The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Legacy Edition Feels Perfect On Steam Deck

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The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Legacy Edition was provided by Aspyr. Thank you!

Growing up, there were a couple of really cool games that I never got to play through, but I was always interested in. One of those was The Lord of the Rings: War in the North. There was something so cool about running around in a party of three, taking on quests with friends, and growing stronger in this gorgeous world. I’ve watched so many people play it, but I've never had the chance to do it myself. Now, there’s even more reason to try it because Aspyr has re-released the game, and it’s wonderful on the Steam Deck.

While I haven’t played much of the original game, I did compare it to the new version, and there are some significant differences. The visuals are largely the same, but the quality-of-life changes make this new version significantly better. Being able to hotswap to different characters, easier access to potions, and the improved textures are just some of the changes that really make this enhanced “legacy” version much better.

And my surprise, it also performs better on the Steam Deck. Both of the games can hit 60 FPS easily, but the original version has a higher battery drain (22W) with fluctuating frame timing. With the new version, we sit at around 18W battery drain with very stable timing, making it a much better experience.

The only downside is that the game now takes almost triple the space of the original. The original game needs about 7.2 GB, while the new version asks for 21.63 GB. This is a huge difference, and while it is a better experience overall, there’s no doubt that this takes up much more space. Still, the improvements are worth it, and I’m not complaining.

At the end of the day, this new version of the game improves both the gameplay and performance over the original. It runs wonderfully, has some much-needed quality-of-life fixes, and still has some great co-op gameplay that will still be enjoyable. And with online co-op, I see no reason not to dive into this classic.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Legacy Edition is on sale for $17.99 until August 25th. It doesn’t have a reading yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this got either Playable or Verified.

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