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The Lord Of The Rings: Shadows Of Angmar Review
User Submitted The Lord Of The Rings: Shadows Of Angmar Reviews
Date: 2008-12-01
Great game
I've been wanting to get back into an MMO for the last year or so but didn't want to return to EQ and WoW just looked way too crowded to have fun with. An employee at a Gamestop recommended this game and I have to say I was pleased. There is no pressure to be on all the time (I put in at most about 15 hr./wk.) allowing you to take a few days off for other things (like life) and come back not feeling left behind. I got this for $9.99 and there is very easily a year's worth of content for me to go through and that doesn't even count the recent Mines of Moria expansion. And speaking of content the recent expansion only takes you a little over 1/2 way through the first of the three main books, so there is room for PLENTY of future content.
The game is great and honestly the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because if you don't have a fairly recent (unless you have one of the maybe 3 AGP cards that meet the requirements you must have a PCI Express card) graphics card you will have a hard time with this game. That means if your machine is more than a couple years old you will have some upgrading to do. But frankly I think its worth the money to upgrade.
Date: 2008-11-25
The Lord Of The Rings: Shadows Of Angmar
Great playability, unbelievable graphics, and if you loved the books/movies, you will love this game.
I had my doubts about ordering software online, but after receiving exactly what I ordered, that was in on the store shelf condition. I will make many more orders with Amazon
Date: 2008-11-13
Relatively few flaws
I found LOTRO superior to WoW in graphics and overall game play - while it has a number of "yo-yo" missions (take message from A to B, take the response back to A, go get some materials, deliver to B, take item to A, take it back to B, etc.), grinding in the WoW sense (gather 12 feathers from creatures from whom only 1 out of 5 will drop the needed feather) is minimal. In Guild Wars the initial game has an interesting story line but the rest of the game's expansions lacked that same epic sweep; WoW can be played without regard to any story - the story for LOTRO hovers in the background but does not seem, until relatively late, to play much of a role. Two things mar the experience. First, LOTRO has a poor mapping system compared to WoW - there is not the broad, user-generated add-on community. You spend a fair amount of time just stumbling around the countryside trying to locate things, including things that, thanks to online databases, you have specific latitude and longitude for (and I generally don't use those aids except when I find I've spent an entire day trying to find a cabin that is "Northwest of Bree" - directions tend to lack specificity and NPCs never mark a point on your map). Get into the habit of keeping a logbook as you cannot put notes on your maps. I'm guessing that the yo-yos and stumbling were the cost of minimizing the grinding - like all MMOs I've encountered, stretching out the time needed to get anything done is one of the ways of keeping players in the game and paying. The second is that the LOTRO community seemed a bit odd - definitely into role-playing, which was fine, but not as interested in helping each other out (unless in the same kinship [guild]). Many times I saw players fighting for their lives and other players would run on past - in WoW I know it happened but in my months (I made level 70) I almost never saw it. Otoh, there did not seem to be any difference in the degree of difficulty of forming a group for a specific quest. If you like Tolkien and can find a good kinship (check Wiki for server by server lists) and can handle a bit of frustration with the lack of good mapping utilities, you'll probably like this game.
Date: 2008-11-10
A great game with excellent storyline!
Speaking as a veteran mmorpg'er and a player of LOTRO since the closed beta, many of the misgivings players had with the game during beta have been addressed. Even the pvp has been improved somewhat. I'm looking forward to the expansion since I recently finished the main quests and am looking forward to fresh material and newer instances.
My favorite things about the game.
The crafting system, you can make items in game that are better than most quest items. (Raid items being the exception)
The mature audience. It's rare when I end up playing with people who have the maturity of a 11 year old.
The regular updates to the game make it enjoyable. There are regular updates to the storyline outside of the expansions. (the first one is being released in a few weeks).
The last thing I love about the game is the option for lifetime membership. If you think you'll end up playing the game for more than 20 months.... get the lifetime membership. ($199 right now) I love not having to pay month to month.
Date: 2008-10-29
Not Just for Tolkien Fans!!
Although the game is doing pretty well subscriber-wise, I still don't understand why it's not more popular. I wouldn't expect that this game or any other MMO would be able to get close to WoW's subscription numbers, I really feel like a lot of people are missing out on a great game. And obviously I'd like to see bigger numbers because that means more money for the developers to put into the game and expand it and keep it running as long as possible.
I've played WoW and other popular MMO's, and in my opinion LOTRO is the most fun. LOTRO is actually closer to a WoW clone (only in GUI and player/world interaction methods) than any other MMO that I've seen, which is a good thing because the WoW template is fantastic. Leveling up doesn't feel like a grind unless a player forces that feeling by just killing mobs over and over again to level up or rushing through quests without immersing themselves in the lore or story.
I'll be honest, I actually only started playing this game because I'm a big fan of the Middle-Earth universe so I'm definitely very biased, but in the fantasy RPG (MMO or single player) community, who isn't a Tolkien fan? :) I know those people are out there and I actually personally know a couple people who aren't really into The Lord of the Rings but really love this game. So it's definitely not just for Tolkien buffs.
The game is one of the most beautiful MMO's out there and Turbine has done a fantastic job of recreating Tolkien's universe. There is plenty to do and character development and customization is tops with the deed/trait system and the new changes coming up with MoM. The game is pretty lacking in the PvP area, but it doesn't claim to be a PvP game. It's a PvE game, although they did include a PvP feature, Monster Play, which is actually really fun. There's nothing more exciting than battling a full army of player controlled Orcs, Uruks, Spiders and Wargs.
The game is also suitable for either solo players or players who like to group up. If you prefer to venture alone you will still have a lot of fun, but personally I feel a game like this is much more enjoyable with a Fellowship. But no player will be penalized if they decide to spend all their time solo.
My only gripe is that it's really not possible to play an evil character, except in the Monster Play zone, The Ettenmoors. And then you are only limited to one zone which is strictly a PvP area and you don't have to option to level up a character. But once again, this holds strong to Tolkien's lore. The game was designed around the idea that the player-base would be fighting for the salvation of Middle-Earth and aiding the fellowship in their quest to destroy the one ring. And you definitely feel this when you play along the Epic Quest line.
So, RPG players are a very fickle breed, but I would hope that more people would give LOTRO a chance as it's really a well-designed game that a person of any age or demographic can immerse themselves in and get plenty of entertainment from. Casual or hardcore MMO players should find something to love about LOTRO.
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