Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar Review

By Rob Fahey Published 24 April, 2007

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die?

Version tested: PC

It could have gone so wrong. So badly, horribly, terribly wrong. From the very outset - from the first announcement of a Lord of the Rings massively multiplayer title, nine years ago - we had terrifying visions. The much loved world of Middle Earth, mutilated beyond recognition by the clumsy hand of a developer who needed to bludgeon Tolkien's narrative into a levelling grind. Hobbit warriors slaying dragons. Elves throwing fireballs. Bunny-hopping humans called 4rag0rn-LoL bouncing through Rivendell shouting "rofl elfs r gay".

Given the myriad ways in which Lord of the Rings Online could go wrong, it's perhaps unsurprising that a lot of people approached the game with a heavy sense of pessimism. It didn't help that in the wake of the success of Peter Jackson's movies, the game had the sense of a cash-in product about it. It certainly didn't help that the developers of the original iteration of the game, called Middle-Earth Online, blabbed about crazy features like "permanent character death", which instantly turned whole legions of gamers off the idea.

Which is why, sitting down to write about Lord of the Rings Online as it finally launches worldwide, we're thrilled, delighted and in no small measure surprised to be asking ourselves this;

How did it all go so right?

Three for the Elven-kings under the sky

'Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar' Screenshot 1

You'll probably have two reactions to Lord of the Rings Online when you first fire up the game. First, you'll think to yourself, "damn, this is pretty."

That much is certainly undeniable - LOTRO is very, very pretty. It's far and away the most graphically accomplished MMOG we've played to date, and playing with the high definition client for the game offers lighting, models and environments which really tick all the boxes for this kind of experience. Detailed? Check. Varied? Check. Dramatic? Check and double-check.

Surprisingly enough, the game's visuals don't take as much of a toll on your hardware as you might anticipate. Our test system is an Athlon 64 X2 4800+ with an ATI Radeon X1950 Pro card, which sits somewhere in the mid-range of PC systems produced in the last year or so, and LOTRO runs comfortably at settings a few notches down from the top. The lovely environmental effects still look great, and even the busy, bustling towns in the game don't hammer the framerate down too badly.

Much of the credit for the visuals goes not to the technical accomplishments of the game, however. LOTRO boasts almost uniformly excellent artwork, and it is this - the imaginative creatures, the glorious environments, the superbly detailed equipment on your characters - which really sets the game apart from its rivals. Without downplaying the achievements of the programmers who brought this artwork to life, it's probably fair to say that the art team was presented with a tougher job. To them fell the task of making good on the promise of Tolkien's imagination; of bringing these environments and creatures and characters into being in a way which feels consistent, looks beautiful or grotesque as required, and combines to create a world in which you'll be happy to spend countless hours.

Let us simply say that they succeeded; that Lord of the Rings Online is, visually, a treat which lives up in every way to the imagination which inspires it.

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone

'Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar' Screenshot 2

Your second thought will probably be, "hey, this is familiar!"

This one could have gone either way. Lord of the Rings Online is a game which is being launched into a market which has been turned on its head by the success of World of Warcraft. It doesn't matter how much the more hardcore MMOG players out there hate Blizzard's creation; it's got more than ten times as many players as any previous game of its type, and it has proved that there's a global market for MMOGs which extends far further than anyone truly believed. The figures speak for themselves.

The team at Turbine know that, and the design of their game reflects that. Vast swathes of interface design will be completely familiar to anyone who has played World of Warcraft before. Many keystrokes perform the same actions; many interface screens offer broadly the same layouts for their options. This isn't a case of wholesale copying or anything unscrupulous like that, though. Turbine simply understands that there's no point in reinventing the wheel when there are already millions of players who are perfectly comfortable with the way it works now.

The good news, then, is that anyone who has played WoW - and, frankly, anyone who has played any PC role-playing title in the last ten years - will be able to dive straight into Middle-Earth and start accomplishing things, with remarkably little in the way of an initial learning curve to scale.

The better news is that LOTRO doesn't rest on WoW's laurels - not by any means. The real triumph of this game is that it takes many ideas which people will be familiar with from WoW and improves upon them significantly. If the MMOG gameplay encountered by millions of players in WoW is vanilla ice-cream, this is Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia. There are more flavours, more complexity, more chunky bits - but you can still eat it with the same spoon, and with little additional training learning curve.

'Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar' Screenshot 3

The introduction to the game is a perfect example. Each of the races has a unique introduction sequence which sees you taking part in a heavily scripted mission - be it rescuing Hobbits from a Nazgul raid, or defending an Elven fortress from goblins in an ancient conflict. These sequences give you a chance to get accustomed to the world and to the controls of the game, while also providing a taste of things to come - of the wonderfully well-written, tightly scripted encounters which are one of the strongest aspects of the LOTRO experience.

The game often uses instancing to accomplish these effects, and takes the unusual step of offering quite a few instanced sections which can be completed as a solo player. However, the game is keenly aware that taking MMOG players out of the world in this manner can have consequences, and while instancing is more common than in other games, it is still applied with a deft hand rather than being splashed all over the place. Most of your play time will still be spent in an open, multiplayer world; but Turbine aren't afraid to drag you into an instance to do some really good storytelling, when the game demands it. Others may have a different perspective, but in our view, that's a Good Thing.

