Lord of the Rings: War in the North for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

Because they should be tied to a wagon and dragged through town. This was a disappointing rent and I'm glad I did not buy this. Let's start the rant:

Split-screen - The game was advertised as emphasizing three player co-op. This made me think about the ps2 LOTR games where you and your friend controlled characters on the same screen and it was awesome. In War in the North the only way to have three player co-op is to play online. If you were hoping to have your friends over to play the game you are in for a disappointment. The best you can do playing a local game is two player split-screen. Not only is it split-screen, but the screen is split vertically and there is no option to change it. This is a pet peeve of mine because if you don't include an option to change how the screen is split then you just alienated half your audience.

Characters - The main character design was horrid. The dwarf looks like Gimli with black hair. The ranger looks like Aragorn with blonde hair. And the elf just looks like a manly chick. Now I'll move on to character job flaws. You've got a dwarf, a ranger, and a mage. Nobody wants to be a mage. And nobody wants to be a chick. So why would you combine two things that nobody wants to be into one character? And then why would you only make three characters so someone is forced to play the girl mage? At least make a fourth character. I understand only three people can play, but at least give them more choices.

Fighting - The fighting is kind of boring. Sure it looks cool and it's nice and violent, but when you're actually playing it it's a different story. You'll find yourself just pressing light and heavy attack and everytime the character swings their weapon exactly the same. There is no variation. Not even halfway through the first level I found the dwarve's predictable axe swings to be tedious. The ps2 LOTR games had more variation than this.

Bottom line - Only get if you like being alone in your room and playing online.

I started out with big hopes and lots of anticipation for this game (and it is an excellent game, no doubt); however, the fighting style and party control has really caused me some disappointment. The creators should have taken a page from Square Enix and learned some lessons that the Final Fantasy franchise learned long ago.

POSITIVES:

AMAZING STORY! The villain is great, the characters mesh seamlessly into LOTR lore and the War of the Ring story, you get to meet and talk to beloved characters from the movies (i.e. Arwen, Bilbo, Elrond, Aragorn, and more). Story is compelling and captivating and will definitely suck you in.

Graphics and visuals are fantastic. The game takes you to many places that you wish the movie would have gone.

Items and equipment are also a plus - there are many ways to customize your character and alter their fighting style.

Challenging - I played on normal difficulty and really struggled with some parts on different levels. It can change from very simple to hard quickly.

NEGATIVES:

BIGGEST NEGATIVE AT ALL - Party Control! -Once you start a mission, you cannot change characters from your first selection, you can't upgrade another characters ability, you cannot change their equipment, or give any more detailed commands other than attack & defend. The style is similar to FFXIII or Kingdom Hearts, but with less control over your other party members. This becomes one of the most frustrating aspects of the entire game and really took away from the story for me. YOU CAN upgrade a different character, but you have to select them to play an entire mission as that character to progress their skills.

Inventory fills up too fast and you are forced to discard valuable items to make room for necessary items.

When a character dies, you have to find them crawling around somewhere and press X to heal them. This is nice since it doesn't require an item, but you have to be close to the party member to bring them back.