The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Previews
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Shacknews starts us off:
In the E3 demo I watched as a classic three-man party of elf, dwarf, and man--each under player control--set off into Mirkwood in search of the wizard Radagast the Brown. Making their way into the forest, the first few fights emphasized cooperative play with each character making use of their strengths. For example, the human mage could maintain a shield spell, allowing a sanctuary for the other two to retreat into and recover. The dwarven warrior naturally waded into the thick of the fight drawing the enemies' attention while the elf supported him with a barrage of arrows. Nothing extraordinary about that combination but it appeared to work very smoothly with everyone naturally falling into their strengths.
Working together also comes into play outside of combat. Each race has unique special abilities, like the elf, who can identify tracks. In the demo this led to a hidden stash of loot the party wouldn't have otherwise found. Gathering up the gear offered a chance to get a first look at the character system as well. There's a classic paper doll representing the character with armor broken down into all the individual pieces from helm to gauntlet to greaves. There will of course be loads of magic and unique pieces to find for these slots. Plans also call for a skill tree to help develop specialization in each character but that was not yet in this build.
And GameFocus fills in a couple of gaps:
Each of the three character classes have their own special ability that drastically changes the way you play the game. Humans have the ability to collect herbs for spells and potions, Elves have the ability to spot tracks that lead to secret locations while Dwarfs can see weaknesses in foundation which can lead to short-cuts or secret discoveries. They managed to show this to us by having three members of their team control each of the characters and showing off what they saw. While watching the person control the Elf, we got to see the path that was only available on their screen. On the other two screens, the same path just seemed ordinary.
The focus clearly seems like this is meant to be enjoyed with two other people, but even if you do decide to play alone, they are promising smart AI that will not hinder your experience. Unfortunately, they didn't make mention of the ablity to switch characters in your single-player campaign nor how the drop-in drop-out mechanics would work out.