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die

In almost every other important aspect of the MMOG experience, LOTRO manages either to extrude the gameplay into some new form which hasn't previously been explored, or to simply buff up and polish an experience with which we were already familiar.

The enhancement which really demands a mention, in this regard, is the Fellowship play - what you might describe as partying in any other game. Now, settle down; rest assured that from our experience, you can play LOTRO solo and have a great time, with very little content being genuinely inaccessible to a player who isn't interested in hooking up with strangers for an evening of slaying. However, the game is simply taking a carrot approach to party play, rather than a stick approach. You may not need to be in a party to progress; but the rewards for joining forces are so great that they're very, very hard to ignore.

There are a few bonuses open to you in a fellowship - most obviously, the ability to fill in the gaps in your own abilities by playing with those of other classes - but by far the best of them is the Conjunctions system. Now, we confess that we're still getting our heads around the potential of this system to some extent, but in effect it's a timer-based system which allows you to fire off hugely powerful combo moves. When a Conjunction is available, a set of "gems" appear on your screen; click one and you'll perform a Conjunction move, which may in turn open up further moves in the chain to other players. We suspect that, similar to the somewhat less friendly combo system in Final Fantasy XI, Conjunctions are likely to be the key to end-game play. For now, though, they're a really interesting new aspect to play which is doing a fine job of encouraging players to get involved in parties.

'Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar' Screenshot 4

Not all of LOTRO's improvements are huge; some are merely a matter of polish. Take, for example, the quest system - which by and large follows the well-established MMOG system of walking up to a person with an quest mark over their head (a glowing golden ring, in this case) and accepting to undertake a task for them. This will be familiar to players, of course - but LOTRO takes things a step further than its rivals by providing far more information about your objectives and where you need to go. Quest markers are provided in a clear form which means you'll rarely, if ever, get confused about where you're meant to be. This may be the first MMOG we've considered playing without a web browser open on a second screen to look up the quests we're doing.

Perhaps our favourite of all the improvements which LOTRO makes to the genre as a whole, however, is the game's efforts to tackle the MMOG grind. Now, we've never seen an MMOG without grind of some description, and LOTRO is no exception; there will be plenty of occasions when you just run around killing oodles of identikit monsters in order to gain money or experience. However, the introduction of the game's virtues and titles system simultaneously lightens the burden of grind, and introduces much-needed variety to the character classes.

In essence, this system allows you to earn "titles" by completing various deeds - a bit like Xbox Live Achievements, if you will. So while these aren't doled out as quests, per se, there are a bunch of things you can do which will earn you various different titles, which you can apply to your name in the game to show off how ace you are at a specific part of the game. In general, if you're grinding, you're also working towards a title or two; it's all part of the game's effort to reward you at regular occasions, rather than making you edge your way frustratingly towards a level-up "ding".

'Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar' Screenshot 5

Titles are more interesting than simply being a chance to brag, though; they are associated with virtues, which are special abilities you can equip on your character. This is perhaps the most powerful kind of character customisation we've seen in an MMOG of this type, because the traits which you can add to your character can often burst right through the traditional class boundaries. In theory, you could build a Champion with healing abilities or a tanking Guardian with magical powers, simply by equipping traits which confer those abilities; and even at lower levels, playing around with the traits and virtues available to you make for an interesting, varied approach to customisation.

One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne

Time to 'fess up; we haven't, as you've probably guessed, made our way to LOTRO's end-game. As with all of our MMOG reviews, we're going to have to return to the game in a few months to get a proper view of how all of these systems work out at the end of the line, and how well the game's end-game content will satisfy those who have marched through the level treadmill. Annoyingly, that also means we can't talk about PvP today; the game is purely PvE (player versus enemy, meaning no inter-player combat) up until about level 40, at which point players can take part in a unique type of PvP battle in one large zone, the Ettenmoors. This works by allowing other players to temporarily don the form of famous monsters from the Lord of the Rings universe - which you can do from level 10, although of course, that's not much use if there's nobody to fight against yet.

What that means in effect is that if you're a PvP player, this isn't the game for you - at least, not yet. It remains to be seen how PvP will evolve in LOTRO, but for now, suffice it to say that it's more of a curiosity than anything else, and is locked away from view at present with the rest of the high-end content. We'll definitely be keen to talk about it more when we return to Middle-Earth, but for now, it's not something we can take into account - since we'd just have to take Turbine's word for how it all works.

However, what we've experienced of LOTRO in the first two dozen levels or so is extremely positive. The stunning visuals and the gorgeous realisation of a much-loved fantasy world are simply second to none in this genre; the brilliant storytelling and incredibly dramatic scripted events, equally, stand apart from the competition in every way.

'Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar' Screenshot 6

Once you look past the graphics, the writing and the artwork, you find that the beating heart of Lord of the Rings Online also stands up to scrutiny. We've never come across an MMOG which was quite so polished and mature at its launch as this one; the experience of the team at Turbine, and their willingness to learn from both the triumphs and the mistakes of their competition, shines through from every aspect of the gameplay in LOTRO.

A review such as this can merely scratch the surface of a game so huge, of course, but suffice it to say that all of the improvements, enhancements and additions to the MMOG structure which we have mentioned are both typical and representative of the kind of thing you'll find in LOTRO. It's easy to get into, fascinating to travel through - and more so than any other MMOG, it's genuinely fun to play.

