Codemasters is not the sort of company to ignore a new market trend, and indeed they were one of the first companies to speak up in praise of the enormous success of World of Warcraft. Since they own the official license to The Lord of the Rings books (this game is not based directly on anything in the movies), a massively multiplayer online game to rival Blizzard???s blockbuster was all but inevitable. Angmar is the domain of the Witch-king, the leader of the Ringwraiths, and the game world is set during the events of The Fellowship of the Ring as Frodo and company set out from The Shire. In the game you???ll have the chance to meet all of the major characters as you play as any one of four races: human, elf, dwarf or hobbit. Your character can also be one of seven different classes ??? from burglar to hunter or minstrel. Not all races can be all of the classes though, so you must choose carefully.

In gameplay terms things work in a similar manner to World of Warcraft and other fantasy games, with up to six characters grouping to gather to form a "fellowship", which in turn can team up with up to 24 others to go on larger raids in enemy controlled areas. The game includes seven crafting professions and three gathering professions, allowing each character the chance to learn and utilise unique skills, from manufacturing armour to cooking. Player versus player combat is allowed to a degree; although instead of two player controlled characters facing off, one will temporarily take control of a monster for the duration of the fight. Whether the game can truly challenge the success of Warcraft remains to be seen, but if anyone can do it Tolkien can.
HARRISON DENT

Hmm, having read the previous reviews it seems the vast majority of the negative ones have issues with everything except the actual GAMEPLAY, and are mostly subscription based complaints.

Well let me confirm straight away that as an MMO yes...you do have to pay a subscription. If you only wish to dabble and do not wish to pay a monthly fee then don't purchase it, but to be fair LOTRO is one of the cheaper MMO's out there and has a variety of packages to suit the pockets of most gamers, from month by month to annual to lifetime.

I agree with the reviewers who were disappointed at the game's release back in 2007, it was unfinished which was a big problem. However I've been playing since January 2008, and now in November this game has really fleshed out. Bugs have been sorted and new areas and a multitude of quests have been added, it really is a different game to that of 18 months ago.

The playing area is truly vast, with the quests contained in each continually updated as you level up. They're varied enough to mean you keep revisiting earlier maps when you're a higher level to discover new quests have become available. You really do travel the length and breadth of Middle Earth throughout your levelling up as you follow the epic storyline presented to you as chapters within books (of which there are 14, with up to 14 chapters within each), and take time out to complete one of the hundreds of solo and fellowship side quests to gain XP. Add to this the ability to obtain a profession and the game expands yet further.

Currently I'm a Prospector, Metalsmith and Tailor. Track mines to prospect ore and use forges to craft them into ingots, use the ingots to create components which can be sold to other players via an auction system, kill creatures to obtain hides...all of which improve your skill through five proficiency tiers on your way to becoming a grand master. With each tier you will be able to craft better weaponry, armour, spells and potions to wear/use yourself or sell/give to other players to aid in your quests.

Which brings me to the social aspect, there are literally thousands playing this game, with hundreds online at the same time, requesting for help via fellowships to complete difficult quests, recruiting for kinships who will look out for one another and arrange raid quests or go into the PvP environment of the Ettenmoors, or simply levelling up solo and grafting to earn gold hilst nattering away on the in-game chat channels.

Graphics-wise the game is beautiful, and you genuinely feel immersed when you play. Contrary to what I've read here the game isn't too demanding on PC's unless you have one approaching a decade in age! I quite happily played on medium settings using a 5 year old PC with an ATI Radeon X700 card, bt currently use an XPS M1530 dual core laptop wich runs it on full settings, which is genuinely a breathtaking sight to behold. The audio is also excellent with the voice acting during the epic quests very atmospheric.

The game has expended every couple of months since 2007 as a new book is added complete with new enemies, quests and map areas. The last book to be added was Book 14 during the summer, and Shadows of Angmar is finally complete...it has taken me 11 months of near-solid gameplay since January to take my Lore Master character to the level cap of 50, and become a grand master of all crafting, and still certain things need to be worked upon...completing raids to improve valour, completing class deeds etc. Tomorrow (18/11/08) the first proper expansion pack is released, Mines of Moria, which raises the level cap to 60. There'll be another tier of crafting to complete, many new areas, enemies and quests to complete. I also assume that throughout 2009 there'll be further books added every couple of months fleshing the epic quest and game out yet further, until this time next year when we'll have the volume 3 expansion. As you approach the end more gets tacked on for you to do.

When you subscribe to this game you are guarranteed a huge variety in gameplay, one that is constantly changing and improving with the months, which is lovingly tended to with weekly maintenance and 24 hour in-game support and an ever expanding base of subscribers.

Unlike WoW set in a mythical land which is made up as it goes along, we know how LOTR begins and how it ends, so dramatically over the fires of Mount Doom. The beauty is we know where Codemasters want to take us over the next few years, and to have the opportunity to play in Tolkien's lands, meeting Aragorn, Gandalf etc and fighting alongside them is truly spellbinding, something WoW or any other MMO at present cannot offer. The game is based on Tolkien's books, but looks like the movie trilogy, therefore we get the best of both worlds. The fleshing out of the minutest of details from the books, from Brandywine bridge to Tom Bombadil, but the visual and audio finery of Peter Jackson's trilogy, the result is a wholly immersive world that provides longevity, wonder, enjoyment, a sense of achievement and many friends to make along the way.

What a wonderful game, I have played many online RPG's and this one is where I plan to stay. Why, well because the game has been created in the true spirit of the fellowship. When playing other games I have becom fed up of attitudes and grief from other players, but here everyone wants to help you, its a real pleasure to play the game. That said there is a nice area for people who love PVP, where you can play the MOBS or your player characters. I have played also in this area and find it fun, and even here attitudes are much better than in other PVP games,its really very good indeed. If you like online fantasy games then i advise you try this, graphics are superb, locations fantastic, and quests are absolutely superb fun.

