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The
Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar  Middle earth beckons Vanguard: Saga of Heroes came andwent in a haze of unfulfilled expectations. But then, Sigil Games should have known better than to launch Vanguard around the same time as the newWorld ofWarcraft expansion. True to its name, the Burning Crusade expansion relit the flame forWoW enthusiastswhile Vanguard’s only sizzle came in its hype. Another game
that looked set to either succeed or spectacularly crash is Turbine’s
Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Though the trailerswere
spectacular and the premise intrigued, it’s just one of those
games thatwas a risk fromthe very beginning. J.R.R Tolkien’s fanbase
is huge, fanatically anal and are the ones who couldmake or break
the game. I mean, these are the peoplewho can read Elvish, dress
up in poncy costumes, quote entire lines fromthe books from memory
alone and they’re also the ones whowould rope in family, friends
and colleagues to play the game. Just how would this game rate
as both a tribute to theworld Tolkien envisioned and as an MMO
in its own right? This iswhat I decided to find out by falling
headlong into the setting Turbine created. Next stop:Middle Earth. Whatever fault you can findwith LOTRO, it won’t bewith the graphics.While youwill need a decent systemto fully enjoy the lushness of LOTRO’s eyecandy, itwill, pardon the cliché, take your breath away. The designers are clearly in lovewith this project, as can bewitnessed by the loving care and detail put into almost every visual aspect of the game.Whether it’s the ruins of a former Elven stronghold to the deep fasts of the caves ofMoria, there is a lot ofworld to discover and enough care has been put to make sure there is no generic feel to the setting. Trees, animals and evenmonsters are rendered so realistically that you can be forgiven for feeling as if you’ve stepped between the covers of an Alan Lee-illustrated version of Lord of the Rings. The one downside here is that despite the lushness of the scenery, not quite asmuch care is put to customising your alter ego’s looks. Sure, you do get a fewoptions but the face modification choices are limited at best and if youwant a good-looking elf, it’smuch harderwork than I thought. That’s another part I love about the game: the NPCs. You meet familiar faces like Gimli, Gandalf and other characters fromthe books. Elrond, Lord of Rivendell (HugoWeaving in the movies), for instance, is quite a dashing bloke. Their appearances helps create a sort of realismand brings a sense of awe – that you really are part of the fabric of Tolkien’s landscape, a player in the epic tales ofMiddle Earth. Turbine probably deserves an award for best racial starter quests. Whether you’re fighting trollswith a certain legendary dwarf or being rescued by a familiar renowned wizard, LOTRO gets you in on the action fromthe get-go. Rather than just using the background story and fiction of the books andmovies as a decorative element, ameans to an end to point you towards your next bad guy tomaimandmug, the amount of fiction integration iswhat makes LOTRO an outstandingMMO. The immersion factor is hard-tobeat as Turbine manages to render an atmosphere and experience that is very true to Tolkien’s version ofMiddle Earth. The level of detail is such that you’ll feel that you’re living out the books as opposed to being in a game. Quests have plenty of back story to them though of course you do get the standard “kill Xmonsters” ones popping up. But the grind is only in the quests themselves. UnlikeWorld ofWarcraft where killingmobs for experience is one dependable but dull way to level, in LOTRO you gain experience by completing quests. You’re discouraged fromkillingmobs because there’s precious little XP awarded even if youmanage to depopulateMiddle Earth of every orc in sight. Youmight end up killing 10 spiders for Hobby McBagson and be rewardedwith some leather and 500 experience points, but kill 10 spiders outside in an attempt to grind and you’ll be lucky to get even 5 XP froma single kill. Power levelers out therewill probably gnash their teeth at the loss of their favouriteway to level. Fear not, for the grinding masochists there are incentives to kill myriads ofmonsters. Certain actionswill gain you titles. For instance, if you manage to not get killed by the time you get to level 5, you get a title you can affix to your name that shows youwere undefeated. That’s one rather amusing and funmeans of customising your character. You can choose to call yourself by your place of birth or accomplish feats thatwill reward you by unlocking special skills or special titles. Besides quests and accomplishing feats, there are also instances that test yourmettle. Besides the standard group instances, there are solo instances that you can accomplish alone. But if you create your own ‘fellowship’ thing’s getmore interesting. UnlikeWoW’s pickup group (PUG)s, a fellowshipworks in the sameway but has a different overall feel to it. Calling forthmembers of the realmto join you in a fellowship, to brave the horrors or slay spawn of evil sounds better than the standard “LFG, Durnholde Keep, PST”.
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