You’ve read it, you’ve seen it in the movies and now it’s an MMORPG!!! If you guys read the title, I’m sure you’ll know what I am talking about. Yeap, it’s Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO in short). Although this game has been out for quite some time, it’s no doubt a MMORPG of great caliber. Instead of becoming a member of the fellowship (which I hoped I could be one of them), you assist the fellowship in their quest to destroy the one ring by weakening Sauron’s allies.
The storyline in LOTRO, in my opinion, is one of the gems of this MMORPG, where the rich storytelling gives you an understanding on the perils of Middle Earth and the conflicts which occur at the border of places owned by the free people (a.k.a the good guys). As the story progresses, you will be able to visit places similar to the ones written in the book. The degree of detail they put in making these places astounded me as even the smallest things were added into the design of an area (who would’ve thought I could even find Bilbo Baggins’ accommodation in Bag End, only for it to be taken over by the Sackville-Bagginses *sob*. I even found The Party Tree in which Bilbo had his one-hundred-and-eleventh birthday. And if that is not small enough, I could even find Ted Sandyman and his mill, who is not really a well-known character and was only mentioned briefly in the beginning of the book).
The great thing about LOTRO is the gameplay where each class has its own unique playing style. Champions, which are melee damage dealers, have to gather fervor points in order to execute higher level and much more powerful skills, whereas burglars, who specialize in sneak attacks and trickery, have various skills to debuff their opponents as well as dealing extra damage when attacking from behind. Captains, on the other hand, have a different sort of gameplay, where their skills mostly benefit the whole party more than themselves. They can pretty much do anything from healing party members, dealing damage, reviving teammates to diverting enemies’ attention from other fragile team members as well as negating harmful effects.
The addition of two new character class (the warden and rune-keeper) has made the game more enjoyable than it already is. The warden executes his/ her skills through the gambit system, in which you enter certain abilities in sequence in order to execute a special skill (similar to fighting games in arcades). As for rune-keepers, they have an attunement mechanic which is a tradeoff between healing and damage dealing. The more proficient in healing the rune-keepers become the weaker they become in damage dealing. This is because the more healing abilities you use, they would unlock greater healing skills but locks high level damages skills (likewise if you use more damage dealing abilities). Such diverse gameplay from each class gives you a different experience when you play a different character.
A hobbit warden, chilling out in the shire :P
For those who love player VS player (PvP) action, LOTRO offers a different style of play, which is monster play, commonly known as PvMP. In monster play, you would be able to play as the enemies of the free people where there are various types of monsters for you to choose, ranging from orcs, uruks, wargs and spiders. If you love gnawing people with your sharp jaws or ensnaring a whole group of enemies with your web, playing monster play is the place for you.
The thing I love most about LOTRO is that it offers a rather challenging gameplay. If you are not careful, most of the time you would be overwhelmed with monsters and be forced to wear your running shoes. During raids, teamwork is the main key of success as one small mistake could easily wipe out your entire team. You would not want your tanker to do something crazy like pulling a whole bunch of enemies or your healer pulling the boss to him instead of the tank. So in this case, preparation and coordination is extremely important during raids.
Although LOTRO offers great gameplay, its drawback would be the graphics. The movement of the characters were lacking in fluidity. You would be able to see stiff movements during skill execution, running as well as horse riding. In terms of the environment, LOTRO has some great sights and sounds like the majestic Thorin’s Hall or the serene Rivendell but the rendering of trees and grass and mountain were somewhat lacking, in my opinion. However, these minor drawbacks do not stop me from enjoying this game to the fullest.
I would highly recommend this game to every MMORPG gamers out there that is also an LOTR fan. And for those who don’t believe me, you could try this game out first before subscribing as it is a free to play game most of the time (you will need to get turbine points in order to unlock the latest quest and contents). To check out more information about LOTRO, you guys can click this website http://my.lotro.com/home/.
