Lord of the Rings: War in the North

OK, I got this at the same time I got another Lord Of The Ring type game and this one runs fairly good. First, I must say something here. I'm not the best at figuring out how to deal with games that don't "spell things out for me" ie how you heal, etc. So when I run a game, I usually look for a tutorial to help me out. Also, if the game supports it, I almost always use a X-Box 360 type controller on all first person and third person type games as I use a left handed mouse and that doesn't work out to well in most games. This game is a Steam game and requires a Steam account to run. I have a number of games like this and this wasn't a problem for me. (I have went thru a number of system upgrades and I've always been able reinstall my games with Steam and I don't load it at start up, but only when I play a game I've activated on it.) Anyway, After the download, I cranked up the game and it ran great with one problem (which wasn't one.) I usually go to the settings screen and set my screen res and controller setup. I couldn't find any gamepad controller setup but the pad was working and so being confused, I backed out and tried again but again no settings listed for the gamepad only the mouse and KB. I then decided to check out how this worked in the game and the game ran using gamepad type prompts for my 360 pad. Great! In this case the user messed up. I then played the game a bit. It's a third person type game where you control one of three people. An female elf, a male dwarf, or a male human. If you play a single player game then the other two characters follow your lead in the game no matter which character you select. The controls for your character are pretty good, but the movement itself is a bit jerky at times which was about the only thing I really noticed at all. I'm still getting use to the controls and how you do certain things, but this game runs so good I've been really enjoying playing it even if I have to figure out how to do things. A really good game to me....

Ya fun game but it crashes a lot in two spots and I can't get past the last area of the game. It crashes to the desktop. I purchased the retail game and installed it thru Steam. Not great support. Wanting to finish game but no patch as of current.

I had read reviews and write-ups that said that this is how the movies should have continued. They are pretty close! There are a lot of positives in my initial experience in this game and very little negatives.PRO:- Excellent graphics - If you have a laptop or PC with a current video card (not integrated graphics) you should get awesome graphics. Mine defaulted to "maximum" resolution on all specs and runs great.- Playability (tech-wise) - Mine installed and ran in a short time and after the first few quests and fights, has had no crashes, fluid motion by my character, I have never gotten stuck in walls or had phantom barriers blocking your progress. So far, they really made a solid game.- Playability (gamer fun-wise) - I chose the Human Ranger (Dunedain) and really enjoy the changing from sword and bow by a simple click with fast drawing of your new weapon. I swept through orcs like a knife through butter and had some really cool finishing move mini-cutscenes (our movie reference). The finishing moves I've seen so far have been graphic and way cool.- Interaction - Well scripted so far and there have been some pretty varied NPC's to speak to and all have very different reasons to talk to them. This gives me a good feeling about the rest of the game so far.- Character developement - Do not fear. When you choose a race at the beginning you cannot change their appearance. Once you are inside The Prancing Pony, there is a spot on the wall that you can update/change your appearance. It is limited but you can change it enough to be satisfied. It is no Fallout or Skyrim but it's fine. As for your armour and weapons, they will get better as you find/buy upgraded items. Both your avatar and actual in-game character will show the details if you have a good graphics card.CON:- The only real cons I have come across are the serious lack of any kind of tutorials. There was a glowing light floating near the door of the Prancing Pony and it just says [E] Interact. I guess it is a SAVE spot since it does nothing and doesn't tell you that you just saved after you click on it. When I approached a glowing gate, it doesn't tell you this is a point that you leave the area to the map or if it is autosaving at all. Every time I press ESC and go to the main menu, there are NO save menu's. I am assuming it is an autosave spot since the game NEVER tells you it is saving.- Start up - I was so frustrated when the initial start up was locked on "Multiplayer" and the write-up mentions it is a co-op game. I HATE MMO's. Guess what? It is misleading. You choose your race and the other 2 will follow you. I have not had to play co-op or multiplay with someone I do not know and do not want to know. So it is bad that it's misleading but good that it is actually solo. If there is a multiplayer option later, I better be able to skip it.I had a blast playing through the initial quests (big and small) and will definately finish this. I got mine for $10 and it was a great buy.UPDATE:- Saves: There is a save system that you have to wait for the loading screen for it to tell you what a save screen looks like. If the gold ring appears at the bottom of the screen, it is saving content. Durring the game it NEVER tells you it is saving and there is no save screen on the main menu to see where it saved.- Playing: I suggest playing through the game with one character and do not change characters. Every time I switched from One character to another, all the best weapons and gear I got for my old character was trashed, deleted, gone and replaced with random gear that was very low power. I had to go back and re-outfit each player again and again every time I switched characters (to re-search an area). I believe the only thing that transfered over were rings. It doesn't auto level your characters. If you change from Ranger to Dwarf, the Dwarf will have 20+ points you have to start allotting. Either constantly change them and redo each quest area with each character to find all the secrets or play through and redo it all from scratch 3 times with 3 characters. Your choice.

Other games that have been in the LOTR series have been fun and strategic to play, but alas this new multiplayer-encouraging game is not worth your time. It is boring, has an uninteresting storyline, and has EXTREMELY repetitive gameplay. You will get bored within an hour just playing it.Another problem I had was with the Steam DRM. Normally, I don't care about Steam. It never bothers me. But when a game is on a disc, I expect the FULL game to be on the disc, not half the game and then be required to download the rest online. That is simply unacceptable.

It's very entertainning.Beautiful ,dark< yet beautiful.Only reason for a 3 star was the sudden puzzle type quests you get with zero hints on how to do it.Much keep ur browser open to a tips/walkthrough site.

I got this for my boyfriend and he absoulutey loves it. He plays all the time and can't stop! He said it's the perfect game with great graphics and awesome plot lines! It came really quickly and as always with amazon products with great condition! A must buy for any gamers or gamer friends who love a classic like Lord of The Rings!