The War in the North (LOTR)

[vivisectvi]

Lord of the Rings: War in the North Trailer

So apparently this comes out next month (August 24th according to most sites). Looks like a LOTR with some Dragon Age flare added in. I've decided I need a fun RPG to kill some time until SKYRIM in November, so I'll probably be trading in a few games in order to pick this up.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is a role-playing video game in development by Snowblind Studios. It is based on the events taking place in the northern regions of Middle-earth in the background of the main story of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Players will take control of a hero of the war, and will be able to play through the game alone or cooperatively with other players, with the ability adjust the percentage of experience the co-op partner receives.

In a preview article in PlayStation Magazine, it was discussed that players will have certain skills that are upgradeable, characters that can be customized, and conversations play out similarly to Mass Effect without the moral ramifications.

The game is scheduled for release in 2011. The game will feature stronger graphic violence than previous Lord of the Rings games and is expected to be the first game in the series to receive an M rating from the ESRB.

Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Brutal Combat Trailer

LotR: War in the North - Black Numenorean Trailer: Council Exclusive (2011) | HD

Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Extended Combat Trailer

Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Blood and Steel Trailer

Developer Walkthrough: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Mount Gundabad (HD)

 

[vivisectvi]

It's getting a pretty huge CE release as well..

Via Joystiq:

As Lord of the Rings: War in the North PREPS for an Autumn assault, Warner Bros.. is Deploying an extravagant Collector's Edition and pre-order incentive to Help gather recruits.

The Collector's Edition, which costs a whopping $ 130, includes a Ranger of the North Quiver Case, Art Book, a behind-the-scenes DVD on the Game's Music, three Songs from the Soundtrack ... and the Game. Those who Pick up the CE for Xbox 360 receive a Ranger of the North Avatar outfit for Xbox Live, while PS3 purchasers get a War in the North Theme Pack.

Retailer Specific Pre-Order Bonus:
Amazon.com: Part two of the War in the North Digital Comic written by Brian Wood, illustrated by Simon Coleby and produced by DC Entertainment. There's also an in-game Orc Champion sword.
Best Buy: Elf Theme Pack - Elven sword, armor and helmet. Access to the Lothlórien Challenge map.
GameStop: Human Theme Pack - Human sword, armor and battle attire of the Human Ranger. Access to the Osgiliath Challenge map.
Target: Three "exclusive" tracks from the War in the North soundtrack.
Toys 'R' Us: Receive a limited edition, signed War in the North poster by Jim Lee, and access to parts one and two of the War in the North Digital Comic at launch.
Walmart: A Dwarven quest. The Dwarf Theme Pack-dwarf sword, armor and helmet.

I can't seem to get the image to show up when I embed it.. probably because the site is blocked from my work. Either way, you can see it at the link above. I'm just going for the regular edition. Probably via Gamestop.

 

[vivisectvi]

Anyone else with a PS3 thinking to pick this up? Online co-op! C'mon!

 

[vivisectvi]

Pre-ordered my copy from Gamestop last night. The dude working there says their system pegs the release as "Q4 2011" which is October or later. Amazon.com and other sites have August 24th. I was hoping this would come out long enough before Skyrim that I can pay proper attention to it. Hoping that it least comes out for September. I actually think it'd be dumb of Snowblind to try and compete with Bethesda on this one by releasing it within a close timeframe to Skyrim.

 

[vivisectvi]

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Trailer HD

Lord of the Rings: War in the North - FlashPoint Live Feed

The Lord of the Rings - The War in the North - Movie Touchpoints Trailer [720p HD - PC, PS3, Xbox 36

The Lord of the Rings - The War in the North - New Heroes Trailer [720p HD - PC, PS3, Xbox 360]

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

So this is the first RPG game I've played on the 360, and really one of the few I've played period. Figured I'd start with LOTR since I'm such a huge fan of the books/movies. I got this for Xmas when I got the console. Has anyone else played this now that Dubq kamikazed? I'm not very good at video games but so far it's pretty easy though it can be frustrating since it seems to have some annoying flaws.

Unless I'm missing something you can't really switch between your characters except at the end of every level and then you can just switch once. Or by quiting the game and starting at the save point again. It says they level up on their own but I don't really notice them using their higher power abilities or new weapons much. Plus it would be nice to change easier.

The save system is incredibly confusing but that might just be me. I don't see why you have to exit the game just to switch characters. Also they have this challenge mission stuff on the map that I didn't know what it was so I checked it out and it was wave after wave of monsters which so far I can't get past. But I can't use the map to travel away even though it isn't part of the actual quest or whatever. I don't know if I could have turned autosave off? I didn't even see an option to make my own saves or not.

But hey other that that it's been fun!

 

[Baby Shoes]

I usually co-op with my friend and his younger brother. We usually pick games like Borderlands or Left 4 Dead where we can do a private co-op with just the three of us. My friend read this was a 3 person co-op and I had gotten it cheap on release, so we decided to play it this weekend and they rented it.

I had fun playing it in the group. I never played a lot of RPGs so I could see myself not doing as well on my own with this. If you've only played by yourself and have Live, try seeing if any of your friends would rent to play, as I think it works well that way.