Starting off, this game is a MMORPG, so each and every player will get a different opinion and experience when playing. Now that I’ve stated that, I’ll jump right into it.

I’ve played quite a few MMOs in my time playing games, and I think it’s safe to say that this game was one of my favorites. I have played World of Warcraft, City of Heroes/Villains, Guild Wars, Final Fantasy online, and of course Lord of the Rings online…and a few other terrible and small ones. In all of my posts recently I have stated this, and it’s something I’m really trying to stress.

For the most part, I think MMO games are a waste of life and time. But in moderation can be just as fun as your classic console game.

But enough about them in general, I’m here to tell you why i liked LOTRO.

Lord of the Rings online offers you a variety of customizations for your character, and just tiny little traits that throw even more flavor into the game play. You are immediately thrust into action no matter what race you choose, which captured my attention right off the bat. In the story, you are aiding the heroes from the novels by working in a parallel storyline with them. You are given your orders from a variety of heroes from the movies and books such as Aragorn and Gandalf and even Frodo.

You encounter many of the enemies that are mentioned in the books, including orcs in player vs player and not. Epic bosses such as the Bellrog from the fellowship of the ring appear throughout the game. The Witch King, and Nazgul also appear, and even giant trees! You will encounter many fights in the game as you probably expected and you will go through side stories and missions that keep you guessing.

The only problems in gameplay that I truly had were that I didn’t have anyone that I really knew, and flying solo in a MMO wasn’t really a ton of fun when things got tough, which is why I’m making a push for site members to look into my other offer to look into getting a bunch of us to do it. Traveling alone got kinda boring, but you can’t forget the fact that it’s a better decision to go solo at the start.

It’s a miracle I’ve come all this way and haven’t told you some general facts that you should know. In the game there is 4 fully playable races. Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves, and of course, Humans. Sorry, there isn’t any running around as a massive bull…BUT they make up for it. There is also a bunch of classes and below is a list of them all with what their roles are.

Burglar-Debuffer
Captain- Buffer/Pets
Champion- Area of Affect/ Damage per Second
Guardian- Tank
Hunter- Nuker
Lore-master- Crowed Control/Pets
Minstrel- Healer
Rune-keeper- Nuker/Healer
Warden- Tank/Damage Dealer

Not every class is available to every race, but that just adds to the customization, and each race gets their own inherit benefits. With all the variations you get to play however it is you want to, and each class gets a unique heads up display to make it easier to play that specific class. Certain classes have easier play abilities, for beginners, Champions and Minstrels are great! So don’t let the fact that your a fairly weak player get you down.

So on to one of the worst parts about this game…money money money money! The game is fairly expensive on its own, and then you add the $14.00 monthly payments, but if you pay in longer time segments you can get discounts all the way down to just $11.00 a month in yearly payments. However, for me, I can tell you that if we can get some people together, or you yourself have friends who play, the game would be FAR MORE than worth it. So I’d say give it a try.

Lastly the graphics in this game are great for MMOs, if your system can handle it, then you would be surprised at how many details you’ll see, all the way down to the stitching on your characters armor and clothes. You can change any detail you want to as well by crafting your own stuff. The game features a ton of professions and hobbies for any players that are willing to do some of their own work to get the good stuff. Unlike WoW most of the amazing items can be crafted on their own. So don’t hold back from mining some ore or cutting a little wood.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS BELOW!

Minimum System Requirements

OS: Windows® XP
Processor: Intel Pentium® 4 1.8 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB
Video: 64 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 3 or ATI® Radeon® 8500
Disk Space: 11 GB available
DirectX: DirectX® 9.0c
Optical Drive: 2x DVD-ROM
Internet: 56kbps Modem

Recommended System Requirements

OS: Windows® XP / Vista
Processor: Intel Pentium® 4 2.8 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 1 GB
Video: 128 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® FX 6800 or ATI® Radeon® X850
Disk Space: 15 GB available
DirectX: DirectX® 9.0c
Optical Drive: 2x DVD-ROM
Internet: Broadband DSL/Cable

In closing the game is worth the money, and is one of the best MMOs I’ve ever played. With their recent expansion which is one of the reasons I wrote this, you can do even more. All of the information above is included the regular and expansion games. So no worries on that end. Below is my closing review/summery.

Pro’s
-great customization and action expierence
-Awesome graphics
-Huge world

Cons
-Sucks soloing at higher levels
-Very expensive
-Sort of high system requirements

Overall rating: 7.5/10
By: West
XBL GT and G3 Community Tag: Major Shrinkage
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Lord of the Rings Online: Mines or Moria Expansion Pack Launch Trailer