2011 action RPG The Lord of the Rings: War in the North gets a new Legacy Edition, with ‘more classic releases’ coming
Aspyr says it’ll be bringing more Lord of the Rings games to current systems
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, the 2011 action RPG originally published by Warner Bros Interactive, has been given a modern re-release.
Aspyr has handled development and publication of the new Legacy Edition version, which it says is under licence from Warner Bros.
The studio also teases that more ports are to follow, referring to the game as its “first The Lord of the Rings” title, and promising that “fans can look forward to even more classic releases by Aspyr from the beloved franchise in the future”.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North was originally released in November 2011 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Developed by Snowblind Studios, it was based on both J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel and Peter Jackson’s film trilogy based on it, and tells “the brutal, untold story of Agandaûr, a Black Númenórean and servant of Sauron who has rallied an immense force in the ruins of Fornost”.
The new port, which is called The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – Legacy Edition, is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch and PC at a price of $19.99.
It includes a number of new features designed for modern platforms, including support for 60 frames per second (except on the original Switch), the ability to lock on to enemies, auto saves, extra save slots and an improved AI featuring visible health, mana and EXP bars.
The game also supports co-op two players in local split screen (except on the original Switch), and three-player co-op online.
Aspyr hasn’t given any further clues as to which other Lord of the Rings games are set for modern re-releases, but games released in roughly the same period by Warner Bros Interactive included Guardians of Middle-earth, Aragorn’s Quest and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Before that, a number of games based on The Lord of the Rings movies were published by Electronic Arts – it’s not yet clear whether Aspyr can or will get the rights to port these.
Aspyr is owned by Embracer Group, which also owns Middle-earth Enterprises, the company that owns the worldwide exclusive rights to certain elements of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, including the names of characters, places, objects and events.
