The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – Legacy Edition review

We are a long way off from the MiddleEarth RPG from Warhorse Studios (unfortunately). Beyond that, we really have no fountain of Lord of the Rings games that can keep us fans satiated. That is, until now. Aspyr has emerged from the Star Wars mines and surprised us with a War in the North remaster shadow drop. This is an unexpected release, but it sure is a welcome sight. Now that I’ve gotten my hands on it, remembering the retro throes of its action-RPG stylings, it’s a nice port that keeps alive a franchise missing from gaming media for some time.

While this port is certainly a separate iteration of War in the North, we did review the game back in 2011. Although the full write up is lost due to the passage of time, the MetaCritic summary and 76/100 score still remain: 

“There's something here for you guys who like the general approach of solving problems with a whole lot of sword-swinging, experience upgrades and looting - but the gameplay gets a bit worn the longer you play. So is the story enough of a draw to push this into the buy column for you? How about the prospect of having a game experience you and your friends can share? If neither of these things would push you from the undecided column to the must-buy column, approach this one with a bit more trepidation.”

After reviewing what the original writer said, I’m on the same page.

Although present, the story is average. Told primarily through cutscenes as you go, it certainly feels like it takes a backseat to the action-RPG grind. There are a few specific elements I love, like the Great Eagle Beleram you rescue, but War in the North’s narrative has the staying power of a movie tie-in; it simply isn't impactful. It's a side story that runs alongside the Lord of the Rings, which hurts it as much as it helps.

Alongside it, the gameplay also borders on movie tie-in. It's serviceable, more hack-and-slash-esque with three classes thrown in, an elf whose focus is magic, a dwarf that's more tanky, and a do-it-all human Ranger. This at least adds variety, but largely you won't be surprised by the kind of game War in the North is. It is super cool to be able to swap between them if you’re playing solo, a fresh addition from Aspyr. There’s a sort of nostalgia you get playing this – it’s certainly reminiscent of a bygone era of video games. As much as I sound like I’m downing the game, War in the North is fun to play, even though the repetitive nature can get old. You’ll find yourself moving from one arena to another, fighting tons of goblins and such as you make your way to the big bad, a Black Númenórean named Agandaûr.

It’s shallow, but the usual marks of an action-RPG show up, with loot galore. I’m reminded a lot of a Diablo game, but with a traditional third-person view. Most of the loot, skills, and power upgrades aren’t going to have you midmaxing a build, but you will take a quick look to make choices and changes. Thankfully, you can auto-assign points, so there’s less thought to put into the process. I do hate the design choice of durability; this is the worst and shouldn’t be in video games. I get trying to push me to try a new weapon, but it’s more frustrating than innovative.

I’ve said a lot to say this, Lord of the Rings: War in the North might not be a great game, but it is a good game. The world of LOTR is always worth exploring, especially when you have a spinoff taking you new places. We all fondly remember jumping on the Return of the King PS2 game, and this almost feels like that in retrospective, given the time jump we’re at now.

So, how does it fare in this new Legacy Edition? Aspyr can be hit or miss, but I think they’ve mostly hit the mark on this particular port. New UI/UX additions like health and mana bars for party members work as intended. Autosave is a boon; I’ve been able to leave my game without concern of losing progress. Enemy target locking also works well, although I still prefer swinging with abandon instead of focusing in on one goblin.

The biggest feature is, of course, working online co-op (and split-screen for locals). Up to three players can join in, allowing you to revel in taking down Sauron’s minions together with friends. It’s functional, with you being able to create a match either privately or publicly for others to join, using Epic Games online accounts to easily locate each other. The only real disappointments here are a lack of cross-platform capability and no cross-progression – I guess whoever paid for this edition cheaped out on the cross-platform side.

Lastly, let’s talk performance. War in the North isn’t about to win any awards for graphical fidelity, but it looks pretty sharp for a fifteen-year-old game. While it still bears the craggy and jagged edges of 2011, the textures are at least legible and it works. Being such a dated game, the frame rate has been outstanding. Although I’m hardly the best example as I’m using an NVIDIA RTX 4080 graphics card, I’m getting 120FPS with few drops or stutters. I have been playing on my ROG XBOX Ally X, and it’s been similar, although with a lot more screen tearing (especially while docked). My biggest complaint would be a lack of tweakable settings; there’s no frame rate adjustment or capping, and very little for graphical choice. It’s a port, not a remaster, but little things like that go a long way.