Skip to main content

LOTR War in North succeeds Dark Alliance

Dev Snowblind details gory action RPG.

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, developer Snowblind Studios has told Eurogamer.

"We feel that it is," said producer Ruth Tomandl. "We went back and looked pretty closely at Dark Alliance and looked at what really facilitated the co-op in that game, because a lot of people, including a lot of us, played that game on the couch with our friends.

"And we wanted to figure out what was it about that game that drove that and what we could improve on to make the co-op even more compelling.

"The trading system, the loot system in general - a lot of that stuff we really tried to optimise to make co-op as fun as it could be."

Lord of the Rings: War in the North spins a parallel story to the Lord of the Rings book and films. You'll bump into Gandalf and Aragorn and Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, but your journey won't be theirs - yours will be heading north to face a menace called Agandur.

You'll also encounter the rarely depicted wizard Radagast, a peer of Gandalf and Saruman. You'll be helped along the way by the giant eagle Beleram, too, who you can summon using a golden feather item.

"There are always some people who have expectations that are so high that no game will ever be able to meet them."

Ruth Tomandl, producer, LOTR: War in the North

Co-op, loot, customisation and gory action are the beating heart of War in the North.

Co-op is available for up to three people either online or on the sofa (presumably for two). Your loot and character gains in co-op will persist and follow your adventurer from session to session.

But if you joined a friend far more powerful than you, items you pick up in that session won't persist when you leave. "We don't want people accidentally to ruin their single player experience," said senior game designer Jason Olander.

Most loot will be randomly generated, and you can trade items with friends in co-op sessions. Any chests encountered in co-op can be opened by all three characters to avoid squabbling.

Some boss-drops will be set, and you'll loot famous weaponry such as Bilbo's iconic Sting sword and Narsil - the blade that cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger, and which Aragorn reforged to command the Army of the Dead and lead Middle-Earth to victory against Sauron's army. But you won't loot Gandalf's staff, Snowblind confirmed.

War in the North has three available characters: a dwarf Warrior, human Ranger and elven Loremaster. They divide roughly into melee, ranged/melee and magic, although you can interpret them differently through customisation according to your will.

Each character will have race-specific abilities, and the dwarf can even unlock a secret area - an option we presume the other two races have as welll. On the topic of exploration, Snowblind said there will be "a lot" of side-quests.

"The Lord of the Rings is just one of those key franchises and key modern mythologies that has an endless pull for people. There's always a market of folk who want to explore Middle-Earth."

Jason Olander, senior game designer, LOTR: War in the North

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is on course for a UK 18 rating by the BBFC, although that hasn't been dished out yet. This will no doubt be awarded for "strong bloody violence", as limbs fly off, heads are severed and axes smashed into pie-holes.

Snowblind explained the maturity as coming from the pages of the Lord of the Rings book(s), "which are very violent", said Ruth Tomandl.

Middle-Earth Enterprises keep a close watch on Snowblind to make sure everything fits with the Lord of the Rings canon. But will the devout legion of Tolkein fans be impressed?

"We actually love it [that fans are so passionate]," Olander remarked. "A lot of us are huge Lord of the Rings fans, and so the reception from the community thus far has been really great.

"We're thrilled to be working within that licence. It creates its own challenges, obviously, in that you're working within such a beloved franchise with such a beloved storyline, but that just adds to the interesting challenge of having to design and create a game that does justice to Tolkein's lore and stories."

Tomandl continued: "There's always some people who have expectations that are so high that no game will ever be able to meet them. But generally the people that are really hardcore, very devoted fans that we've shown the game to have really liked it. And particularly that we're going to places that haven't been shown before, that's really exciting for them.

"Any depiction of those areas might fall short in some ways, but to really see it and be able to play through it - that's really thrilling for them."

What would Tolkein himself think?

"It's hard to say," Tomandl said. "He was very strict about interpretations of his work so I don't know. I hope that he would like it! Ha ha."

The Lord of the Rings won't have a cinematic accompaniment to ride the popularity of, although the Blu-ray Extended Edition of the LOTR Trilogy launched this summer and The Hobbit film is fast approaching. Nevertheless, Snowblind reckons The Lord of the Rings is timeless.

"From my view the pull is as strong as always," said Olander. "The Lord of the Rings is just one of those key franchises and key modern mythologies that has an endless pull for people. There's always a market of folk who want to explore Middle-Earth."

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is in development for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. This will be the first game build on Snowblind's new engine, which has the catchy name Snowblind 2.0.

Lord of the Rings: War in the North.

Read this next

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com