Of course, the big question which many of you will want to hear a view on is this; is it worth quitting WoW to play this? The answer to that is... Well, it depends. If you're deeply ensconced in an active WoW guild and enjoying the game, then LOTRO's improvements probably aren't significant enough to drag you away. However, there are many players for whom Azeroth (and Outland) are simply starting to feel tired, and we would whole-heartedly recommend that those players give Middle Earth a shot. What's more, it's absolutely no exaggeration to say that this is far and away the best game for anyone who hasn't played an MMOG before to cut their teeth on. Even more than the familiar universe, the excellent interface and gameplay design Turbine have crafted turn this into an experience which those who have previously avoided the lure of MMOs will find tough to resist.

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die? Yes. Yes, we definitely think so.

9 / 10

Head over to Eurogamers to see whats happening in the Lord of the Rings Online group.

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Rob.

About Rob Fahey

Rob Fahey is a former editor of GamesIndustry.biz who spent several years living in Japan and probably still has a mint condition Dreamcast Samba de Amigo set.

Read more articles from Rob by visiting the Rob Fahey archive page.

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Comments (112) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • BM #1 5 years ago

    This might be the game to make me take my first step into MMORPG's.

    Looks ace

  • FunkyRenegade #2 5 years ago

    I must say I more than was dissapointed with the Beta.
    I think I'll stick with WoW and Archlord.

  • InfiniteFury #3 5 years ago

    As a hardened WoW addict I'm delighted to see the competition this year turn up and do well in scores. Hope Warhammer does the same.

  • Pike #4 5 years ago

    A 9/10, and on the same day as the 10/10 for end game TBC. This has potential for a big old heap of fanboy flaming.:D

    As for LotRO. Seems ok, but the lore doesn't really appeal to me and since I'm fairly new to WoW I'm far from burned out on that game, which means I won't leave it unless my entire guild were to pack up their things and move over.

  • JediMasterMalik #5 5 years ago

    I played it for a bit, it didn't really grab me. I guess I needed to spend more time with it.

  • PearOfAnguish #6 5 years ago

    MMOs need to go die in a corner, frankly. Tedious bollocks.

  • Shinji #7 5 years ago

    By the way, before anyone asks: "crushing, unbelievable, chronic insomnia" is the answer to the inevitable question.

  • rodpad #8 5 years ago

    Chances of my 3200 Athlon with Geforce 6800 being able to run this acceptably?

  • Shinji #9 5 years ago

    Depends on your definition of "acceptably" - I suspect you'd have to ratchet the settings right down, but I'd imagine it'd still be playable. Not very pretty, but playable.

  • Dizzy #10 5 years ago

    My WoW days are over. I am tired of raiding Karazhan and started playing LOTRO. Some of it is much better than WoW and some parts are not (animations/UI) but it is fun to play, the world is very beautiful and - more important - you can feel Turbine has tried to tackle the big problems WoW has in new ways (Deed system, class makeup). That is the reason I am leaving WoW... I hope that Turbine will continue to make a game that fixes the problems of WoW (and I am also a Turbine AC Fan ;). Blizzard has no clue..; they make a game where 80% of the content will never be seen by players...

    >I guess I needed to spend more time with it.

    Try to get to level 10 or so and start epic story quests. If you still don't like it... it is not for you ;)
    Edited by 2 at 24/04/07 @ 14:37

  • sn3jk #11 5 years ago

    argh, i who have resisted all mmorpg's so far ... but im a sucker for the LOTR universe ....

  • Razz #12 5 years ago

    ;_;

    So no chance of my Athlon 1900XP, 1024Mb RAM, Radeon 9550 running this then :(

  • StarchildHypocrethes #13 5 years ago

    Ah crap.

    After the preview left me feeling fairly 'meh' over this, the review has just gone and jumped my interest levels to very high proportions.

    Considering the untimely demise of my WoW guild I may well have a go at this....

    Anyone know what the monthly charge is?

  • Wendelius #14 5 years ago

    I believe the review comes a tad early (just before they can comment pon how the servers are holding up to the launch onslaught and whether the game feels different from with the relatively more restricted beta crowd) but I certainly agree with the points being made.

    This is the MMO my wife and I will play for a long while and we're getting the lifetime membership.

    Wendelius

  • idespair #15 5 years ago

    For those wondering about specs: It quite happily runs at 1280x800 on my laptop - Dual Core 1.6Ghz, 1GB RAM and Intel GMA950 using 128Mb shared video memory. Most of the graphics settings are at low, but the game is easily playable, with little slowdown.

  • Macross #16 5 years ago

    *phew* im so glad this turned out to be good

    /me accidentally bought it whilest bored last night.

  • Darren #17 5 years ago

    Damn you, EG, damn you all to hell... erm... maybe not but that review has seriously made me consider buying this game despite what I said to the contrary about World of Warcraft eating up too much of my time in the Burning Crusade review thread! The LOTR setting, a personal favourite of mine, and the fact that this game is supposedly so good makes it too tempting to miss out on. If only you'd given it 6 or 7 out of ten then I wouldn't have to buy it.

    Off to order it now!

