SOUND: The sound in The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is one of the parts of the game that really got to me, and not in good way. That’s where The Lord of the Rings: War in the North really comes into its own, walking along pathways that you’ve read about, and visiting places that you’re familiar with, the Snowblind Engine does a lot to help sell the immersion. The graphics engine really comes into its own in places such as the Barrow-Downs, where the players start on high ground and are able to look down over the landscape, seeing places that they’ve ready about in the books and maybe glimpsed for seconds in the Peter Jackson films. The graphical power of the Dark Alliance Engine is clear to see, all of the characters are rendered with care and attention, even down to the fact that items of clothing will get torn and battered after a few battles, and every piece of equipment that you might find lying around looks legendary when wielded. This is an engine that’s created and developed by the developers of the game and so if anyone knows how to put the engine to the limit, it’s Snowblind themselves. GRAPHICS: The graphics in The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is powered by a massively updated version of the Dark Alliance Engine, also known as the Snowblind Engine. It’s easy to question why you’re only getting to hear about this band of fighters now if they played such an integral part of the destroying of The One Ring but, for people that get their kicks from simply being inside the world that Tolkien created, it’s an easy aspect of the story to overlook. For the most part the story told within War in the North does well to sit seamlessly with the story that we already know and love as long as you hold a certain suspension of disbelief, you are playing a fantasy game after all. The story revolves around three adventurers, Farin, Eredan and Andriel who are tasked by Aragorn to distract Sauron and direct his attention towards them in order to help Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring attempt to slip by unnoticed. That’s exactly what the people over at Snowblind Studios did when they thought up the idea of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, create a story that isn’t a part of The Lord of the Rings as it currently stands but fits seamlessly together with the work that we all know and love and they’ve done a good job of it too. STORY: When you’re working for a piece of work that’s as in depth as The Lord of the Rings then you’re sure to be able to pick a story or two from within the pages. This game is available for a 30 minute demo via OnLive, by clicking the banner below: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is the story of that journey, a journey of hope and destruction, a journey that, if the story is to be believed as canon, enabled the success of Frodo’s own quest to destroy The One Ring. Doesn’t it seem a little odd that Frodo and his friends didn’t have to face too much opposition for a lot of the time? Well, it would seem that that’s because Sauron’s gaze was firmly fixed on the north, on another fellowship, one that was attempting to distract the Dark Lord from The One Ring while also destroying the forces of Agandaur, one of Sauron’s chief lieutenants in the process. We all know what happened when Frodo Baggins, a simple Hobbit from the Shire, came into possession of The One Ring, we all know the adventure that he, and his eight companions, took through the peaks and valleys of Middle-earth on their way to Mount Doom in the lands of Mordor, but there is a story that we aren’t aware of. Game: The Lord of the Rings: War in the NorthĪvailable on: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, OnLive (Reviewed on Xbox 360)
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