|
|
 |
|
|
|
The Lord Of The Rings: Shadows Of Angmar Review (continued)
More User Submitted The Lord Of The Rings: Shadows Of Angmar Reviews
Date: 2007-11-05
Excellent MMO
I've been playing this game since closed beta and it continues to impress me. Turbine has done a wonderful job and the speed at which they release free updates (also known as Books) is amazing -- Blizzard, take note. They do a good job of listening to the wants of their users without dumbing down the game itself.
Tolkien's world is beautifully rendered in this game, and I look forward to seeing more of Middle Earth as the game world continues to grow.
Date: 2007-11-04
Nothing new to see here- move along...
I'm writing this review after having played the 7-day free trial offered by the developer of this game. First off, let's cover the good stuff:
The graphics are far and away the best ever offered in an MMORPG. While they aren't "Oblivion" quality, they come very close. From the reflections on the water, to the gently swaying flora, to the richness of the environments, this game is nice to look at.
Next, the sound is excellent. This definitely a "headphones" experience.
Now that the positive elements of this game have been covered, it's time to state the unfortunate truth: This game brings nothing new to the MMORPG arena.
Yes, there are new sounds- yes, it's easy on the eyes- but if sound and visuals were the criteria upon which modern media were to be judged masterpieces, Michael Bay would be considered the new Sergei Eisenstein...
What makes a game memorable, exciting, and worth playing, is the gameplay- nothing more, nothing less- and LOTRO provides nothing new, beyond superficialities.
I've played a lot of MMORPGs- just about every producer gives a free trial, and I've laboured through more than my fair share. The bane of the MMORPG genre has been the "generic quest":
"Please vanquish five enemies, and return to me for your reward."
"Please capture four items, and return to me, for your reward."
After a while, this becomes redundant to the extreme- and every last MMORPG out there relies upon this woefully generic formula.
Considering the overwhelming hype surrounding this game's development and release, one would expect that one would encounter something different, here...
Dream on...
The player is admonished, in the first 60 seconds of the game, to "pay attention to what NPCs tell you", because, supposedly, these interactions are part of a greater plotline.
Actually, they aren't...
You're introduced to NPCs with minor conflicts or alliances with this or that other NPC, and aside from their superficial and (overall) irrelevant "plot devices," their tasks for you are invariably:
"Please vanquish five enemies, and return to me for your reward."
"Please capture four items, and return to me, for your reward."
Once you've moved on from these initial bequeathers of quests, you meet new NPCs, with more superficial storylines, who tell you to:
"Please vanquish five enemies, and return to me for your reward."
"Please capture four items, and return to me, for your reward."
All well and good- but ya know: there are MMORPGs coming out of Korea which are free to play, and offer the same gameplay (and bigger worlds.)
So why pay for this game?
The developers obviously thought that the player would be so enamoured with the trappings of the LOTR franchise, that they'd forgive the utterly lame gameplay. After all, you get to be a hobbit!
A Hobbit who's main tasks in life have been reduced to:
"Please vanquish five enemies, and return to me for your reward."
"Please capture four items, and return to me, for your reward."
All of this would be forgiveable, if the creators of this game didn't continue to hype this as an extension of Tolkein's vision. To say that this game bears any resemblance to Tolkein's original vision is like saying that George W Bush is the executor of the vision of Thomas Jefferson.
Now- this isn't to say that this game isn't without merit. If your life's dream is to spend hundreds of your waking hours pursuing a classically pointless sysyphian task, then this is your game- get to it- But keep in mind that there are dozens of free MMORPGs out there which offer the same style of play.
Nothing new to see here- move along...
Date: 2007-10-11
One of the best I've ever played
I'm an avid gamer, more a fan of CPRG's (baldurs gate/icewind dale/Neverwinter Nights) than MMORPG's though I've tried the big ones, like WoW, Eve, and Guild Wars.
I played a Captain "Finarphor" (to lvl 45/50 higher than I've achieved any of the other games) on this game for 3 months over this summer, on the Gladden server, and had an incredible gaming experience. I was completely addicted and deleted my character because I was staying up till 3am (and later) I was dying of sleep deprivation the following days at work. I couldn't go on.
Everything about this game was incredible, but especially the population of players. If you're older, and would like to try an MMORPG but are turned off by blizzards crowd, welcome home, You will flat out, love grouping and rolling with folks in this game.
