Snowblind/Warner Bros.a
"The Lord of the Rings: War in the North" game launches later this year. Though it delivers an all-new new story, it draws on the LOTR books, various appendixes and the movies for its source material.a
By Winda Benedetti
Even though director Peter Jackson is busy working to bring more Lord of the Rings material to the silver screen, "The Hobbit" films are still a year or more away. But LOTR fans can take some comfort in knowing that game companies will be giving them some new Middle-earth material to tide them over much sooner.a
Developer Snowblind Studios is building its first Lord of the Rings game, the forthcoming "War in the North." Meanwhile, developer Turbine is working on an expansion to the "Lord of the Rings Online" massively multiplayer game titled "The Rise of Isengard."a
"War in the North" is an action role-playing game coming to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. On Wednesday, Snowblind — a seasoned RPG developer who previously delivered "Champions of Norrath" and "Justice League Heroes" — released a brand new trailer for the game looking at its three heroes, and the fellowship you'll build as you play. Check it out here:a
While the Lord of the Rings narratives we're most familiar with follow the efforts to destroy the One Ring and Sauron in the south, the "War in the North" game draws on lesser-known details from the books and information from various appendices to build its own distinct story about an elf-dwarf-and-human trio that battles against Sauron's forces in the north.a
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment — the game's publisher — holds the rights to develop games based on both the books and motion picture content, so you can expect to see the movies touched on in the game as well. In fact, here's a trailer Warner Bros. released looking at the crossover.a
Snowblind and Warner Bros. say "War in the North" players can expect to find extensive character customization options, expansive co-op gameplay options and lots of upgradeable weapons, skills and special abilities.a
Meanwhile, "War in the North" is expected to be the most gritty and violent of the LOTR games thus far.a
"With 'The Lord of the Rings: War in the North' we are taking a mature approach to the widely celebrated property with authentic portrayals of battles and all new storylines," said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.a
While a firm release date has not been given for the "War in the North," we've been told it's coming sometime this year. Which is some comfort considering we won't even see the first of Jackson's two-part "Hobbit" epic until next year.a
advertisement
As if that wasn't enough to look forward to, Middle-earth fans will find even more "LOTR" goodness on the horizon. The "Lord of the Rings Online" massively multiplayer game is getting its expansion on Sept. 27. "Rise of Isengard" will include three new regions to explore, the ability to move up to level 75 and a new 24-player raid.a
On Wednesday, developer Turbine released some new screenshots from the expansion (see below). You'll certainly have plenty of time to check them out as you wait for all this new Lord of the Rings entertainment to finally arrive.a
For more game news, check out:a
'Family Guy Online' game lets you live the Quahog dream 'Aliens: Infestation' to bring face-hugging fun to Nintendo DS Deepak Chopra is making a video game about your chakras
Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter or join her in the stream right here on Google+. You can check out the In-Game Facebook page right here.a
0 komentar:
Post a Comment