Lord of the Rings Online, Shadows of Angmar is a 2007 MMO released by Turbine. I jumped in at its two year mark during the release of the first expansion “Mines of Moria” and around the time of the first real overhaul to the crafting system as well as the addition of two new classes. LOTRO offers the chance to wander through a book faithful version of Middle Earth (as opposed to the wildly popular movie version) and gives players the choice of Hobbit, Man, Dwarf, Elf, or Beorning and various sub classes thereof. Some are more survivable solo than others, and some, that should not be survivable solo are freakishly so (looking at you, Loremaster!) Originally release on a pay to play schedule the game went to a fairly successful free to play model while allowing people (like me) who wanted to keep throwing them a fee to experience a few extra perks.
The main story starts you, depending on your choice of race, either in the Breelands, the family homestead of Beorn’s descendants, the Shire, the ancient Elven Home in the Blue Mountains, or in Thorin’s Hall in the Blue Mountains. It begins, for the most part in the years between Bilbo’s 111th birthday party and Frodo feeling the shire (yes, movie fans, that was in actuality several years, not just a few months!). The characters follow a course that has them run parallel with the main story of Fellowship of the Ring from that point up until the siege of Helm’s Deep at which point you become actively part of the main story directly supporting Aragorn and Theoden. You then continue along Aragorn’s story clear up until the Battle of Pelenor and the aftermath ending currently with the King’s approach of the Black Gate. The game is FIRMLY faithful to the source material – even the expanded and extrapolated material remains firmly in Middle Earth. There are hundreds of side quests to take throughout the story as well fleshing out what would otherwise be a linear experience. Of course not every quest is a winner. Early on you’ll learn far more about Hobbit courting that you’ll ever, ever want to know.
When choosing the graphic style for LOTRO, it has been said that they chose a medieval style color palette to promote the proper mood. It shows. At times oppressive, and at times depressive and moody, the game’s graphics are spot on. And those moments of utter oppression are always rewarded with glorious moments that bring out the beauty of Middle Earth. You will never forget the first time you climb Weathertop and look out on the Lonelands or the first time you climb down the switchback trail leading into Rivendell. Entering Moria is awe inspiring at first, and then just as you can’t stand being underground any longer, you come out into the beautiful Loth Lorien. The environs of the Great River take you to Rohan. The Paths of the Dead take you into Gondor. There’s even an instance where you can stand on a bridge in Dale and look to the north and see The Lonely Mountain on the horizon. For Tolkien fans it is a homecoming. For non-Tolkien fans, it is still a beautiful, well executed setting.
Until recently, there was little to no voice acting in LOTRO. It has been added in the last few years to supplement the copious reading for quests. At one point, the only voice was in cut scenes but as the technology advances, so has this. Special attack sound effects and battle effects were always present and appropriate and the game’s music range is well done. In fact, in some places, you can hear the old tunes that Tolkien wrote and if you’re like me you find yourself quietly singing the lyrics. Where the sound does suffer sometimes is the background music, which is often way too loud. You will find yourself turning it down so you can hear the dialogue.
The controls are pretty standard most of the time. WADS or mouse driven movement and multiple toolbars to put your abilities, tools, and mounts in. The interface is easy to learn. Where it hits an issue is in mounted combat. At the release of the Rohan expansion the game included for the first time mounted combat. Many of us begged for it and we got it. The problem is that the horses are difficult to control at anything faster than a gallop and some of the classes abilities are lacking any real use on horseback. In later stages, particularly in Gondor, horseback use can be outright deadly due to lag issues that are concurrent with the majority of the population being in the same area as we’ve all grown and levelled together. What used to be known as “Bree Lag” is now very much known as “Minas Tirith Lag” I’ve often been disappointed and/or annoyed with mounted combat to the point where unless my foes are mounted as well, I’d rather confront them on foot with my full abilities rather than on jerky horseback with limited abilities.
Crafting is done with simple components and not much flavor other than the inscription customizations. Sadly, until recently, the crafting was a great deal more fun and challenging and produced truly unique items. The game was dumbed down in this regard and I feel it hurt it greatly.
Likewise, they dumbed the skill and attribute system down significantly around the time Rohan was launched. Trainers have become useless reminders of a better system and attributes and traits are all “in the box” as compared to the excellent pick and choose system that used to exist. (Shades of Star Wars Galaxies, anyone?)
With Lord of the Rings Online now firmly into the final chapters of Return of the King it is a little hard to say what the future holds. The developers plan on having us in Mordor within the next year and have to some extent, promised a continuation into the 4th age of Middle Earth. My best guess is it has another two good years in it at least; likely more if the writers are talented and they open up to more source material.
Summing Up:
Story: 5/5: From the initial entry right up to the Black Gate you feel you are a vital part of the story of Middle Earth, the protection of the Ring Bearer, and the crowning of the King.
Graphics: 5/5: The right mood, the right feel, and accurate to Tolkien’s writing. What more could you ask?
Sound: 4/5: Effects and voice over are well done and for the most part well-acted, but the background music is often distracting. When it isn’t distracting and it becomes part of the scene proper, it tends to be too quiet. No happy medium here, folks.
Control: 3/5: it’s suffering a couple of points due to the mounted combat controls. Clunky.
Crafting: 2/5: I had a hard time with this one. It used to easily be a 4/5. For reference, the only system I’d ever give a 5/5 is Star Wars Galaxies. That being said, yes, it used to be fun to craft after an evening of adventuring but now it’s just repetitive and a grind.
Character Growth: 4/5: Minus a couple points for being dumbed down but back up for what really is a variety of skills. It would be a 5/5 if we could still mix and match attributes and traits to our own liking rather than following a path.
Longevity: 4/5: I think it has a good chance of lasting a few more years making any investment in it timewise or even moneywise worth it.
Playability a high 3/5 (3.8 for the average!) Boy, that crafting hurts the rating but the overall experience is still a lot of fun. If anyone wants to check out the game drop me a line first and I’ll make sure to meet up with you. The server is Arkenstone and our Kinship (Guild) is the Fighting Felons of Laketown.