The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 362 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 201 out of 362
  2. Mixed: 106 out of 362
  3. Negative: 55 out of 362
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  1. theFunkyMan
    Nov 5, 2011
    2
    A console port, again. A hack and slash, again. Lord of the rings, again. Boring gameplay, weak story, mediocre controlling, ugly graphics. This game is weak, in every aspect. If I haven't know about the methods which publishers use to achieve high scores for their products, I would wonder how this p.o.s. could get so much high votes.
  2. Chaozzak
    Nov 6, 2011
    4
    Its a port of console. What is terrifying is graphics. It looks like PS2 port with 7 years old engine. Thats horrible. Nevertheless, i played this game about 3 hours and gameplay is good, but missing better RPG elements. If they put a little bit more work on this game, it will be surely much better :-/
  3. SuperDoD
    Nov 8, 2011
    4
    The game has zero character customization, utter linear story, ugly graphics (the engine must be at least 5 years old), boring combat. Raping of the orcs and goblins heads was fun though, for a while at least. The story is boring, it does not motivates you to play through the game. The fellowship members can't fight, leaving the 95% of enemies for you to kill. It is not epic to see themThe game has zero character customization, utter linear story, ugly graphics (the engine must be at least 5 years old), boring combat. Raping of the orcs and goblins heads was fun though, for a while at least. The story is boring, it does not motivates you to play through the game. The fellowship members can't fight, leaving the 95% of enemies for you to kill. It is not epic to see them struggle with only one piece of goblin. All in all, I had hoped for a better game. There have not been any decent LoTR games recently, I hope that this will change in the near future.… Expand
  4. deppard
    Jan 26, 2012
    3
    I will get straight to the point. I have frequently observed how things go awry when a console game is transformed into a pc game. LOTR- War in the North is no exception. Its just another example of how a game with high potential can be a let down of sorts, thanks to short-sightedness. This is an RPG game with fabulous graphics and the bells and whistles that go with such genre of gaming.I will get straight to the point. I have frequently observed how things go awry when a console game is transformed into a pc game. LOTR- War in the North is no exception. Its just another example of how a game with high potential can be a let down of sorts, thanks to short-sightedness. This is an RPG game with fabulous graphics and the bells and whistles that go with such genre of gaming. Unlike a Diablo or warcraft, the characters are visibilly bigger like a 3rd person shooter- something we often see in POTC and LOTR games. While the experience of game play is pleasant, the following issues sure are real turn offs- namely interface glitches and game play. Let's see how-

    *There are 3 charcacters. While U play one, the other two companions are controlled by AI & U have little control over what they do. Customization of characters is not too innovative either. Weapons not too fancy, skill tree not very inspiring. Not much combat, magic combo to build up. This is a let down.

    * Movement is a real pain and spoils your gameing experience. 'The back of your' head camera/view can often go awry. I wonder whay can't developers take a clue from the Max Payne game engine while designing characters.U can loose track of your character and his direction while playing. Especially during combat U often find yourself hacking in the wrong direction with your back to the enemy!!!! . or come up from a roll and you wish to turn around-- spite of pressing the buttons you are immobile for a few precious moments.

    * For some reason the interface/key board controls are not very response friendly- Not allowing you the desired action the very moment you need it. For example, Health potions may not activate immediately. Dodge, role, move forward buttons don't always give you the combo movement when pressed together. Your charcater is thus left to stand in the middle of a mele` for a coup degrace! how idiotic. walking over loot items has a pop up window asking if U wish to loot!! that too in the middel of combat surely lacks some fore-sight. * Fighting the bosses are way too unrealistic. Especially with sloppy controls. There are many who complain about fighting the first boss- Tharzog the chieftain- Your fingers will fall out of their sockets while clammering across the keyboard- U barely go 50% of the way before either U or both your sidekicks fall and the game is over..... As if the boss wasn't enough, his minnions just keep coming. It is extremely hard for a player to make way...Not realistic at all. The percentage of gamers who claim to have made it thru is very less! My own nephew tried in vein for some 39 days before he deleted the game!!! Says a lot! With no cheat options U R stuck in the rut. Now that's sad. * After a while the combat and enemies become very repetative and boring. * No save options. I wonder why this is becoming a trend. Let the gamer decide how long he wishes to play. Without these glitches, it could have been a much more enjoyable game.    … Expand
  5. Johnman
    Jan 31, 2012
    4
    This game is generic, bland and boring. Generic music, generic animations and generic writing. The graphics are OK, and it seems that's all that matters.

