By: -Avalon-
I played "Lord of the Rings Online" in the early phases of beta all
the way through to the end of beta, and was definitely not excited over it. I
have read the books several times, and seen the movies more times than I can
imagine. I was awaiting this game on the edge of my seat - I wanted a great game
that brought the world alive! What I received in the game was nothing short of
utter disappointment. Yet, I did see some hint of promise, so I did what so many
players today do - I promised I would look at it again when a free trial came
open.
To begin with, the free trial is very easy to install. It is easier than most
games today, so that is a big bonus from my outlook. It took me about an hour to
fully install on a fairly old computer. Following that, the requirements for the
game were pretty ridiculous during beta. They claimed one thing, and then the
realities were very different. I could not stop from lagging out! Now, the game
is much smoother, has some pretty nice graphics, and does not lag out at all
just about. This is partly due to some of the settings that have been added
(like the ability to turn down the quality of character rendering if in an
overly crowded area), and also having two separate clients: a high res and a low
res.
Character creation is not very different. The only choices on classes are
guardian, captain, champion, burglar, hunter, lore-master, and minstrel. The
race choices are man, elf, dwarf, and hobbit. With the exception of the dwarf,
all races can be female or male. With dwarf it does not matter if you are male
or female, you still look like a dwarf! As Aragorn said in "Two
Towers", "It's the beards!" Although there are only a few choices
to make in character creation, the classes are well designed and crafted, fairly
well balanced, and the graphics look nice even on the lowest settings of the low
res client, which is a major thing for me.
The first part of the game is a tutorial that starts in a bad situation and is
meant to teach the most basic parts of any online game. Combat is fluid for the
most part with very few stutters or breaks in the movements. The controls are
placed in decent locations on the keyboard and the quest lines seem to be well
thought out.
After the tutorial the player is taken to their primary starting location. At
least it looks like the tutorial is over. But it is not. In actuality, the
tutorial is just beginning. The player will now learn more about questing,
fellowships, training, traits, and more. Traits were not of much use in beta -
they were a great idea with very bad design. Now, the traits are an extension of
the storyline, and have nice effects when obtained. Also, it is a requirement to
visit a bard to announce that you have gained that trait. One could imagine that
a bard is actually writing a song about "Zeraas the Valiant" or "Berr-Foot
the Honest and Virtuous"!
As for the actual game play mechanics, the classes are well-balanced. The
captain has a host of leadership abilities that can be used at various times,
and affect any number of different things in the game, from morale regeneration
to healing comrades, or buffs on party members when they kill an enemy. The
champion is just full of a variety of ways to beat down the opponent and let
them know that the champion was there! They use attack forms like "Wall of
Blades" that attacks any opponents in their frontal arc. They have several
direct attacks also, but what sets them apart is their use of a berserking form
called "Fervour". Those skills allow the champion to build up a
berserk status and steam ahead with more power and more devastating attacks.
As magic goes, there really is not a true form of magic. There is music for the
minstrels, and limited magic in the form of summons and a bit of healing out
there also. But unlike most games, there are no time stops, no massive
fireballs, and no massive blasts of energy from stars called to fall down from
the heavens to smite your foes. Magic is much underplayed in this game, as it
should be. I applaud Turbine for their efforts in sticking with the true genre
of "Lord of the Rings" on this.
The one part that I didn't have a chance to play before that looks pretty
interesting is the "Monster Play". Monster Play allows the player to
create and play a level fifty monster. The monsters playable are a goblin
warrior, an orcish archer, an Uruk-Hai leader, a worg, or a spider. Apparently
there are several quests that can be accomplished without Player versus Player
interaction, but the majority seems to be PvP battles. As the player
accomplishes more and more in Monster Play, they gain destiny points which allow
the player to enhance either their actual character, or buy special adjustments
in Monster Play. Some of these adjustments include buying a new race to play (IE
Cave Troll), new abilities to train your monster with, or a new look for your
monster.
"Lord of the Rings Online" appears to have made giant strides in
coming along from what I saw in beta, to what I see now. I am glad I gave it
seven days to prove itself. I see that Turbine has stayed true to the Tolkien
Vision of Middle-Earth. The graphics are set so that a wide audience is
targeted, and the immersion feels like I am in the middle of the world I grew up
reading about. Way to go, Turbine, congratulations on making a good game!
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Storyline: 9
Community: 8
Mechanics: 8
Tilt: 9
Overall: 8.3
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