  • StarchildHypocrethes #18 5 years ago

    Hmmm.

    Just been looking to order it. Other than the obvious additional plastic bits of tat etc, what is the difference if any between the Pre-Order Pack, Standard Pack, Collectors Pack and Special Edition Pack?

    That's a ridiculous number to have at lauch!

  • #19 5 years ago

    Runs quite poorly on my 3.4ghz, 7600gt with 2gb ram machine, most disappointing.

    Thank goodness for trials, I just saved myself some money!

    /isn't buying

  • SeesThroughAll #20 5 years ago

    Yes, but does it have Jelly cubes?

  • Razz #21 5 years ago

    o_o

    How much did you spend on that Godly rig mpaster?

  • Shinji #22 5 years ago

    If you've never played WoW at all, so you'd be starting on either one of the games fresh... That's a tough one. I'd probably recommend LOTRO, frankly, but with the caveat that I've not had a chance to see the high-end content in LOTRO except through the medium of carefully guided press tours.

    Although I gave the 60-70 content in WoW a 10/10, I think LOTRO does a better job at low levels of providing an entertaining gaming experience; WoW is very good but much more focused on grinding, so a bit more tedious in places. Finding a group for low-level play in WoW can also be a nightmare at this point, which influences the decision.

    In other words... I'd cautiously say LOTRO, but don't come crying to me if you don't like it in six months' time :)

  • FunkyRenegade #23 5 years ago

    @StarchildHypocrethes

    I believe it's £5.99

    @mapster

    It runs fine at 1440x900 everything knocked up to High on my 2.21ghz Athlon 64 x2, 7600GT and 1GB ram.
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 15:09

  • funkstar #24 5 years ago

    wholeheartedly agree with this review, a beautiful game, excellent setting, and all the little touches really add up - i could spend hours just practicing playing the lute!

    the people (at least, so far) also seem to be really friendly, and helpful too! i guess there will be an EG guild (err.... kinship?) set up soon? someone add me!

    nick in the game is marathalion

  • miiiguel #25 5 years ago

    will it come to the beautiful machine ?

  • #26 5 years ago

    Razz, did you just diss my godly rig?

    *&*& you mother*&^&*%!

    Kiss my mother***££*£ ass!

  • Tomo #27 5 years ago

    What the hell's going on?! Are you trying to make me get into MMOs?! :/

    I'd love to try WoW and especially this, but I doubt I ever will. The "side effects" scare the bejebus out of me.

  • Shinji #28 5 years ago

    will it come to the beautiful machine ?

    I think it's highly unlikely that there'll be a Wii version, I'm afraid.

  • #29 5 years ago

    Rob, did you keep a straight face when you typed that?

  • miiiguel #30 5 years ago

    Shinji: I obviously meant 360...

  • Whizzo #31 5 years ago

    I'm enjoying my time in LOTRO, lots of fun and plenty of things to do. Even from just an exploring point of view there's a lot to see and it looks and sounds so damn lovely.
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 15:20

  • Shinji #32 5 years ago

    That's like saying "the beautiful woman" and then claiming that you obviously meant Vanessa Feltz.

  • Razz #33 5 years ago

    How is that obvious? You said beautiful?! :D

    360 = fugly, child of charles and camilla...

  • Razz #34 5 years ago

    Mapster I was being serious! That's one serious piece of kit you've got there. I was just wondering how much you invested in it.

  • septimus #35 5 years ago

    Surprising review, might consider this one more.

  • Whizzo #36 5 years ago

    Oh and anyone that downloaded it for the beta and pre-order should uninstall and reinstall as well, you'll be missing out on the videos that occur when you complete story missions as well as in the character creation and the hi-res textures as well unless you acquired them somehow already.

  • #37 5 years ago

    Razz :D

    Not very much mate, which is probably why the game isn't running that great. The PC is two years old soon, gosh doesn't time fly.

    UPGRADE TIME!

    But not for LOTR :)

  • miiiguel #38 5 years ago

    humm... maybe I'm hanging with a non-mainstream crowd, among my Live mates it is known as "the beautiful machine".
    Sorry...
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 15:28

  • dan13l #39 5 years ago

    Fantastic review; you've really hit the nail on the head with what Turbine have managed to achieve.

    One small problem: Monster play comes into effect at level 10, not 40. Haven't tried it yet myself, but it's there.

  • Whizzo #40 5 years ago

    There's a possible reason why some people aren't quite getting the performance they should be from LOTRO involving a user preference file edit. Basically the game runs in "fake" 3D mode (just like other Turbine games) so isn't running the 3D card at its 3D mode speeds if it has them. A look here and elsewhere may help some people.

    I did wonder why my card was running so quietly when I was playing, it was basically underclocked so the fan never had to kick in. Works a lot nicer now and v-sync works too.
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 15:28

  • #41 5 years ago

    Looks like a known issue whizzo, might try the fix.

  • Shinji #42 5 years ago

    dan13l - Sorry, that's really badly phrased on my part. You can play a monster from level 10 onwards, but since the monsters themselves are locked at level 50, right now there's nobody to fight, and you can't take part in the PvP stuff using your "main' character until you hit 40. So it's a bit more complex than "Monster play starts at 40", but either way, it's not up and running yet in any meaningful way.