    This might be an all right game for casual console gaming with some friends, but as a single-player PC RPG it's simply ridiculously bad.

    The controls are broken.
  6. elgringo
    Dec 3, 2011
    0
    This game was horrible to play, literally all you do is mashing buttons on your mouse and keyboard, there is no tactics in this the artificial intelligence of your buddies is horrible. Tolkien would cry out if he knew what they did to his fantastic LOTR-lore. I won't buy a game from this company again, I feel ripped off.
  7. tighra
    Nov 2, 2012
    3
    This game bores me so much. You haven't the control over your mates, just two commands (attack and defend). Tanking isn't possible because the damage is too high and thy healer won't heal you if you need some (because you just controll one party member). why they give us a group? when there isn't a group-play like in dragon-age. You cant even equip your mates just give them stuff that theyThis game bores me so much. You haven't the control over your mates, just two commands (attack and defend). Tanking isn't possible because the damage is too high and thy healer won't heal you if you need some (because you just controll one party member). why they give us a group? when there isn't a group-play like in dragon-age. You cant even equip your mates just give them stuff that they didn't equip. I'm glad i just paid 10bucks for it. If you like stupid hack&slay without tactic and if you a hugh LotR fan u can buy it, otherwise keep your hands off.… Expand
  8. Adrian227178
    Mar 17, 2012
    1
    The reason I'm rating this game a 1. Is a half point for it being a Lord of the rings game and another half point because my girlfriend will play it. I'll leave all the other positive comments down on the bottom. I also own the hard copy (not downloaded) LOTR WITN and only play it on PS3 so I cannot vouch for any other consoles.... The 1st thing I do whenever I open up a brand new game isThe reason I'm rating this game a 1. Is a half point for it being a Lord of the rings game and another half point because my girlfriend will play it. I'll leave all the other positive comments down on the bottom. I also own the hard copy (not downloaded) LOTR WITN and only play it on PS3 so I cannot vouch for any other consoles.... The 1st thing I do whenever I open up a brand new game is pull out the user guide that comes inside of the game case to familiarize myself with new controls and game set-up. What I found was a 6 page booklet (most of it user agreements and epilepsy/seizure warnings) that didn't even have all the controls listed on it. With a Lore-Master voucher for free complete armour set and a weapon. (Possibly the worst set in the game) [-1 point] So I then popped the game disk in with my girlfriend to watch the "epic just put the game in intro movie" and... nothing happened. It just brought me to the start menu [-1 point]. So then we press start and choose our characters... except when my girlfriend was trying to choose a character she couldn't make her own saved data on my PlayStation profile. Wait a minute! you can't play and save data from only one playstation profile!! So I exited out of the game to make her own profile so she could play. We each choose our own characters and away we go. Once the game loads My very first thought was ``F*** this split-screen ``[-1point] and [another -1 point for not being able to change that] (when playing 2 player the screens are side by side instead of with every other multi-player split-screen, top and bottom [-1 point]). To make matters worse your character takes up the entire screen. So although you have can have a great view of a Dwarfs` ass [-1 point] Ã… Expand
  9. slick_trick
    Sep 3, 2012
    4
    Agonizingly dull combat. We are back at hammering one button for combat.... the other button is a 'critical attack'. NO combos to speak of. No utiilization of the light and heavy attacks together.. You have ONE light attack that you do over and over (and over.... and over... ad nauseum) It never changes. On top of that you get a ranged attack. Then you can do a 'heavyAgonizingly dull combat. We are back at hammering one button for combat.... the other button is a 'critical attack'. NO combos to speak of. No utiilization of the light and heavy attacks together.. You have ONE light attack that you do over and over (and over.... and over... ad nauseum) It never changes. On top of that you get a ranged attack. Then you can do a 'heavy attack' that breaks shields... that never changes. The entire game is based on combat and I cannot imagine a duller system than this. Yes each character has 3-4 'power moves' where you press 'shift' or whatever w/ the appropriate key. This game couldn't be worse. Graphics are decent with some nice 'bloomy' background effects. Some of the levels look nice. Utterly attrocious combat.. this is like an updated version of Return of the King from 2002 but Return of the King was literally like 10 times better...each of the 10 or so charcters had like 12 different unlockable combos...... you had light attack , heavy attack, grab, throw, 'finish'... and you could combine all of those to create combos... (i.e. L, L,L, H, H would create interesting ... NEW moves)... Whoever's idea it was to have you hammering one button over and over again was obviously a *****ing genius. This game is a total failure. Even the graphics of Return of the King from 2002 are almost as good as this.. 10 years later...… Expand
