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Review: The Lord Of The Rings: War In The North – Legacy Edition (Switch 2) – A Middling Return To Middle-Earth
The Legacy Edition brings 2011 action RPG The Lord of the Rings: War in the North to modern platforms, including Switch 2, preserving its co-operative Middle-earth side story while adding modest technical and quality-of-life improvements. The review finds the re-release a mixed proposition: it makes a previously stranded licensed game accessible again, but does little to overcome the original’s dated design and limited variety.
Players control a party of three heroes through a largely linear campaign, with combat, levelling and side quests that are competent but conventional; co-op play is considered more enjoyable than solo play. New features include instant character switching, gyro aiming, health bars and enemy lock-on, alongside sharper visuals and a 60fps target, but repetitive enemy swarms, clumsy menus, poorly explained RPG systems and an exposition-heavy story remain significant drawbacks.
In short
- A welcome return, but only lightly modernised.
- Co-op combat is enjoyable despite repetition.
- Dated systems limit its appeal.
Explained simply
The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy world created by J R R Tolkien, later adapted into films, books and games. War in the North is a separate story set during the events of The Lord of the Rings, following three heroes on a journey that runs alongside the better-known tale.
The game is an action role-playing game: players fight enemies, improve their characters and complete quests. It was first released in 2011, and its campaign can be played alone or with others working together.
Licensed games are made using characters and settings owned by another creator or company. This re-release makes a once hard-to-find game available on newer systems, while offering some technical and control updates; the review considers how well those changes suit a game whose design dates back more than a decade.
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