  • HMAN #43 5 years ago

    Can you download the client or do you have to buy it from a shop?

  • UncleLou #44 5 years ago

    I suppose there's no free trial?

  • Darren #45 5 years ago

    @Whizzo - How can a game run in "fake 3D"? Surely it's either 2D or 3D and the screenshots I've seen of LOTR Online look decidely 3D to me. :?

  • Whizzo #46 5 years ago

    You can at least accrue destiny points as a monster for your normal character to spend if they want.

    If you're feeling a bit pissed off with hobbits getting under your feet, how better to cheer yourself up by slaughtering some and taking their legs as trophies? Setting polar bears on fire is quite fun as well*.

    *not in reality I should imagine

  • lucasmax #47 5 years ago

    Ive heard of people doing raids in monster play (as their monsters), which sounds pretty cool. I did notice there seemed to be at least a few quests in the pvp areas

  • Darren #48 5 years ago

    How much does it cost per month to play? £8.99? And is the first month free, like WoW?

  • #49 5 years ago

    I guess you aren't going to know if the game stutters until you play it, there is an 18 page thread on the official forums. The devs have been asking for folks system specs to get more info. Here's just one post that caught my attention:

    This problem has existed since Alpha and has persisted throughout Beta without any fix. Once upon a time, I sent some videos to the devs showing exactly what was happening, but no real answer came. They just assured us they were working on it.

    However, at its core this is the same engine they used for anarchy 2. That game also had the same issue with "stuttering" for some people. The problem here is the game engine itself, especially when it dumps all the new textures all at once.

    So basically..there is pretty much no permanent fix the devs can do on their end. It'll come down to us having to do a million and one tweaks just to play the game out of the box (those of us that are experiencing the stuttering issues). This is the kicker for me, and the reason I probably won't be buying the game. My system is:

    AMD 3700
    Geforce 6800 GS
    2 gb ram

    I ran tests back in the day going to the lowest resolution and lowest possible settings all the way up to high (and yes, I did a full defrag of my hdd before i did this) and no matter what the settings are at, the game still stutters. It's very frustrating.

  • Razz #50 5 years ago

    The monthly subs are quite extortionate and there are no free trials as of yet.

  • Darren #51 5 years ago

    How much is extortionate though?

  • SBfistfun #52 5 years ago

    Bunny-hopping humans called 4rag0rn-LoL bouncing through Rivendell shouting "rofl elfs r gay".

    SUPERFOFLMAO Adventure!

  • lucasmax #53 5 years ago

    Im pretty sure that its £8.99 a month with 1st month free

    The collector edition gives 45days free iirc

    It runs lovely for me btw on a mid range pc

    nicked this from offical forum:

    If you pre-ordered.

    Founders Offer:

    £5.99 a month (for six months)

    £99.99 Lifetime

    If you didnt.

    £8.99 a month
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 15:54

  • Phattso #54 5 years ago

    According to the official sites (both UK and US) the monthy fee hasn't been set. Which is a bit bloody stupid considering the game is out now. Probably waiting to see the initial uptake before deciding how much to fleece their player base by. :)

  • Dizzy #55 5 years ago

    Monthly fee for pre-order players is 9 euro (6 quid) in 6 month subscriptions or a lifetime 150 euro (100 quid) subscription.
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 15:52

  • Wendelius #56 5 years ago

    "According to the official sites (both UK and US) the monthy fee hasn't been set."

    That's untrue. The monthly fees on the US servers at least were published back in February. I'm pretty sure the Codemasters comparison between Founder and regular account also mentioned them. Too lazy to search since I'm going for lifetime anyway. :p

    As for stuttering, my wife's machine used to do it quite a bit. Some clean up (uninstalls, taking a look at msconfig, ...) and an update of the drivers for her onboard realtek audio chipset cured them.

    Wendelius

  • JediMasterMalik #57 5 years ago

    duh duh dudu duh

    roflmao

    duh duh dudu duh

    roflmao

  • Phattso #58 5 years ago

    I'm not interested in the Founders program, that's a limited offer anyway. And I'm not interested in a six month subscription: it might be shit, or run like shit. :)

    The FAQ for both US and European LOTRO web sites, as of half an hour ago, had no details on the monthly fee. If they'd announced it, one would think it might be found there.

    Either way, not making it easy for potential customers to see the monthly fees is a stupid way to do business.

  • Salaman #59 5 years ago

    I had zero interest in this game and not followed it's development or the progress thereof.

    I now want to go out and buy it.

    Damn you!

  • jlaakso #60 5 years ago

    Goddamit. I'm actually curious to try this out.

  • StarchildHypocrethes #61 5 years ago

    Ordered.

    I'm so weak. Swayed from complete disinterest into buying it by one review.

    /shakes head despairingly

  • Max_Powers #62 5 years ago

    I just don't get MMO RPG's. I tried it again with this game...

    Scenario:

    I'm of to do a quest to find some artefacts in a mysterious dungeons. But then I find the dungeon is fucking filled with Elves, Hobbits and Humans running and jumping about shouting LOLcopters etc. How can you get any believable atmosphere in a game this way?

