I finally finished LOTR War in the North today after a few years of play. First tried it on PS3 but traded it in (mostly performance) and later bought it on PC where it you get a nice 60fps and sharper visuals. I would have to say that this game is probably, as of now, my favorite Lord of the Rings game. I enjoyed the EA games made for the movies on PS2 and they are darn good LOTR games and I really enjoy Shadow of Mordor for what it is, however I haven't finished it yet as I got burnt out on the grinding and getting stuck which as a result, the story is at a stand still but that being said, War in the North is my favorite I think. It manages from what I can tell to be a more lore friendly/accurate LOTR game but still sits in a good spot with the movies. I just love the idea of an unknown fellowship of three unknown characters waging their own battle against Sauron that ultimately has a significant effect that simultaneously brings assistance to THE fellowship that is well known. These three are unsung heroes who tackle an epic quest themselves.

I would also have to say that this game has what is now another one of my favorite video game characters and that is the eagle Beleram. Great voice acting all around and mission locations. Its not a perfect game but you can tell the love that went into it. I wish it wasn't over. Its also one of those games with different decisions that can be made so I hope to play it again on a harder difficulty level and make other choices to see how that effects things. The game also has great cut scenes. Here's my original post on the game with pictures from a few years ago with sort of an AAR style:

Original SimHQ War in the North post




The journey continues:

One last battle! I can't tell you how it ends should one wish to go on this journey themselves!

I played this game in cooperative mode with a friend and it was a lot of fun. This one and the two games from Monolith are the only LOTR themed PC games I've ever played.

Odd that this isn’t on steam anymore, it sounds pretty good.

Most likely a copyright issue with the original publisher. I've seen it happen with other games.

I noticed that too RK. I think I read something about the publisher wanting it taken off. Someone also mentioned that the LOTR and Hobbit Lego games aren't on Steam anymore either. I don't know if its a Warner Brothers and Steam thing or what. It looks like you can still get hard copies on Amazon which then tie into your Steam account.

I was fortunate to pick up the latest Monolith game Shadow of War this Christmas sale for only 15 dollars for the full edition. I didn't think it would go anywhere but knowing that the other LOTR games mentioned disappeared from Steam I wanted to go ahead and get it just in case they're slowly being removed from Steam for some reason.

I'm finally getting close to finishing Shadow of Mordor. I got really burnt out on that one but the story finally picked back up and I think I have one last story mission to go. I'm also interested in the Bright Lord DLC where you get to play as the elf.

I recommend War in the North. Its a great LOTR game.

A lot of people don't realize that the business model for online distribution is so different from the traditional physical media/retail model that they don't realize it also affects how licensing and copyright are handled. There is no guarantee that a game on Steam or a movie/tv show on Netflix will always be available. If for whatever reason the online distribution service and the owner of the IP fail to renew their agreement then the product(s) in question will no longer be available.

Those are some really nice screenshots Coot.


Wheels