If there is one thing trending in third person games just now it’s Horde mode and the Lord of the Rings War in the North challenge missions are no different. In my opinion if this type of mode is done right it can be a lot of fun, especially for friends who play well as a team. Not so good for people who just drop in an out hoping for the best loot.

Once you get to the second main part of the game you will be able to open the War in the North challenge missions. Originally the two maps, Osgiliath and Lorien, were only going to be available to pre order customers only but by popular demand they are going to be bundled on the disc for everyone. Hopefully they are successful because it would be nice to see additional challenge missions through DLC.

The whole idea behind the challenges is to fend off waves of creatures from the game. They will behave the same way as they do throughout the campaign and will also carry the same weapons. Each challenge map has it’s own level range and through certain levels there is an overlap. Osgiliath is suitable for character of level 4 to 16 and Lorien will be ideal for players of level 11 to 22.

Each map will contain prizes that will include prizes like bonus XP, coins, achievements and loot. Lump sums are available on completion of the maps and everything else will drop throughout the challenge. On each map there is a Fellowship symbol that will let you travel back to town should you want to drop out.

This is where the problem lies. People will be able to pop in to get just enough XP to level, that extra piece of gold to let them buy something or even get some cool loot and then leave. I suppose there will be private parties and if there are only 3 players per challenge map then hopefully it won’t be too difficult to get a party together. It’s just frustrating when players drop in and out then leave you to deal with large waves.

I quite like the fact that it’s part of the game and not just something that you can access from the main menu and I think that the War in the North challenge missions will add another dimension to the game that will let you sharpen those skills.

Filed Under: 3rd Person Action Adventure, Game Chat, Lord of the Rings War in the North, PC, PS3, PSP, Xbox360