    I much prefer a single player experience like Oblivion

  • Dunneh #63 5 years ago

    Why are you guys so interested in a game that has virtually no PvP? I can't understand why MMORPGs without PvP get hype. I mean common, where is the fun? I want to build my character over time and then WtfPwn people in PvP, not repeatedl ponce around in instanced dungeons. Argh i don't undertand ><

    You might as well play NWN over a LAN and you'd get the same result.

  • Wendelius #64 5 years ago

    "Why are you guys so interested in a game that has virtually no PvP?"

    You like PvP. I have ZERO interest in it. I'd actually avoid a PvP centered game (like Shadowbane, IIRC). Different strokes for different people.

    You'd apparently be surprised at how many people don't have PvP on their shopping list. Besides, if PvP is introduced in the regular game itself rather than in its own separate environments, you face the challenge of having to balance classes and skills both for PvE and PvP, often resulting in suckage and much complaining on both fronts.

  • Macross #65 5 years ago

    There is PvP though, its just concencual.

    Additionaly, Monster play seems to be getting some pretty good feedback so far on the forums, i wouldnt be surprised if this eventually becomes a larger part of the game.

  • Groggen #66 5 years ago

    Played this a bit in beta and now in early access. So far it has been ace! Mind you , I only got to level 15 with a couple of chars so I haven't seen any mid-end-game material. One of the best aspects so far is that they have instances/raids that doesn't take 5 hours at least to complete. I've done some instances so far and none have taken more than 30 mins which is a good thing for a casual gamer like myself. In WoW I always felt left out since I couldn't dedicate at least 5 hours straight for even a newbie instance.

    The only thing I don't like is the rather few alternatives in characters. But they are a bit restricted by Tolkiens background material so I don't mind that much.

    Hardware reqs are not very steep. I run it nicely with medium settings at 1680*1050 with 3.4ghz, 2gb ram, X850XT.

    I promised myself never again an mmorpg but I am hooked once again!

  • Wendelius #67 5 years ago

    "There is PvP though, its just concencual.

    Additionaly, Monster play seems to be getting some pretty good feedback so far on the forums, i wouldnt be surprised if this eventually becomes a larger part of the game."

    Exactly. And it also means that Turbine can leave PvE pretty much untouched and tune monster Play against it. It's actually a very nice way of integrating it without forcing it down anyone's throat and allows to avoid most of the player class balancing nightmares.

    Wendelius

  • gnarl #68 5 years ago

    Nice sub-headings. Not enough to not wait for the inevitable free trial though. Perhaps if they had been in the Black Speech.

  • HMAN #69 5 years ago

    Can you get a product key online?
    I can't be bothered to wait for the full retail box when I can just download the client.

  • SBfistfun #70 5 years ago

    Sb likes it forced down the throat.

    ddAAAAMMMNnnn

  • Warex #71 5 years ago

    Guys if my computer can run it fine yours can too!!!!

    I have 1.8gh processor (athlon)

    1g memory

    and a 6600 geforce card....

    and it works fine on 1214-768 resoultion with 80 percent of options on high or very high....only a bit laggy sometimes in towns.....

    the water reflections in this game are the most amazing i have seen in anygame too!!

    Also they have just announced the first free expansion in june!

  • ZuluHero #72 5 years ago

    soooo what are the servers like? EU and US like WoW? Or can we choose where we want to 'live'?
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 16:56

  • Wendelius #73 5 years ago

    "Also they have just announced the first free expansion in june! "

    That's what I like a lot about Turbine. A lot of people will only remember for DDO. But back in the last century (how time flies :) ), they were already doing an outstanding job of providing regular content updates for Asheron's Call. It was one of the strongest points of the game.

  • ZuluHero #74 5 years ago

    Also I actually enjoyed DDO - so will i like this?

  • Dizzy #75 5 years ago

    >Also I actually enjoyed DDO - so will i like this?

    Yeah I think so.. similar feel.

    Actually it contains elements of AC, WoW and DDO..; good stuff!

  • swede #76 5 years ago

    Havent read the review or comments yet, but totally agree with score. Hurrah for a great game. A perfect example of a developer taking what is right about a genre and evolving it to the next level. In fact, just like Blizzard did with WoW.

    I just hope to god it isnt overlooked...

    /goes off to read the review
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 17:53

  • spongebob #77 5 years ago

    Maybe I should try this.. Would be the first MMORPG for me since City Of Heroes.

  • PotajiTo #78 5 years ago

    9/10? Did you actually played it? It's like a WoW with LotR skins... It even has the same interface. EXACTLY the same. And I dont even like wow.

  • Gurgeh #79 5 years ago

    @Potajito: did you even read the review? They like WoW, they gave TBC 10/10, so why are you surprised LotR got 9/10.

    I like WoW and I like this too. The combat has a different feel to it, the graphics are a lot better and run fine on most people's machines, even relatively low end PCs, providing people don't expect Oblivion like graphics on their 386-like machines.

  • Wyrm #80 5 years ago

    Can someone please explain to me how this is any different to WoW other than the trait system? Everything is exactly the sodding same from what I can see! Even the interface is pretty much identical! I know it's an MMO so will have inherant similarities, but it feels like the eaxct same game with 'better' graphics...

  • MaxiSleep #81 5 years ago

    Has become quite disillusioned with WoW, particularly with how my tier 1/ rep grinds became meaningless. Had got to 70 and had started Kara but my heart was not in it. This on the other hand blew me away. Anyone who wants a breath of fresh air from wow should give it a go.




