"Any depiction of those areas might fall short in some ways, but to really see it and be able to play through it - that's really thrilling for them." And particularly that we're going to places that haven't been shown before, that's really exciting for them. But generally the people that are really hardcore, very devoted fans that we've shown the game to have really liked it. Tomandl continued: "There's always some people who have expectations that are so high that no game will ever be able to meet them. It creates its own challenges, obviously, in that you're working within such a beloved franchise with such a beloved storyline, but that just adds to the interesting challenge of having to design and create a game that does justice to Tolkein's lore and stories." "We're thrilled to be working within that licence. "A lot of us are huge Lord of the Rings fans, and so the reception from the community thus far has been really great. "We actually love it ," Olander remarked. But will the devout legion of Tolkein fans be impressed? Middle-Earth Enterprises keep a close watch on Snowblind to make sure everything fits with the Lord of the Rings canon. Snowblind explained the maturity as coming from the pages of the Lord of the Rings book(s), "which are very violent", said Ruth Tomandl. This will no doubt be awarded for "strong bloody violence", as limbs fly off, heads are severed and axes smashed into pie-holes. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is on course for a UK 18 rating by the BBFC, although that hasn't been dished out yet. There's always a market of folk who want to explore Middle-Earth." Jason Olander, senior game designer, LOTR: War in the North "The Lord of the Rings is just one of those key franchises and key modern mythologies that has an endless pull for people. On the topic of exploration, Snowblind said there will be "a lot" of side-quests. They divide roughly into melee, ranged/melee and magic, although you can interpret them differently through customisation according to your will.Įach character will have race-specific abilities, and the dwarf can even unlock a secret area - an option we presume the other two races have as welll. War in the North has three available characters: a dwarf Warrior, human Ranger and elven Loremaster. But you won't loot Gandalf's staff, Snowblind confirmed. Some boss-drops will be set, and you'll loot famous weaponry such as Bilbo's iconic Sting sword and Narsil - the blade that cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger, and which Aragorn reforged to command the Army of the Dead and lead Middle-Earth to victory against Sauron's army. Any chests encountered in co-op can be opened by all three characters to avoid squabbling. Most loot will be randomly generated, and you can trade items with friends in co-op sessions. "We don't want people accidentally to ruin their single player experience," said senior game designer Jason Olander. Your loot and character gains in co-op will persist and follow your adventurer from session to session.īut if you joined a friend far more powerful than you, items you pick up in that session won't persist when you leave. "There are always some people who have expectations that are so high that no game will ever be able to meet them." Ruth Tomandl, producer, LOTR: War in the NorthĬo-op, loot, customisation and gory action are the beating heart of War in the North.Ĭo-op is available for up to three people either online or on the sofa (presumably for two). You'll be helped along the way by the giant eagle Beleram, too, who you can summon using a golden feather item. You'll also encounter the rarely depicted wizard Radagast, a peer of Gandalf and Saruman. You'll bump into Gandalf and Aragorn and Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, but your journey won't be theirs - yours will be heading north to face a menace called Agandur. Lord of the Rings: War in the North spins a parallel story to the Lord of the Rings book and films. "The trading system, the loot system in general - a lot of that stuff we really tried to optimise to make co-op as fun as it could be." "And we wanted to figure out what was it about that game that drove that and what we could improve on to make the co-op even more compelling. "We went back and looked pretty closely at Dark Alliance and looked at what really facilitated the co-op in that game, because a lot of people, including a lot of us, played that game on the couch with our friends.
"We feel that it is," said producer Ruth Tomandl. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, developer Snowblind Studios has told Eurogamer.
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