In the last few years, mainly since the release of the films, The Lord of the Rings has been more popular than ever before, with a ton of games being released for various systems - most of which have been a bit crap. Fortunately, this one isn’t.

The Lord of the Rings Online has been, um, online now for well over a year, and has just received its first major expansion, which we will be looking at a bit later. I had been wanting to play this game since release, but never really got round to it, so when I was offered the opportunity I jumped at the chance. First things first, I am a huge MMORPG (I hate that bloody acronym) fan. I’ve played quite a few of them in my time - Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest, Ultima Online, Neocron, Guild Wars, World Of Warcraft, City of Heroes - and I have to say this is one of the best yet. The queen to World of Warcraft’s king, if you will.



Although the similarities to World of Warcraft are apparent right from the start, such as the way combat works, the two games are worlds apart in terms of content. LOTRO is a much more thoughtful and considered game. An example of this hits you right at the start, as you are creating your character and choosing a name. Rather than just letting you type what you want in the box and click accept, names must be created according to Middle earth lore, so if your character hails from Rohan then your name should sound Nordic, while Hobbit names can be based on precious stones or flowers etc. It’s a great system, not as restrictive as it sounds, and more importantly it stops you from seeing characters bunny- hopping around Middle Earth with names like ‘LOLOLYOURMUM!’, ‘IAMPOWERLORD!’ or ‘BUTTFKR’. It adds to the sense of place right there, before you even start playing.

The races you can chose from are Man, Elf, Dwarf and Hobbit and the classes (as of the Mines of Moria expansion) are Burglar, Warden, Captain, Lore Master, Rune Keeper, Hunter, Minstrel and Champion. So there is a good selection to suit many varied gameplay styles here. After you finish creating your character you enter the game and play through a linear introduction sequence, which, to be honest, I found a bit disappointing. It seems basic and rushed, and I assumed it would be a good indicator of the game proper. It was not. Once you get it out of the way, Middle Earth opens up before you in a glorious way.

The basic gameplay is the same as most MMORPGs. You start at level one and work your way up to level fifty (sixty with Mines of Moria), completing quests and defeating various enemies along the way, while simultaneously earning cash through a trade such as blacksmithing or farming. The trade skills in the game deserve a special mention for being exceptional. I've been playing the game as a lore master, and as a trade skill I chose one that I thought would go well with that character: the Historian profession, which combines Scholar, Weaponsmith and Farming. As a Scholar you can investigate any old ruins you come across for ancient artefacts, which can then be studied and turned into magic scrolls and weapons which can help in numerous ways. It’s fantastic and adds a real interactivity to the skill. Farming is similar: you collect seeds or buy them, acquire tools, water and fertilizer, then find a field and sow your seeds. Soon your plants will grow and you can harvest them, all with proper animations. It’s the best example of crafting I’ve seen in a game yet.

Quests are a staple part of MMORPGs (sigh) and LOTRO is no exception. Usually the writing suffers a bit as there are thousands of quests in these types of games, but here the writing is consistently good, making the quests much more engaging and satisfying to complete. There are still the usual ‘go to this place and kill X amount of Z’ quests in there, but that’s to be expected. Storylines are played out as ‘books’ which are being constantly added to the game as free updates, and add other goodies such as new areas and items. The game has fifteen books in the first volume; The Mines of Moria is the start of volume 2.



The visuals here are glorious, bringing Middle Earth to life on your monitor. Water ripples and reflects, fields of grass and flowers sway in the wind, flocks of birds fly from trees when startled, stunning cloudscapes roll through the sky... I could go on all day. Textures are incredibly sharp and detailed, with NPCs and enemies looking fantastic. I had it running with everything on ultra-high, in a widescreen resolution of 1440x900, and it ran like a dream on my average system (P4 3.2GHz, 8600GT and 2GB RAM).  Don’t worry if you have an even older system, though, as the graphics are very scaleable and it still looks nice on lower detail levels.

Part of this Complete Edition is the new The Mines of Moria expansion, which raises the level cap to 60 and adds a massive new area: you guessed it, the mines of Moria. Anyone who has read the books or seen the films will know exactly what this area will look like; for those of you living under a rock for the last fifty years, Moria is a massive underground Dwarf kingdom with large areas of mines and dark scary bits where ‘the dwarfs dug too deep’. Now to say this new area is stunning would be a massive understatement. You have to see it to believe it, it’s that good. Enormous caverns and remnants of huge stone structures tower above you and go as far as the eye can see, with deep fissures and chasms dropping deep into the earth. I’ve not had a lot of chance to do much in Moria since I’ve only been playing for less than a month (I’m exploring Moria with a loan character, in case you were wondering how I got there so fast) but what I’ve seen so far has impressed me a lot. The Mines of Moria also adds the legendary items system, where your favourite weapon can level up with you, and you can also name them. From that I’ve encountered of this system so far, it’s a valuable addition to the game, which adds even more depth to a title full of interesting touches.

Turbine have obviously put a lot of love into The Lord of the Rings Online and its expansion, and it really does show, from the wonderful game environments and interesting quests, to the foot- tapping folk music on the soundtrack and the thrill of combat in Middle Earth. It’s a brilliant time to get into the game, with the friendliest and most mature community I’ve ever encountered for an MMO, always willing to help new players or give them some guidance along the way. If you are an old player maybe thinking about coming back, then The Mines of Moria expansion is worth seeing, and when you do come back you will probably be hooked again. It’s exciting to think what Turbine will do with the game next, and I’ll be following its progress with great interest.