  • paulf #82 5 years ago

    trying to create a subscription now, not going very well, i guess when i do get in there will be loads of folks playing the same start area as well, time will tell

  • otto #83 5 years ago

    Rob, you and I were clearly playing different games!

    /back to WoW

  • dolphan #84 5 years ago

    I am so glad that a) my uni blocks all non-http ports so you can't play online games, and b) I can't afford a new PC to run this. Otherwise I'd buy it and kiss goodbye to my life.

  • otto #85 5 years ago

    Wyrm, well in my limited experience, it's EXACTLY like WoW except the graphics/artwork is frankly not as good. They've gone for hyper realism and this of course means that the world actually looks worse that WoW's slightly cartoony universe (marmite thing, personally I love WoW's look). My other gripes with LOTRO are: very poor performance, stutters like hell; the UI is far too cluttered and not nearly as well thought through as WoW; loading screens every time you enter a building??? Yuck!! And all those instances in the early stages of the game really destroy the feeling of being in a massive seamless world, it feels like going back to the days of Baldur's Gate (to match the palette). Finally, for me, the killer is seeing what they've done with the wonderful Middle Earth of my imagination. It's not how it's supposed to look, and I very quickly got tired of seeing "Borimor of Gondor" and "Legalos of Mirkwood" running around cookie-cutter mediaeval villages with Clannad-esque bagpipe music wailing in the background. No no no no. It's just not right.
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/07 @ 19:32

  • ZuluHero #86 5 years ago

    I've only played the beta - but i'd rather feel a apart of the story via instances than 'just another hero clone' ala wow.

    While i love wow, i play it because its easy to play and access, not for it's 'indepth' storylines. If I want to feel immersed and feel a part of the story, then i'll play something like Guild Wars. Or this.

  • bonker #87 5 years ago

    Oh man, I really need to not drop a grand on a multi core, multi GB PC upgrade to sniff this ...

    Save me?

  • bonker #88 5 years ago

    "Razz, did you just diss my godly rig?

    *&*& you mother*&^&*%!

    Kiss my mother***££*£ ass! "

    LOL

  • Kostabi #89 5 years ago

    I've said in other comments threads here that LOTRO feels a lot like a persistent world version of Guild Wars.

    The one thing I loved about GW was the narrative all through leveling up and LOTRO's epic quest line is almost indentical. Great stuff. Plus there are some absolutely "dude, that's awesome!" moments in the instances.

  • bonker #90 5 years ago

    "I just don't get MMO RPG's. I tried it again with this game...

    Scenario:

    I'm of to do a quest to find some artefacts in a mysterious dungeons. But then I find the dungeon is fucking filled with Elves, Hobbits and Humans running and jumping about shouting LOLcopters etc. How can you get any believable atmosphere in a game this way? "


    Saved.

    Thank you!

  • Jaded #91 5 years ago

    This review is probably fair comment for the early levels, but it as you get higher the content just isn't there (like when you hit lvl 18 or so, there's only one zone you can get quests). Might be worth checking out in 6 months or so.

  • paulf #92 5 years ago

    0/10 for trying to sign up on launch date, got as far as creating an account after 3 hours waiting but times out when trying to put in credit card details so I can actually play, to be expected i suppose on the first day but not good

  • MrBiggles #93 5 years ago

    YAWN another geeky MMORPG. Get a fucking life people seriously.

  • byron_hinson #94 5 years ago

    You don't need to enter credit card details if you entered the key...it'll work for a month from now without CC details.

  • Krusty #95 5 years ago

    First MMO I've ever played (got invite to beta) and I'm hooked!
    Runs very well at 16x10 on my 4400+, 2Gb and 7800GTX.

    Krusty

  • FooAtari #96 5 years ago

    @MrBiggles.

    You are posting on a games forum...

  • ZuluHero #97 5 years ago

    @Kostabi

    No, no, no! That's not what i wanted to hear! Curse you! :)

    Will. To. Resist. Weakening...

  • Subquest #98 5 years ago

    4800x2 and 1950 is now mid range?

    wipes brow

  • Max_Powers #99 5 years ago

    To be fair, MMORPG's are geeky :)

    Seriously, these types of games are right up there with the Flight Simulators for nerdiness

  • fredrikpj #100 5 years ago

    I cancelled my preorder a day before this review came out......

    DAMN!!! :D

  • gypsumfantastic #101 5 years ago

    9/10 for a pointless WoW clone? It's symptomatic of the death of innovation in gaming.

    Ah well, roll on WAR and WoW expansion 2.

  • Katsumoto #102 5 years ago

    ...

    sigh

  • Whizzo #103 5 years ago

    Yes any MMO that isn't WoW is pointless because everyone loves WoW so much there doesn't need to be any alternatives. The only choice should be Horde or Alliance. Choice is bad. WoW is your god.

  • Wendelius #104 5 years ago

    Worthless WoW clone? That your informed opinion? I'm playing LOTRO and I disagree very much.

    For those wondering about the graphics and immersion, enjoy a few postcards from Rivendell: [link url=http://ambernight.org/archives/2007/04/24/379#more-379
    ]http://am bernight.org/archives/2007/04/2...[/link]

    Middle Earth is a beautiful place.