I was one of the highest ranking members in my clan before I left, obviously there are a lot of 50's rolling around, but there werent in my clan, there probably are now. I considered going back and playing again, but when I commit to a game, I play the crap out of it, and I just couldnt go back and redo all that stuff over, it took forever and drove me nuts.
This is up there with Baldurs Gate 2, Icewind Dale, Goldbox: Pool of Radiance, Civilization 1, as one of the best, if not the BEST game I've ever played. Just looking at the cover gives me the goosebumps, and I almost,...ALMOST, want to buy it again, but I've finished with it, maybe you'll do the same after a few months.
Cons - The Turbine service staff is an absolute joke. No, it is non-existant. So, have a good system and ISP, and don't have in game problems, and you'll love it!
Date: 2007-10-09
This game is amazing!!!
Besides being well known, Lord of the Rings Online offers a great mix of quests surrounding the events of the movies/books. It has amazing graphics and all the people/places you expect to see will be there. It offers a chance to play solo as well as in a fellowship allowing you to get to know many different kinds of people. Or join a kinship and add to the fun!!! Crafting items also makes this game interesting. Also, the game is constantly getting better as Turbine updates and patches adding new content and features including one that is releasing end of October 2007...houses :). And if you are into pvp this game is also for you...it offers something a little different. You can spar your friends or you can go to an area to fight against monsters controlled by people. Or the flipside...go in as a monster and fight the humans. This game truly is one of the best games ever and all types of games would love it!!! A+++
Date: 2007-09-28
A Review from a Veteran MMORPG Player.
I've been playing MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) now for about three years. My MMO gaming experience includes Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and Lord of the Rings Online. I thought I would post a simple review of the game that was posted simply in terms of POSITIVES and NEGATIVES, from the perspective of a veteran MMORPG player.
POSITIVES
---------
* Graphics. Turbine did an excellent job creating the world of middle earth. Immersion is NOT a problem in this game.
* Character customization. You can modify hair styles, facial features, skin color, eye color, and much more. In addition, the ability to use dye in order to customize your appearance is nice. Also, you don't have the problem with "clown armor" that games like World of Warcraft has. That is, armor that is multicolored and un-coordinated. Using dye, you can make any armor set look sleek.
* Quests. There are so many quests in this game that I feel like I will never run out! I never find myself endlessly grinding for XP. Turbine did a good job with the quests and the associated story lines.
* Crafting. The crafting system is terrific. Albeit, it is expensive to level your skills up. For this reason, I usually recommend that someone level their character first, THEN focus on crafting.
* Server populations. There are plenty of people playing this game. And the people that play seem to be much more mature than other populations on other games.
* Sound. The battle sounds are SUPERB. Battles sound like swords, axes, shields, maces, etc. are actually swinging and contacting each other.
* Limited presence of magic. Many fantasy games are heavy into the magic aspect of the game. Consistent with the lore of Middle Earth, magic has a presence, but it is limited. You will not find a super-class of characters that are all-powerful arcanists. This is a nice change. Rather, swords, maces, axes, bows, crossbows, and clubs reign supreme. There is a cloth-wearing class that dabbles in magic, but again... it is limited.
* Potential for future expansion. If you look at the world map, the area that the current game world is occupying is only a small percentage of Middle Earth. There is tremendous potential for opening up new areas and dungeons.
NEGATIVES
---------
* Hardware demands. Unless your computer is state-of-the-art, you will likely find yourself playing in the medium graphics quality setting.
* Customer service from Turbine. I spend quite a bit of time on the Turbine website and I just don't feel like they are communicating with us like other gaming companies communicate with their player base. Turbine is quick to share lore and other items of a Middle Earth nature, but they rarely comment on errors, future expansions, etc. I just don't feel like I'm in touch with the developers like I did when I played Warcraft.
* Inability to make significant addon's for the game. Many other games allow you to generate new mapping software or completely new user interfaces. Turbine allows you to skin the user interface, but nothing more. So it seems that the community will not be permitted to generate many addons for the game. Even though I do not feel that I need to many addons for LOTRO, I do like having that option.
* Mounts. The mounts in the game need a bit of work. The animation is far from perfect. I feel as if mounts were an afterthought addition to the game. My character has a mount, and while I do enjoy it, I feel as if I am dismounted too easily by random mobs. Furthermore, the speed boost is not tremendous.
* Demands on servers. Sometimes the servers turn down your graphic settings on YOUR end so that it can improve server performance during busy periods. This can be frustrating, but isn't intolerable.
|
|
|
|
