You'd be hard-pressed to find a fantasy series that is more iconic than Lord Of The Rings in today's day and age. While the novels set the benchmark for fantasy story-telling, it was not until the Peter Jackson films that the series was introduced to a whole new generation.

Following this generation shift, there have been numerous LOTR video game releases, receiving moderate success across the board. While the violence depicted in the series is far from tame, none of the past games have earned a mature rating. With the upcoming release of Lord Of The Rings: War In The North though, that is all about to change.

When it was announced last year, War In The North was met with considerable amounts of intrigue. The same scenarios, locations and characters can only be re-tread a certain amount of times before they get stale, so the idea of taking the series in a more violent, mature direction was enough to capture the interest of gamers and fans alike. Similarly to the recently released trailer which detailed the brutal combat features, Snowblind Studios have released a new combat vignette, giving even more insight into the upcoming game's vicious combat. Check it out below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoexodHInCU

Judging by the trailers, one thing that could set Lord of the Rings: War in the North apart from other, similar action RPGs is the fact that each blow and slice seems to have weight to it. Too many games don't provide any sort of satisfaction in their combat because the player's attacks don't seem to have very much effect on the world around them. While they are killing enemies, without that added feeling of weight, all immersion is lost. By ensuring that each blow is felt by the player, it forces them to connect on an even deeper level with the character they are controlling, in every situation and with every action.

With an impressive resume of games like Baldur's Gate and Champions Of Norrath, it's clear that Snowblind Studios knows how to make an intense and engrossing action role-playing game. Judging by the footage shown in the trailers released to date, it looks as if War In The North is well on its way to providing gamers with a fresh take on the Lord Of The Rings series. If the fighting is similar to the Freeflow Combat system used in Batman: Arkham Asylum as the trailers seem to hint, then gamers truly do have a lot to be excited about with this iteration in the venerable fantasy series.

Do you think this mature representation of the Lord Of The Rings series will remain faithful enough for fans to enjoy? Are you still able to get excited about new games in the series?

Lord Of The Rings: War In The North is set to hit shelves later this year on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

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