Lord of the Rings: War in the North demo released exclusively on OnLive

By Robert Purchese Published 3 November, 2011

Any PC and Mac should be able to play it.

The demo for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North has been released exclusively on OnLive.

War in the North is the co-op, action RPG that tells a story parallel to that of The Lord of the Rings book and films.

To try the demo, either download the small, free OnLive client for PC and Mac, or go through the OnLive Game System console.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North demo is free to try.

The demo has all features enabled, apparently, including multiplayer co-op. That's all we know about the demo's content.

Interestingly, it sounds like OnLive may be the only UK destination offering The Lord of the Rings: War in the North demo prior to the game's 25th November release.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North will be released for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

You'll need to co-operate to survive.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 6 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Machetazo #1 7 months ago

    So, um, you don't need a box after all, then?
    What, was it that they started out for Onlive like, everyone has to use the box - but then, not enough did, so they made a teensy app and now through that you can do OnLive all of a sudden.

  • Darren #2 7 months ago

    The ability to try PC demos through OnLive without having to download and install them is really the only appealing thing about this service. Still, despite the flaky YouTube-esque image quality and lag, it's a pretty painless way to try demos so I'm all for it as long as it doesn't cost me any money! :)

  • Murton #3 7 months ago

    @Machetazo

    It was my understanding that this was how OnLive was always going to be. A box for your TV or a program on your PC. Understandably they launched their thin client terminal first to gain a foothold revenue, but the application was always part of the plan as far I was aware.

    Could be mistaken though, I'm on of those skeptics who see OnLive as a great piece of technology released before there's adequate infrastructure to allow its use.

  • Seoh #4 7 months ago

    actually the PC/Mac client was around long before the box.

  • Machetazo #5 7 months ago

    You're probably right about that. They would talk about the box as much (as Nintendo did it's next controller ;) ) that I don't associate OL with PCs and apps, until now. I thought they were selling this on the point mainly of, it saves people from having to buy/upgrade to the latest PC, because their own rig isn't the thing that's running the game. But, as you suggest Darren, it's magic is reliant on a sturdy connection.
    Edited by Machetazo at 03/11/11 @ 13:55

  • Snake_2011 #6 7 months ago

    even if they get GTA5 as a exclusive will still not use the service.

  • Darren #7 7 months ago

    I couldn't agree more, Murton. OnLive is a technically impressive achievement without a doubt but one that is sadly ruined for me by issues inherent to the current broadband infrastructure here in the UK, namely limited bandwidth and lag that result in games that can look horribly low-res and/or suffer from delayed controller response.

    For trying out demos it's fine but I wouldn't be happy at all paying for it.

  • UncleLou #8 7 months ago

    Demo of hardly marketed game with average reviews, tied to a franchise slightly past its prime, published at an idiotic time, and they make it an OnLive exclusive?

    Oh dear.

  • epiazk #9 7 months ago

    Man, so they just decided to not bother selling the game? I mean, onlive exclusive? Wtf guys, NOBODY USES THIS.

  • Shikasama #10 7 months ago

    Why do some games publishers insist on making such ridiculous decisions?

  • tap #11 7 months ago

    Post deleted at 09:51:41 12-12-2011

  • berelain #12 7 months ago

    Jeesus, you could have tried it. It came out two days ago, I think, and it contains the first 30 minutes of the game, like all OnLive demo's do. Which, in my case, was enough to take me past rescuing Beleram the Eagle at Fornost and on to destroying some goblin war machines.
    Edited by berelain at 03/11/11 @ 14:51

  • DozyKipper #13 7 months ago

    I have no objections to this method of demo delivery. You don't have to download 1-2GB of possible cack, install it and then hope it runs. No, you just start up the OnLive client and play! More demos like this, please.

  • johnson81 #14 7 months ago

    Although I like OnLive and currently subscribe, I think this is a bad move. I think this cuts down exposure for the game. Some people won't use OnLive due to a blurry image/lag etc or they don't have a sufficient internet connection to be able to use it. They should stick it on PSN, XBL and Steam as usual.

    I know the developers don't need to create a proper demo with this as it only lets you try the first 30 minutes but I've played it twice and enjoyed it. I'm now tempted purchase this as its only £20 on PC.

  • Radish #15 7 months ago

    I was going to say almost exactly the same thing that UncleLou did - it's insane for them to make the demo an exclusive on a service that has a small userbase, with very limited appeal (I tried the Space Marine demo on there, and it looked like I was watching someone play via a sub-hd quality youtube stream).

    It's had solid but unimpressive reviews, so they need to be getting the word out there and giving people a chance to try it for themselves, but instead they've taken a chunk of cash upfront to make the demo an exclusive - why are gamers going to take a chance on it when the publishers themselves obviously have no faith in it?

    Snowblind have been royally fucked here, which is a shame. I've been trying to get my friends to buy it (it's going to be all about the co op play, I think) and a demo would have helped a lot. As it stands, I'm probably going to cancel my pre order, even though it's already only £20 - within a month or two it'll be down to £10.
    Edited by Radish at 03/11/11 @ 16:05

  • Iakona #16 7 months ago

    Yo! Great business strategy...

    Was hoping I could try the game before I buy with a demo on the PS3... but since that's not possible I'll be waiting until the game is in the £9.99 bargain bin. Which honestly shouldn't be that far away..

    Daft!

  • jamyskis #17 6 months ago

    In spite of the industry spouting off praise about streaming services, you can see how much confidence they really have in them when they refuse to make a single triple-A title OnLive exclusive and are desperately handing out free OnLive vouchers left, right and centre.