  10. drachehexe
    May 1, 2012
    4
    This game is just purely below average. A cheap and unsuccessful attempt to capitalize on the LOTR name. About the only redeeming quality of this game is the graphics, that is if the game didn't have a severe stuttering disorder no matter what hardware you have or whether graphical settings are maxed out set to minimal. Level design is linear, characters are shallow, dialogue isThis game is just purely below average. A cheap and unsuccessful attempt to capitalize on the LOTR name. About the only redeeming quality of this game is the graphics, that is if the game didn't have a severe stuttering disorder no matter what hardware you have or whether graphical settings are maxed out set to minimal. Level design is linear, characters are shallow, dialogue is somewhat grating on the nerves, and the side quest elements are a joke. Combat is generally boring with boss fights are a total mess. You'll spend more time being revived by your allies than damaging your enemies. Character and equipment management is sloppy and uncoordinated, character advancement is minimal and the control setup is unintuitive and muddled. And there are bugs galore. Quest people will disappear and reappear at random, moving a character from single player to multi-player and vice versa can cause losing your save games, and in single player your allies really do their best to block you path as you can't run through them, so you'll find yourself blocked from the action a lot as many combat areas are cramped. This game is just bad. It's not even an average hack-and-slasher. It's a terrible RPG. And it's down right abysmal for the LOTR brand.… Expand
  11. Morring
    Dec 4, 2013
    4
    if you get this game for cheap, it would almost be acceptable. Sure, there's much better out there, but it would still be a fun little game with some drawbacks from the console-friendly inventory. Too bad this game is also very unstable. I'm one of the lucky ones: got to play it with many crashes, while some people can't play at all. It still became unbearably frustrating, since the gameif you get this game for cheap, it would almost be acceptable. Sure, there's much better out there, but it would still be a fun little game with some drawbacks from the console-friendly inventory. Too bad this game is also very unstable. I'm one of the lucky ones: got to play it with many crashes, while some people can't play at all. It still became unbearably frustrating, since the game also not allow you to save your progress except for autosaves, which combined with all the stability issues can get you stuck at the same spot for a very long and frustrating time. Too bad, because I would have recommended it otherwise.… Expand
  12. Mercarcher
    Nov 8, 2013
    1
    This is an extremely poor console port, the graphics look like something from the late 90s or early 00s, the game play is overly simplistic, the settings customization is nonexistent, and multiplayer is unplayable due to really bad, unmuteable in game voice chat. This should have never been released on PC if they had no plans on doing anything with it.
  13. Alcapwn
    Nov 29, 2013
    4
    So I tried playing this single player. What a nightmare. Your ally AI is so horrible that any remotely difficult fight they will go down in a couple seconds and there is no way you're getting them back up without dying. There is a boss fight a couple of hours into the game that took almost 20 minutes of running and slashing to beat. If he didn't have unlimited minions it might have been aSo I tried playing this single player. What a nightmare. Your ally AI is so horrible that any remotely difficult fight they will go down in a couple seconds and there is no way you're getting them back up without dying. There is a boss fight a couple of hours into the game that took almost 20 minutes of running and slashing to beat. If he didn't have unlimited minions it might have been a bit better. After that it got easier for another 20 minutes and then another huge difficulty spike.
    The games combat is boring and repetitive. After about an hour you get tired of the crit kills and it just is the same over and over and over. I quit after reaching the midway point in the game and I felt like I had just wasted my time. I got stuck on a ridiculously hard boss and just eventually stopped retrying.