  • Dizz #105 5 years ago

    To all the 'it's a WoW clone' posters.....so what? It's a good one. To all the 'WAR will rule' posters...it's all 'potential' we see. At this moment in time, people can play and enjoy LOTRO.

    WoW wasn't too different from other games either. They did what Turbine did this time around: pick up what's good, improve on what's bad, polish it up and bring out a playable, fun game.

    Not bore people to tears with a 'Grand Vision(tm)' for years and then releasing a game that needs about 3 million patches to work properly. cough*Vanguard*cough*

  • swede #106 5 years ago

    Totally agree, calling this a WoW 'clone' is incorrect. As I said before, it evolves the genre in a similar way to WoW did when it was released.

    Archaich example, but would you call OutRun a pointless Pole Position clone? But the ethos of the game is still extremely similar (race until your time runs out), the user interface is identical (steering wheel, 2 pedals, lo-hi gearstick).

    The history (and future) of gaming is driven by constant refinement (with the odd moments of revolution sprinkled in, granted!) and that is no bad thing.
    Edited by 1 at 25/04/07 @ 13:46

  • UncleLou #107 5 years ago

    Weird, MMORPG haters seem to be a much nerdier group than people actually playing the games, if this thread is anything to go by.

  • swede #108 5 years ago

    Haha that is a joke surely, why cant something look beautiful in a game? Artists painted the textures, artists sculpted the 3d models. Saying that the art in a game is simply attributed to 'nice graphical effects' is like saying that the Mona Lisa is not a beautiful painting, but simply just paint slapped onto a canvas in a 'nice' way.

  • StarchildHypocrethes #109 5 years ago

    Xiphos, if you ever venture into the National Gallery be prepared to witness some very 'nice paint-based effects'.

    You'll find them under the section labelled 'art'.

  • Wendelius #110 5 years ago

    Personally, I have been to Canada in the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer. also in the Caribbeans and a number of other beautiful locations (Swiss Alps, various scenic US states, ...).

    Artwork is artwork and real life is real life. You can find beauty in art though. And Turbine's world is certainly very pleasing to the eye.

  • ZuluHero #111 5 years ago

    @swede & StarchildHypocrethes

    Lol, genius! Really funny - well done guys! :)

  • Ludwig #112 5 years ago

    "Weird, MMORPG haters seem to be a much nerdier group than people actually playing the games, if this thread is anything to go by."

    So true Uncle Lou, so true.

  • TheUnionFrag #113 5 years ago

    To be fair, MMORPG's are geeky :)

    Seriously, these types of games are right up there with the Flight Simulators for nerdiness

    You're posting on a game website, thus you are presumably a gamer, thus you are a geek/nerd at some level. There is no use denying it - give in.

    LOTRO is the only true MMORPG [GW doesn't count I guess] I like.

  • darc #114 5 years ago

    I broke down and bought LOTRO, despite the fact that I usually tire of MMO's pretty quickly. This review made a point of the use of instancing, and I thought that might have been leveraged to present more complex content that a small party or solo'er could enjoy. But in fact, LOTR is worse than WoW ever was in terms of throwing the MMO mechanics in your face. Repeatedly I find myself standing around in rooms full of players waiting for some alledgedly unique enemy to spawn - sometimes with two or three of that same enemy's corpses lying around in plain view! Umm... suspension of disbelief, anyone? This is exactly the kind of MMO silliness that could/should be worked around via instancing, but LOTR's content just isn't sufficiently refined.

    What I'd like to see is a good LAN-based multiplayer game that is not MMO, but more like a cooperative play through an intelligent single-player RPG. This could be realized as a standalone game, or as an episodic online game with better instanced content. I didn't like Guild Wars right off, but maybe I need to revisit that. Or maybe D&D Online is closer to what I'm imagining.

    LOTRO is very pretty, and the writing is a step up from WoW's, but it's essentially the same old treadmill all over again. I've been playing for hours and I don't think I've made a single decision to impact my success one way or the other. Like most recent MMO's, it's more a toy than a game.

  • fastica #115 5 years ago

    Hey Rob, PVE is not 'player versus enemy', is 'player versus environment'.

  • LootNinja #116 5 years ago

    Hey ! Any chance someone could e-mail me a 10 day pass/buddy key?
    It's for a gaming podcast so the guys can review Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

    Please !! :]
    lootninja@hotmail.co.uk

    Has to be EU version please.
    Would be REALLY appreciated.
    They'll give you a shout out on the show :] I'll send links !
    THANK YOUUUU !!!

  • Aria #117 5 years ago

    Near-perfect game. It's just been launched and already, it gives you such a complete experience, it can only get better.

  • DFawkes #118 4 years ago

    I was going to stick with this, having finally made up my mind on my MMO of choice. Then, as a level 10, I got killed on a level 6 quest, shattering my attempt at getting the last 2 titles for not dying. So screw you and your badly chosen quest level! It might have only happened once, but that's all it takes to put me off an MMO.

    I say that, WoW did the same thing but I forgave it immediately. There's just something missing with LOTRO, but I can't put my finger on it. I could see why people prefer it, but the fact it's based on LOTR means I pretty much know how everything will look, even after an hours play. I'm returning to Azeroth.