Lord of the Rings: War in the North
Intense overall intensityWhat's in it
The player's weapon attacks and critical strikes decapitate and dismember enemies during combat.
The player fights orcs, goblins, trolls and other creatures in melee and ranged combat with heavy blood spray and blood pooling on characters and the ground.
The plot follows Sauron's forces laying waste to the northern lands of Middle-earth; settlements are destroyed and characters are killed as war and slaughter drive the story.
Dark dungeons, undead barrow creatures and giant spiders give some areas an unsettling tone, but nothing hunts the player or is timed to startle.
The player fights beasts such as wargs and giant spiders as ordinary combat.
Who can reach your kid
What it is
A cooperative action role-playing hack-and-slash set in the northern reaches of Middle-earth during the War of the Ring. You control one of three heroes — a human Ranger, a Dwarf warrior, or an Elf spellcaster — hunting a powerful servant of Sauron across a campaign that runs alongside the events of the books and films. Play is built around continuous combat against orcs, goblins, trolls, wargs and giant spiders, using swords, axes, bows, crossbows and staff magic, with loot and character progression between battles. The fighting is bloody: blood sprays and pools during combat, and the player's heavy strikes and finishers can sever limbs and decapitate enemies. The Elf casts fantasy spells and brews potions from gathered ingredients. Up to three players can play together online in co-op, and the game carries no in-game voice or text chat and no in-app purchases.
How it's framed
The game frames its violence as a heroic war against Sauron's invading forces, with the three protagonists cast as defenders of the free peoples of the north; combat is the central activity and its goriness is presented as the reality of that war rather than dwelt on for its own sake, and the magic used is the fantasy sorcery of Tolkien's setting.
Details
- Developer
- Snowblind Studios
- Publisher
- Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Released
- Nov 1, 2011
Similar games
We built this because we needed it
Balanced Play pools your kids' game time into one budget across Steam, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and more. We're taking 100 founding families — free for life.
Claim a founding spot →Free for life for the first 100. No card, no spam.