The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Review
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The B-Side Where the combat begins to lose its luster, the story and additional game elements jump in to fill the void, keeping things enjoyable for the duration of the campaign. Though it runs parallel to the events of the Lord of the Rings films and novels, the plot of War in the North makes up a side-story to those events, fixated upon the hunt for Agandaûr, a Black Númenórean who has risen to become Sauron's "right-hand in the North" during his war campaign against Middle-Earth. Though the plot begins as a simple mission to distract the forces of darkness while Aragorn and the Hobbits escape the Shire, soon it becomes clear that Agandaûr and his huge Orc army serve as a legitimate threat even as the Fellowship makes its way towards Mordor.
Throughout the game, you'll likely be surprised at just how much dialogue there is. As mentioned above, the game employs a Mass Effect-style dialogue system, with the traditional choice of responses and an "investigate" branch which allows you to ask additional questions. Dialogue, though perhaps lacking some of the character and emotion of other games, fits perfectly into the Lord of the Rings world, with a pleasing lack of anachronisms, many references to myths, history and culture, and internal consistency which some other games lack. Rather than the typical "paragon/neutral/renegade" responses, your options in conversation tend to pertain more to different lines of questioning. The three player characters share most of their dialogue with one another, and there is a lack of real choice and consequence in the story (only a bit of it shows up in some of the side-quests), but generally solid voice acting and the sheer amount of lore and trivia packed in makes the conversations enjoyable.
Story and characters, however, are not especially War in the North's strong suit. Although there are all the basics here of a solid adventure, the game is more or less content to let the basic plot points and action drive the story, rather than the characters. There are a few exceptions, including the Great Eagle, Beleram, who serves as a constant ally through the game, as well as some of the characters from the original lore, such as Bilbo Baggins, who is as jolly as ever, but I can't say anyone left a particularly lasting impression on me. There's still enough here to satisfy fans who are looking for adventure, but just don't expect many plot twists, or your choices to make any difference in the story's outcome.
It's clear right from the start that the environments in War in the North are the real stars, both richly mired in the Lord of the Rings fiction and quite varied in design, with the various cultures and characteristics of the world coming through strongly. It's obvious Snowblind devoted a lot of attention to crafting a world that felt genuinely like part of its source material, and where it doesn't take directly from the already fantastic designs in Peter Jackson's films, it draws inspiration from them in a way which never feels out of place. Throughout your journey, you'll make your way through the ancient tombs of the Barrow-downs, the dark, claustrophobic and spider-infested Mirkwood, the jagged cliffs of the Ettenmoors, and more; a slow ascent of the icy Mount Gundabad is especially memorable. Meanwhile, the now-legendary village of Bree, a Ranger camp at Sarn Ford, the Elven paradise Rivendell, and a well-concealed Dwarven city serve as quest hubs in-between the action, each with their own unique visual style and characters.
That said, while War in the North makes efforts to interact with the larger Fellowship story (many characters from the books and films appear, including Bilbo, Frodo, Elrond Halfelven, Radagast the Brown, Gandalf, and others), it's hard not to feel like the plight of Eradan, Andriel and Farin is playing second-fiddle to the larger events. It's great to see Snowblind telling its own story, especially a non-canon one which so effortlessly fits into the universe, but the scope of the game suffers as a result of the shorter, more focused tale. When Agandaûr lies defeated, sun rising over the mountaintops, and word of Sauron's defeat comes simultaneously, it's hard not to feel as if the game's events have been made rather irrelevant.
A Fellowship of Our Own
The big selling point of War in the North is its heavy focus on co-op play. Right from the main menu, things resemble a lobby system more than anything, with a character selection screen and quick access to multiplayer displayed prominently, while management of save games and other characters is pushed far into the background. War in the North supports matchmaking, but also allows you to play with friends as well as browse existing games - console versions also support split-screen, though this seems absent from the PC version. Due to the nature of the game balance as well as the narrative, co-op games are limited to three players, one for each party member, with no doubles allowed.
Though co-op play works great, the single-player mode has taken some strange compromises as a result. While it's customary for RPGs to allow full party control, War in the North requires that you change character either upon first starting or after every level, rather than during gameplay. This lack of control also extends to customization of AI companions - namely, there is none. While you'll be able to change your appearance, equipment and level up as you see fit for your own character, computer-controlled party members handle themselves, right down to finding their own loot in chests and from slain enemies. It's very clear they were intended as stand-ins for human players, rather than traditional RPG party members.
This is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it's great for the game to so effectively handle AI companions, and players who don't want to micro-manage will find that they get along just fine on their own, while also providing sufficient support most of the time. On the other, there's no customization at all, even through manually controlling and leveling each one of them, as they'll simply override your decisions - if you think you can give Farin a sweet item set, be prepared to see him swap out and throw those other valuable items away when the mood strikes him. This applies to previously-controlled characters as well - if you spend 15 hours customizing Eradan, then play as Andriel for a single stage, chances are your version of Andriel will have changed significantly when you go back to him. There's also no way to interact with your companions' inventories, save for giving them items to use; once you hand something over, you won't be getting it back.
This is one of the more divisive aspects of War in the North, and might turn off some players who aren't interested in multiplayer. Traditionally, RPG fans have derived much of their enjoyment from being able to tinker with stats, skills and equipment to get their ideal builds for both individual characters and parties. A lot of the "optimizing" that made Snowblind's previous games fun is minimized due to this choice. I don't think it's a deal-breaker, especially for players who just want to enjoy the story and play through once or twice at most, but it does cut out much of the depth that hardcore fans crave. Personally, I would have been much more content with all the auto-management if it was an option, rather than mandatory. Hopefully Snowblind will release a patch or some DLC to address this decision down the road.