LOTR Online is the first MMORG that hasn't constantly reminded me of the fact that I'm playing an MMORG: neither the monotonous gameplay or sub-par grahics found in other games of this genre are present here, mainly owing to the fact that Turbine have taken great pains to ensure that all the side quests provide an interesting and often involving sidestory to the main one. At times I've even forgetten I'm playing on-line at all, a sure sign in my eyes that this is a great game in its own right; not just because it's massively multiplayer. As you level you are also constantly aquiring new traits and titles, either gained from exploring certain areas of the map or killing a cetain number of mobs etc, all of which relieve the grind.
The in-game enviroments are by far the most detailed and realistic I've yet to encouter in an MMORG, and if your current system isn't up to running it on high settings I'd strongly urge you to upgrade it. My machine is well over a year old and can still run it on very high settings with, for the most part, silky smooth framerates. DirectX 10 is also well worth it with this game imo.
To enjoy LOTR Online to its fullest, however, the most important thing to do is take your time; this game isn't about getting to maximum level and aquiring the best possibly items in order to PVP. It's about exploration and discovery, just like any good RPG. Also, after playing such titles as 'WOW' I'd gotten used to simply accepting a quest after giving its description only a cursorary glance. If you do this with LOTR Online you'll really miss out on a lot.

After playing WoW for far too long I decided to try something I was likely to enjoy. LOTRO was the answer. It's fun, in-depth and the scenery is jaw-dropping (when you get to Weathertop you'll know what I mean).

From the very beginning you feel like there is a deep background to everything in the game.

You can take any of the classic rpg roles (tank, nuker etc.) and make them your own with the traits system.

Housing is fun and a great addition to the game.

Crafting is not as tedious as you'd think since you can become an master in some things pretty quickly (I was a grand master farmer at level 16)- you also have 3 gathering/crafting specialties which keep it nice and varied (plus you don't spend half your time and money in an auction house looking for materials like in other mmorpg's).

Everyone is lovely and wants to have a Lord of the Rings experience rather than powering up the levels so they can then insult people who are new to the game because they have nothing better to do.

With the Mines of Moria coming soon it's worth getting this game now (august 08) so you don't get left behind once there are more expansions, although mines of moria will be introducing 2 new character classes so it shouldn't be too much hard work to start off from scratch.

If you were thinking of giving up WoW for this game, do it. You won't regret it, you have my word on that.

MMOs are a strange bunch, they have their fair share of -ve's and +ve's from rubbish graphics to lame repetitive "Is this it until Level xx" kind quests, which gets them more critisism by the fact that you end up playing it to justify your ??10 a month. I have played every P2P (Pay 2 Play) MMO on the market, so I have a little experience in this. Now its not my intension to slate WoW, because WoW in itself is a good gameplay experience, if a little dated graphically and repetitive quest wise, but the RAID and PVP portions are solid. Conan, unfortunately, has been let down by non excistent tech and community support and dev. Laziness to even acknowledge the community excists, so MMO players are crying out for something new.

Although Lord of the Rings Online (Lotro) is not new, it has had its fair share of criticism, from being boring and too drawn out to being PC spec heavy, however, I have to say that these days, Lotro is incredible. Every 2 -3 months we get FREE massive contents updates in the form of "Books", such as believe in or not, entire New continents(Not the usual MMO update), plus New weapons, armour, skills, quests, bug fixes, graphic engine updates and streamlines, instances and raids, and a huge storyline arc in the "books", and has also improved since the addition of more solo support.

As of the date of this review, We've just been given Book 14 today, which amongst the usual stuff has a huge new continent. Now I am like most people, very cinical when comes to giving away money to MMOs, but Codemasters and Turbine have done incredibly well with this, the developers keep us posted and are active weekly on the forms, listening to us, answering questions and even, if its possible, adding things into the "Book" updates we ask for.

What makes an MMO though is the Player community and I have to admit, they are awesome, ranging from about 20+ but mainly are 30+, very helpful and respectful, they "ask" you for help, to join their group or even duel and no one takes offense if you say no. Dont get me wrong, we do get idiots, which MMO doesn't right, but on the whole 99.9% are really great and whats better than running through a lush green field or under the canopies of Chetwood, fighting for the fellowship of the ring with your group (kinship). Its amazingly atmospheric.

PVP comes in the form of "monster play". When you reach level 10, you can combat PVP on the Entmoors, which is similar idea to WoW's Battlegrounds. You can play an ORC, Uriki or one of Saurons forces and fight on the side of Saruman, but Ive never much looked into this as there is so much to do in PvE, but Ive heard its great fun. Monster Play was Lotros bad weak point, but rom what ive been hearing from serious PVPers, its been fixed to amazing proportions.

One of the great things that sets Lotro apart from other MMOs is the Deed system, basically, you get extra skills and points for playing the game, such as extra skill points for grinding on a particular type of mob or mobs, new skills for finishing all the quests in a certain area, staying alive for so many levels and loads more to find out, theres just so much to do and see.

The quests are varied enough, but some early quests do suffer from the "fetch and carry" or "kill so many of X" type, but they are just to get you started into the story, and yes there is a story, albeit a big one with 100's of side quests, skills and areas to go to, but its there. And the greatest of all is, last time I checked, Codemasters were running the game for ??5 a month.

Lotro is a great game in every respect, Codemasters should be praised for what they've done for it in such a short space of time. If you want something New, exciting, Dx10 graphically beautiful and steeped in lore. LotrO is a great choice.