Camaraderie and carnage — that’s what the Lord of the Rings flicks are all about, right? War in the North is based on both the films and J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary prose, so we were pleased to learn from some hands-on playtime that the game happily embraces both of these concepts.

The teamwork angle is clear the moment you enter the campaign. North’s three playable characters are Eradan (a Human ranger), Andriel (an Elf mage), and Farin (a Dwarf warrior), and whichever two you’re not playing as are controlled by either the A.I. or two buddies in cooperative mode, ensuring a party of three.

Before letting us play a while as Eradan, Snowblind (maker of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and the PS2’s Champions of Norrath) offers some backstory. North’s plot runs parallel to the events in Lord of the Rings, depicting the crucial northern battles alluded to in Tolkien’s novels. As the game opens, you’re in Sarn Ford, a camp near the Shire that’s been decimated by the Nazgul. To talk to Halbarad, the Dúnadan (human) in charge here, you use a multi-spoked conversation wheel that’s straight out of Mass Effect, except your various dialogue options tend to have a smaller impact on unlocking/eliminating upcoming missions, we’re told. The captain says your party must meet up with Aragorn at the village of Bree, so off you go…

This journey takes you through the Barrow-downs, a dark, hilly area that shares Sarn Ford’s eye-popping visuals; North is definitely the license’s best-looking action-RPG yet. While fighting a troll, we trigger our ranger’s unique character spell, Evasion, to briefly become invisible, then run up and slice the brute with our sword, using a rolling-dodge to retreat before he can bash us with his lumbering arm. From a distance, our ranger switches to a bow and peppers the giant beast with arrows; between that and our companions’ constant attacks, we finally bring him down.

We didn’t see much blood in our combat with the troll and the slew of undead nemeses that followed (Barrow Creeps, Grim Wardens), but that’s partly who we were fighting and partly because our game build didn’t yet include the various blood and dismemberment effects that’ll guarantee North’s final version a Mature rating. As art director Philip Straub explains, “Brutal combat is a key pillar of the game…and our severing system is very robust.” Detailed character animations shown on designers’ computer screens at Snowblind’s studio really make his point: the ranger’s pirouetting sword-slashes violently dismember opponents’ arms and legs, and with a final swing, a foe’s decapitated head sails through the air, leaving a gout of blood in its wake.

Wandering through a mausoleum-like Barrow pits us against more undead adversaries, and we eventually level up — the perfect chance to check out our inventory and spend earned XP. Scanning through Human-specific skills like Bow Master and Ambush, we settle on Dual Wield, which lets us put our newfound Sylvan Sword of Stamina in one arm and an axe in the other for new, deadly strikes. For a game whose action elements are so heavily touted, the weapons, skills, and character stats certainly seem deep enough to satisfy role-players.

Of course, no Lord of the Rings demo would be complete without a big battle, so our last minutes are spent in a dark outdoor area hemmed in by standing stones. Already besieged by rain and lightning, we’re attacked by an Undead Summoner who spawns Vile Huntsmen and other corpsey foes. It’s a tense encounter, but with the help of Andriel’s Sanctuary spell — which forms a protective dome within which everyone can rest and/or fling ranged attacks — we make it through. Who says second-stringers can’t get the job done?