The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (PC) (PC)

Anyone for an online Hobbit habit?
1/29/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

If you're going up against World of Warcraft, you better have an ace up your sleeve. And what better trump card than the father of modern fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien? The developers at Turbine have plenty of experience making MMOs, and this time, they've got the definitive license to back their efforts. While Lord of the Rings Online may not be a WoW-killer, it's the closest anyone has come.

It's actually to the game's advantage that the license is for the books instead of the movies. Peter Jackson's interpretation had a distinct visual style, and the actors put their own indelible stamp on the characters. But the books rely on imagination alone, allowing plenty of room for visual interpretation. Turbine does a great job realizing their own Middle Earth, from the merry Shire to the glum Fields of Fornost, from the blackened expanse of Angmar to the beauty of Rivendell, from the haunted Barrow Downs to the majesty of Weathertop.

Shire sweet Shire

The Shire is Turbine at its best. This serves not just as the starting area for hobbits (players can choose hobbits, dwarves, elves or human characters), but a great way for any character to work his or her way through early levels. Its idyllic burrows and farms are carefully crisscrossed with quests befitting a halfling. You'll work for sheriffs, deliver pies, deal with errant chickens, and gather fireworks, all while the storyline emerges and you get glimpses of the darker times ahead, looming like the tall trees of the Old Forest behind those tall manicured hedges. Here, more than anywhere else, Turbine brings the books to life.

The graphics engine is a huge help, allowing for generous amounts of detail and long viewing distances, graced with lovely sunsets and weather effects. The character models look great, although they could have used a bit more variety. Some players might be disappointed that Turbine relies so heavily on the usual suspects like bears, boars, spiders, orcs and goblins. But it's worth noting that this virtual world has a real sense of ecology. It's carefully crafted so that barrow wrights, drakes and orcs don't just wander Middle-earth willy-nilly.

A storyline gives you a sense of progression in relation to the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Early on, each race has its own introductory quests, which end up with a ranger named Strider in the Prancing Pony. From here, there are a series of quests organized into "books." These follow the events of Frodo taking the Ring from the Shire, and they give Lord of the Rings Online a powerful narrative arc missing from most MMOs. You'll meet all the main characters, and your quests will have their place alongside the story.

Lite magic

For the most part, Lord of the Rings Online is a conventional MMO. You level up; you get new skills; you get better loot. Repeat. The classes are nothing you haven't seen, but Turbine takes special care not to break the mythos. After all, it wouldn't be Middle-earth if there were a thousand Gandalfs running around Bree shooting lightning from their fingertips.

For instance, there are no gods and no resurrection in Middle Earth, so instead of hit points, your character has morale. When you run out, you don't die, but you get demoralized, which is the same as dying, except for not being called dying. Instead of a priest or cleric, the healer is a minstrel whose music restores morale. The magic-user class is called a lore-master, and instead of flinging fireballs, he pulls a pinecone out of a pouch and sets it on fire. There are occasional super-attacks that can be pulled off by groups, but even these are built around the lore: Eagles arrive to restore morale, spiders poison the enemy, or treants deliver a mighty stomp.