    Don't waste your time.    … Expand
  14. Janbo55
    Nov 29, 2013
    3
    This, has been a horrific experience for me. Especially because I've played it for 4 hours, and have got 3 blue screen of deaths. I've un-installed it, and will never install it again. But it's actually really sad, because it's a fun game, even though it's a very bad console port.
  15. idohaker
    Dec 5, 2012
    3
    not a good game i was very disapointed because i thought that i will spent my money on a good game for my bad luck i didnt see the reviews but its still a little fun not so much after 3 hour you will whouldent to play the game so after all i think that the lord of the rings war in the north is suck dont buy it
  16. Michaelnz
    Aug 3, 2013
    1
    Game was fun to play for a while, then around the 3 hour mark you come to the realisation that you've already experienced the entire game repetitive, bland and boring. On top of which, I experienced lots of game crashes including a blue screen of death, something I have not seen in over a decade. Stay away from this 'game'.
  17. EndsBeginning
    Jul 21, 2013
    3
    It's a hack and slash Lord of the Rings game like so many others. I got bored with it in under an hour. Onto my issues with it.
    It has an in game voice chat that you can't turn off. There is very little customization,you have three chars and you can edit small details, but nothing much. They have a preset personality and then it's go and fight stuff. I found the combat less than    It's a hack and slash Lord of the Rings game like so many others. I got bored with it in under an hour. Onto my issues with it.
    It has an in game voice chat that you can't turn off. There is very little customization,you have three chars and you can edit small details, but nothing much. They have a preset personality and then it's go and fight stuff. I found the combat less than interesting. But really what bothered me is that it's a pure railroad story, there's one path, one way. If you're going to do that, then please just write a fan-fic and don't call it a game.    … Expand
  18. Grenodeur
    Dec 14, 2013
    1
    The game's plot is a separate story sometimes even complements your events Jackson trilogy Fashionable meet many characters from the movie only they are made crooked and not realistic.
    + You can play with friends or strangers from the internet Coop for three. Pluses on this end .
    - The combat system primitive zadalboivanie LMC and in the end the decisive blow on the right button     The game's plot is a separate story sometimes even complements your events Jackson trilogy Fashionable meet many characters from the movie only they are made crooked and not realistic.
    + You can play with friends or strangers from the internet Coop for three. Pluses on this end .
    - The combat system primitive zadalboivanie LMC and in the end the decisive blow on the right button it's all very pathetic just like in Gothic 4 Index finger will be sore after 2 3 hours of the game.
    - Miserable graphics, the game was released in November 2011 a week before the release of TES Skyrim. They do not even compare to the level of graphics as the earth and sky. The game looks like it was made in 2005, the doge with TES Oblivion does not compare it is pathetic .
    - Endless repetition, was a little gut map you fight killed all again all over again. Repetition of small bosses Trolls and other creatures all wildly angry.
    - Leveling no balance it is virtually useless. All to the disgrace of all 3 branches of skills with perks Magic, and generally ranged attacks are useless worthless and cause damage. Need to get into the head orc 9 times to kill him well, it's just awful But this is far from the enemy's attack is applied three times more damage than yours, even if the pump bow crossbow or staff at the seer .
    - Impassable moments because of a notorious enemy imbalance 12 hour pass threw the game.
    - Locations all done sloppy and ugly even though the game takes place in the world of LOTR, invisible walls everywhere sometimes just in the way and annoying.
    - Exceeding the opponent in an amount enough that they killed only after the 6-16 attacks so still a lot of them to the middle of the game simply unplayable and impassable You can probably pass with only an irreparable loss to the nerves or the trainer.
    - Magic spell damage and staves completely negligible at least in Elf and perhaps that is capable tickle opponents.
    1/10 Game frank vyser igroporoma how could all so nalazhali with RPG component I do not know, probably just have not tested the game did anyhow for 3 months and released cut the dough with the fans of the universe The only plus point games this scenario interesting conversations I am glad that the game did not buy the incentive. Can be traversed only if the trainer.    … Expand
  19. Matinski
    Nov 13, 2013
    1
    Oh my! This game is poor. If it had been released on the Megadrive I think I would have loved it... BUT, graphics have moved on, gameplay has moved on and expectations have moved on. Try and find a demo before buying and make up your own mind... but I would definitely say don't waste your money on this game.
  20. zombiepenguin
    Nov 7, 2013
    0
    this game is horrible. The fighting is boring and and it never does anything to make it fun. The story isn't good either. The characters are practically emotionless. The graphics look like plastic action figures you would play with as a kid. The frame rate is also bad. It was never over about 10-20 fps.
  21. F3L1XTV
    Nov 11, 2013
    0
    This game is complete ****
    No fun in the complete game. Fights are gay and boring and nothing makes sence. No hope for this game! DONT BUY IT!!!!swsasdawde
  22. AbeMC
    Feb 21, 2018
    1
    Couldn’t finish the game because it kept crashing at the same spot. War in the North does have a bad history with ATI / Radeon, but still, this is what I tried.
    - Verified the file cache
    - Tried various compatibility modes - Tried installing the Large Address Aware patch - Started a new game (twice) (in case the save was corrupted) Still resulted in repeated crashing in Chapter 2.    Couldn’t finish the game because it kept crashing at the same spot. War in the North does have a bad history with ATI / Radeon, but still, this is what I tried.
    - Verified the file cache
    - Tried various compatibility modes
    - Tried installing the Large Address Aware patch
    - Started a new game (twice) (in case the save was corrupted)
    Still resulted in repeated crashing in Chapter 2.

