings: War in the North? Snowblind is well known for their pedigree in action RPGs on consoles and has developed some of the best cooperative RPG experiences available this last generation. In addition, this time around it seems like they are streamlining an already tried and true formula. While the phrase "making it more accessible" can cause a strong negative reaction in hard core enthusiasts, it seems they are decreasing complexity by removing some of the "wrong choices" players can make. In particular, you cannot screw yourself over by poorly placed stats; some of their previous titles were notoriously unforgiving in this regard.

The addition of  drop in/drop out co-op is not by any means new, however, with the taste of the poor implementation in Dungeon Siege III still lingering in our mouths, Snowblind has assured us that you will be able to use your persistent characters in online co-op. In a single player game, you will still be assisted by the two other characters driven by AI. You will be able issue commands to these characters, as well as rearrange their stat and skill points while in town to fit the desired styles you wish them to adopt.

My experience with their previous titles have always left the impression that the stories in their game have been rather lackluster. While this did not detract from my enjoyment of these titles, an action RPG set in the Lord of the Rings universe gives me hope there will be a stronger, less cliche story line. Focusing on the northern front of the War of the Ring also gives Snowblind the freedom to explore characters and areas that have not already been hashed out dozens of times in other LOTR games.

While you're waiting for the game to release, you might as well yourself a favor and watch GameSpot’s demo of LOTR: The War in the North at Comic Con this year.