Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 70 | 26 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 72 | 2 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 83% | 77 | 929 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 77 | 102 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 84% | 77 | 602 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 370 reviews sampled · 1720 total reviews in window · weighted 229.9 up / 46.3 down · computed 2m ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (48)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 68
“There are some undeniably cool settings and promising combat mechanics, but the experience doesn't have the depth to draw players through to the end of the campaign.”
read full review ↗ - 25
“Lord Of The Rings: War In The North is rooted in epic literature, but it has miserably low narrative standards.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“The tale may not be as finely crafted as Tolkien's, but it's reverent of his work and worth experiencing, just keep in mind that you'll have to kill a lot of orcs to do so.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“It's a comfortable Action RPG that makes up for its shortcomings with addictive fun, cool three-player co-op and a goddamned giant talking eagle. Just push a few boundaries and hire a scriptwriter next time Snowblind, please.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“A solid action RPG with plenty of loot to collect. I really got a sense of Champions of Norrath the more I played it, and wanted to continue grinding, which is uncommon for me.”
read full review ↗ - 58
“Overall, the entertainment is there, but usability is lacking.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is a fun but flawed experience.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“War in the North is hardly the most memorable adventure through Middle-earth, but you won't regret any of the time you spend fighting across its grim battlegrounds.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“A soulless cash-in that has little to do with its license, and nor is it much fun in its own right. If you're lucky enough to not encounter any game-breaking bugs and if you have a friend or two to play with, then it can be pretty entertaining for a few hours. But that's a lot of "ifs" for so little payoff, since overlong levels and axe-sponge enemies inevitably whittle this dungeon crawl down into a slog. ”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Too many frustrations interfere with the joys of killing orcs and collecting loot in The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.”
read full review ↗ - 30
“The Lord Of The Rings is yet again denied a decent tie-in, with this desperately uninteresting and half broken action role-player.”
read full review ↗ - 63
“An new take on the fiction, a genre I thoroughly enjoy, and a designed-for-co-op experience; this should have been a home run. But, robotic animations, sometimes bland voice work, invisible walls and ignorant enemy AI sucked much of the life out of it.”
read full review ↗
The A.V. Club
GameWatcher
ZTGD
Worth Playing
Eurogamer
GameSpot
Metro GameCentral…and 36 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
No patch announcements found on Steam yet.