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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Snowblind's New Hack 'n' Slasher


Snowblind Studios is working on a new Action RPG, and like the others they've made, this one is a licensed property, and it's one that I think just about everyone knows about:  Lord of the Rings.

So far, it looks like EA's tai- I mean influence (actually, that's not fair; EA has released some great titles along with the rehashed sports games) is nowhere to be found.

The game is Lord of the Rings: War in the North, and it takes place alongside the War of the Ring.  You control one of three characters at a given time - a ranger, a dwarf and an elf (sounds a little familiar).  Who aren't Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas.  Go figure. 

Despite my snarkiness, Snowblind has done a fantastic job with all of the hack 'n' slashers they've made; Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath are the pudding that contains the proof. 

 















Furthermore, Snowblind is using the lore of the novels and films - as well as working with the Tolkien estate  - to actually get it right.  The combat is looking to be much more brutal and visceral than even BGDA (although gore doesn't make a great game; e.g. Soldier of Fortune Payback) and their mission seems to be immersing you in the battles more than anything else.  Co-op with up to three players has been promised, but it hasn't been verified if this both offline and online or one or the other.

Keep an eye out for this one, folks.  It could be an awesome one.

3 comments:

  1. eh I'll pass, I'm sort of burnt out on the whole lotr thing

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  2. You know what, Isaac, I agree with you there.

    The quality of the games wasn't that great and I personally didn't even like the books. Loved the movies, though - especially Return of the King because it ended on cue...and not two hours later.

    I wasn't really so interested until I read about how brutally violent it was, because it made me wonder who was developing it.

    I'm personally not necessarily going to buy it, but I think it's great that its a LotR title that EA doesn't have its claws in; while they don't always make crap games, they generally did a terrible job of the LotR games to try to meet cinema release dates. Snowblind, on the other hand, has maybe two mediocre games in their stable - Justice League for the XBox and PS2 and Top Gear Overdrive for the N64. And the latter is debatable.

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  3. I never watched ROTK. I was done after TT.

    The Xbox RPG LOTR game was pretty good. War for the Ring, I think? Unfortunately, EA has a habit of releasing games that can be way over-marketed prior to release and the games are shit.

    I wish all games could be like Katamari Damacy. Under the radar and bad ass.

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