The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Preview

1UP has slapped together a quick hands-on preview of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, should you be looking for a little more information about Snowblind’s next action RPG.

In the brief demo I play, we land on a snowy mountaintop (dropped off by some giant talking eagles) and make our way to Gundabad, a dwarf city now overrun by orcs. Although our party is supposed to be on some kind of reconnaissance mission, the fighting starts rather quickly, and it’s immediately apparent that Snowblind Studios is going for an M-rating. Swords and axes will now sever limbs, arrows will protrude from bodies upon impact, and blood will flow freely from open wounds. “It captures the realism and the brutality of the war as Tolkien and the movies depict it,” states WB Games design director Michael De Plater. Combat has also moved from the simplistic “hack-and-slash” style of gameplay found in previous Lord of the Rings games to one based on combos and dodging incoming attacks.

For those who wish to hang back from frontline melee combat, ranged combat with arrows is done in a first-person shooter style. On the consoles, the Left Trigger aims your weapon, and the Right Trigger fires the arrow (though an auto-lock option is also available). Skills and abilities, such as spell casting and blocking have been moved to the bumpers/shoulder buttons.