Lord Of The Rings Online

Game overview

LOTRO is a fun MMORPG for the casual RPG player or the Tolkien fan. The world has plenty of content with many skirmishes to be had, dungeons to explore and raids to wage or defend against. Unfortunately, a lot of this content requires either spending real money or an absurd amount of time to unlock.

The quests of the game and the environments they take place in are visually engaging - picturesque and sweeping or dark and creepy, but always atmospheric.

Hardcore gamers or those looking for a game with challenging end game content, however, should look elsewhere.

Full review

Race is just the beginning

After login, you choose from four different races - Human, Dwarf, Hobbit, or Elf. Each race comes with its own set of perks, but also shortcomings based on the characteristics of their kind. Hobbits, for instance, have lower strength, while Dwarves are strong but less agile.

Along with this you can also choose your character’s origin, which results in various skin tones or hairstyles. There’s also a random name generator that works fairly well in choosing a name that fits with your chosen character race and origin. Character appearance customisation is not as extensive as some other MMORPGs, but there is still a fair amount to choose from.

You also have 9 different classes to choose from, including the Thief who uses stealth and the Guardian who is a support character. The Captain is especially unique as a combination support/necromancer type character with both healing and summoning abilities. The classes have a primary and a secondary role, for instance the Lore-master is primarily a debuffer and crowd controller with a secondary role to heal and deal damage.

Homes and Monsters

The gameplay in LOTRO is pretty standard for an MMORPG, with a tab-targeting system that requires you to select a target or teammate and then choose the skill you want to use on them. It works well, but there’s not much innovation. The plus side is if you’ve played MMORPGs before, you’ll pick this game up quickly.

LOTRO also allows you to select a vocation from Level 5, under which come three different professions. The Explorer vocation covers Tailors, Foresters and Prospectors, enabling Explorers to specialise in gathering cloth and leather to make armour and other supplies. There are 7 vocations, each encompassing a different combination of the 10 professions available. The vocation you choose will also affect which faction you can join later on, as Crafting Guilds only accept members of the same vocation.

From level 15, you can buy a home. There are 3 different types of houses: Normal, Deluxe and Kinship, and each race has its own style of house. Kinship houses can be purchased by the leader of a kinship - or guild - with at least seven members. Besides the cost of buying a house, you’ll also need to pay a weekly upkeep, the amount depending on the type of home you have. Inside, you can fully customise your abode with paint, plants, trophies, chairs, tables, beds and so on. Around the house, you’ll get a small yard that you can decorate with everything from trees or statues to fountains and snowmen. This will definitely be an enjoyable feature to those who love customisation.

PvMP – Player versus Monster Player – in the game is found in a large war zone named “Ettenmoors”. Once you’ve achieved a level 10 character, you get the opportunity to choose Monster Play from the character selection screen. The difference between normal characters and monster characters lies in how the characters grow stronger. Normal characters acquire better gear and stats, while monsters cannot equip gear and grow by levelling ranks.

As you achieve higher ranks, the look of your character will change and you’ll receive better skills and stats. The area has many PvE and PvP quests, such as collecting Ore from a dungeon or mine to defeating other players. Although monster ranks start at level 95, it’s common to see normal characters from level 20 in the Ettenmoors, and the game balances the jump in levels fairly well. Newer players won’t have to wait weeks to play before they can go questing with friends.

LOTRO is more of a PvE focused game, with emphasis on the player’s journey, rather than their level. The quests are interesting and many Lord of the Rings fans will certainly enjoy Tolkien’s familiar world. The balanced difficulty in skirmishes, dungeons and raids make the game fun to play, especially for those who aren’t keen on spending days trying to defeat the same boss. Hardcore MMORPG players looking for a serious challenge, however, may probably find it a bit too easy.

Sinister Caves

Graphically, LOTRO does reasonably well. This is a fairly old title, but equal attention has clearly been given to every aspect of the game’s graphics, making the whole product fit well together, even if it may look a little dated compared to newer games. The game is full of pretty shrubbery, trees, houses and wraparound NPCs. In particular, the caves are well drawn with dark corners, dark creatures and scary sounds. However, loading screens and menus, with their lower resolutions, may show up poorly on resolutions of 1920x1080 or higher.

Free to Try, Not to Win.

It is possible to play LOTRO to the maximum level just by levelling up through Deeds – the game’s name for quests and achievements. As in most titles, levelling up is quick in the beginning but the final game can feel like quite a slog if you’re not planning to shell out real money to advance quicker. Unlocking the game’s expansion and quest packs will open up whole areas with new missions to play, but also require real money. While you can complete the game without them, you'll likely need to play multiple characters and level up through completing the same quests over and over - not super fun.

Conclusion

Lord Of The Rings Online is a reasonably good MMORPG with a lot of content. Tolkien fans looking for a way to immerse themselves once again in Middle Earth will definitely enjoy it, and the experience is even better when playing with friends. However, the endgame is a little repetitive and not particularly strong – unless you’re planning to put down real money to speed things up and enjoy the expansions.

Ready to enter the world of Lord Of The Rings Online? Click here to play now!

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Review summary

1. Race is just the beginning
2. Homes and Monsters
3. Sinister Caves
4. Free to Try, Not to Win.
5. Conclusion