War in the North!!

During the course of the week I examined Lord of the Rings: War in the North, a Playstation game that I have recently played. I focused on a few of the lenses that Jesse Schell talks about in his book. The first thing I looked at was what the meaningful choices in the game were. In War in the North a player is allowed to pick what type of player he/she would like to play as, a mage, warrior or archer. After the player chooses the character they then decide how to level them up and what attributes are most important for their player. For example if an archer is chosen I would build up my bow abilities. Throughout the game players find new weapons and armour and update their currents items as they will break the more you use it. Another choice a player has is when talking to NPCs you can decide what to choose what to say to them. Overall I believe that the game’s choices = the players desires and that allowed the player to have a feeling of freedom and fulfilment.

Cover Art

Another aspect I looked at was competition vs. cooperation. War in the North is a cooperative game, three players can play together at the same time. The game is good at balancing competition and cooperation because when fighting enemies you build a combo and the higher your combo is the more experience you get to grow a level. Players are always trying to get the kill before a teammate comes and snatches the experience (power in competition). On the other hand cooperation is needed in the game when a boss or strong enemy appears, players must quickly adapt and use each other’s abilities to defeat them (power in teams). 

Gameplay

The head vs. hands balancing system – Lord of the Rings: War in the North gives the player many chances to attack and kill enemies, the game also gives a player a chance to play with their head, choosing what to say to characters in the game and pick what weapons and armour to use. Also depending on what weapon you use it can be advantageous as some weapons are stronger against certain enemies. 

Overall the game is very entertaining and I would recommend it for anyone that loves the Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

Trailer Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5ySDehGEYE