YMMV / War in the North

• Anti-Climax Boss: After you've spent the entire game fighting against Agandaûr's forces, and made your way to the top of Carn Dum, you finally face the Big Bad himself... only to find he's not that difficult. In fact, Stage 2 of the fight is arguably easier than Stage 1.
• Complete Monster: Agandaûr is a powerful Black Númenórean sorcerer and self-proclaimed right hand of Sauron. Building an army for his master to assist him in his conquest of Middle-earth in exchange for the lands of the North, Agandaûr intends to make Sauron's forces more deadly and destructive by trying to make a Stone Giant and the dragon Úrgost join him so that they could slaughter and subjugate the Free Men of Middle-earth. Ordering a Spider Queen to devour the heroic wizard Radagast, Agandaûr moves his forces to attack the Dwarven Kingdom of Nordinbad, slaughtering most of the Dwarves there. Reducing his prisoners—who were driven mad by the study of the dark sorcery, which Agandaûr actively spreads through the world—to barely-sapient husks. Typical of Black Númenóreans, Agandaûr has a grudge against the Elves and intends on wiping them out and enslaving all the survivors of the ensuing war.
• Harsher in Hindsight: In this game, Nolan North and Laura Bailey play citizens of Middle-earth who oppose the forces of Sauron together. In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Laura Bailey plays an outcast of Middle-earth who is killed by Nolan North's character in the opening.
• So Okay, It's Average: Many fans feel that while the game isn't bad, per se, it isn't very good either — just mediocre.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Despite being the main villain, Agandaûr and his Black Númenórean followers are shockingly underdeveloped. Only interacting with the heroes a few times out of a 6 hour campaign. Black Númenóreans are one of the less explored factions in Tolkien's world so it would've been interesting to see more how they operate and view the conflict.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Quick; what are the two most significant things in Mirkwood you can think of (besides the giant spiders)? That's right — Dol Guldur and Thranduil. Well, guess what? You won't get to see either of those, since despite spending an entire chapter in Mirkwood, the game actively avoids visiting either, even having a wayward elf explain away that his kinsman are just too far away to appear. However, since both would be featured in the film adaptations of The Hobbit, it's probably for the best to avoid screwing up continuity with the films.
    • If only the developers had waited a couple more years for the Hobbit films to come out, then we could've seen more movie-accurate depictions of Radagast, Mirkwood, etc. And they could've taken into account elements and story details that were added into those movies, such as Azog surviving the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, Tauriel, etc.
  • For a game called "War in the North", there isn't much military action going on. The game could've benefitted greatly by having the heroes participate in actual battles between the forces of Good and Evil that took place in the text, such as the Siege of Erebor. This is especially strange considering that the one battle that is seen takes place in a completely made up Dwarven stronghold.