    Thoughts on the game before I reached the unplayable moment (I only played as a single-player):

    If you can get the game to work for you, it's a 5/10 game that isn't special, but isn't awful either.
    Total size on my hard-drive: 7.4 GB

    + Ran well until the crashing started. Maxed 1440p produced a solid 60fps on my RX 470.
    + Decent story from what I could tell. Begin in Bree at the Prancing Pony, where we briefly meet Aragorn (who has heard tell of some hobbits coming south carrying a precious burden). He lays out our task: there are agents of Sauron in the North who are also doing the evil lord’s wishes, and it is our duty to find them, expose them, distract them, and generally cause as much trouble as possible. The linear levels help keep the narrative focused.
    + Decent animations. Walk, run, combat, faces – all are of a very high level for a game from 2011. Good finishing moves, too.

    +/- Very linear levels.
    +/- Limited use of destructible environments. Nice when they appear, but it’s not often.
    +/- Graphics remind me of Dragon Age II’s. Simplistic but quite nice at times.
    +/- Stupidly simple combat. Played single-player, the game seems to be begging for a Dragon Age-style tactics menu to create a pattern of behavior for the others in the squad. But there simply isn’t enough depth in the combat to make use of such a system if it were there. Mash left-click, and when a small yellow triangle appears over the head of an enemy, right-click to get a critical hit (you can right-click at any time for a heavy attack, but it takes so long you’ll do the same damage just by mashing left-click). There are skill trees that seem to make some difference on combat, but I never got far enough for them to make much difference. Dodging is also sometimes required. Bosses are damage sponges.
    +/- The three characters all have unique combat styles. Though the half-elven mage is an obvious support class who mostly uses her staff to hit people with, not launch spells. Magic is generally disappointing. The Ranger archer fights best from a distance (obviously) who isn’t too quick to switch to the sword he carries. The dwarf soldier is the heavy hitter, and the one with the worst AI, so he is the best choice for a single-player experience.
    +/- A nice amount of loot. Travel back to hubs often to sell stuff.
    +/- Simplistic crafting to make potions and slottable gems. No tutorial for this. I stumbled across it because I noticed something that looked like a gem slot on a weapon.

