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.

Comments

  • Avatar
    Dimensaur
    12 years, 8 months ago

    I think it is a crying shame this game is still so widely unknown to a lot of people. One that I have been personally excited for for a while now, glad to see it finally has a release date.

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    s1yfox
    12 years, 8 months ago

    Well(whoever is responsible for the push back), your battleship is sunk. May the gods be with you if there are any and hope you still manage to sell a lot of this. From what I've heard, its really good :/

  • Avatar
    Dr_Lethargic
    12 years, 8 months ago

    War in the North might turn up to be a great LotR game. Shame that it's jumping in the fighting ring and going against these heavy-hitters of November. Really nice how you're giving this game the attention it deserves Bob.

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    Aged Milk
    12 years, 8 months ago

    This sounds interesting, but this is almost a guaranteed flop with a November release window. That month is over-saturated with big name titles, I feel sorry for this one.

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    Comradebearjew
    12 years, 8 months ago

    Looks more and more like a flop with each new detail.

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    TheFlameLurker
    12 years, 8 months ago

    My poor wallet and fragile social life, school tuition and so many must have end of year game releases...I'm screwed.

  • Avatar
    CocoPanda
    12 years, 8 months ago

    I can't wait for the eagles!

  • Avatar
    erumaro87
    12 years, 8 months ago

    As a major LOTR fan, I'm really interested to see how this game will be.
    I heard about it in the 4PP PAX East podcasts (?) and it sounded interesting from what they where saying.
    Definetly a game I will consider.

  • Avatar
    Addix
    12 years, 8 months ago

    So many games I'm interested in this year coming out. Hopefully I can pull together some money to get it.

  • Avatar
    lemith
    12 years, 8 months ago

    There is no hope for this game if they release it in november... I just cant see any major success happening.