    - Character customization is awful. Choose from presets. That’s it.
    - Playing single-player, you can only switch between characters at the end of a level. Or by quitting to the menu, selecting a different character, then loading the game.

    Not recommended because it kept crashing on me, but before I reached that point War in the North seemed like a well-executed, slightly boring hack ‘n slash whose primary appeal is to Lord of the Rings fans. Crashing aside, it's an average (5/10) game with nothing obviously incompetent about it, but nothing stands out either. A curiosity purchase, nothing more.    … Expand
  23. xtrmsnpr
    Jan 5, 2015
    4
    Worst RPG experience ever.and one of the worst LOTR.
    A big disappointment for me
    1)Long boring ass QUESTS,with no meaning of traveling all these distance.. It reminds more than an OLD style MMORPG than an rpg(coop too game). 2)Long boring GAMEPLAY,with slow moves,and stupid animations,that cant focuses in 360 degrees. 3)The MOBS,are stupid as **** around without trying to avoid    Worst RPG experience ever.and one of the worst LOTR.
    A big disappointment for me

    1)Long boring ass QUESTS,with no meaning of traveling all these distance..
    It reminds more than an OLD style MMORPG than an rpg(coop too game).
    2)Long boring GAMEPLAY,with slow moves,and stupid animations,that cant focuses in 360 degrees.
    3)The MOBS,are stupid as **** around without trying to avoid you.The bosses are also stupid AI,and the best is that you cant avoid all the attacks of them.
    4)The music has no place in the game at any point.
    5)The EFFECTS are ridiculous awful.
    6)The story it self sucks,a fictional **** that has no place in the universe of the LOTR or soever.
    7)The characters are fictional too,with no life to know or characteristics to remember..
    8)The player customization are ****,few choices and lame changes.
    9)The inventory is nothing much special as the skill tree too.

    At the end,if you want to loose time from your life,go on,this is the perfect game for it,besides, 2659 USERS agrees with it.

    4.5/10    … Expand
  24. JackalLGC
    Aug 8, 2020
    0
    Why i gave it 8?I am lotr fan boy.This game had so much potential.The game graphics were very good for a 2011 game,nice rpg elements,nice looting system and nice combat style.The bad things were that it gets repetitive (same enemy encounters again and again) and you can exploit some features to be unstoppable.Story was good but side quests were dull.One more bad thing was the reviveWhy i gave it 8?I am lotr fan boy.This game had so much potential.The game graphics were very good for a 2011 game,nice rpg elements,nice looting system and nice combat style.The bad things were that it gets repetitive (same enemy encounters again and again) and you can exploit some features to be unstoppable.Story was good but side quests were dull.One more bad thing was the revive system,not because the idea was bad but the AI of your allies (farin and andriel).The game design was good and level design even better.I would like it more difficult maybe.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

55
#55 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
14
#14 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Computer Games Online RO
    Jan 30, 2012
    68
    War in the North is a hack and slash with some RPG elements and co-op, all assembled around one of the most beloved media licenses today, but with all this going for it, it simply doesn't manage to stand out. Sadly, it's just another product that tries to blend some popular elements, but with no true support or personal identity.
    Read full review
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 19, 2012
    70
    Attractive world of Tolkien's imagination brings "forgotten" adventure of three heroes aside from the main story – the true magic of the game is hidden in the 3-people cooperative play. [Christmas 2011]
  3. Games Master UK
    Jan 12, 2012
    70
    Not without issues, but as The Lord of the Rings games go this is much better than most. [Feb 2012, p.84]
See all critic reviews »