Mephiston
5th October 2007, 09:09 AM
Knowing the prevailing interest in gaming for a large chunk of the regulars here, I'm taking a bit of a risk by posting this, but hey, I like MMO's and most of you guys don't have access to my office :P
Figured that since there was a game review section, I'd post up some screenies and thoughts on the latest offering from Turbine games, Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar.
http://lh3.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RLD9FX I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/fBHh_04iV_4/s800/Bree2.jpg
I know what you're thinking, something along the lines of "oh no, another WoW or Evercrack clone", and its a fair assumption, but the reality is not so bad.
The interface, and xp gaining methods are much like WoW, in that you get most of your levels through running quests, but the major diference is that the quests themselves often have a storyline thread running through them that ties everything together. The game also actively encourages you to group together, with team xp bonuses and combat manuver skills that can deliver interesting effects.
http://lh4.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RbD9Fb I/AAAAAAAAAbw/6qRgseD_bx4/s800/Weathertop.jpg
Character races are made up of the obligatory Human, Elf, Dwarf and Hobbit. Each race can pick a class (though not all races can be all classes) from Champion, Guardian, Captain, Hunter, Loremaster and Minstrel. Once you hit level 10 with any one of your characters, you can also create a pvp monster character, choosing from Uruk Trooper, Uruk Sniper, Warg or Spider.
http://lh3.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RLD9FZ I/AAAAAAAAAbg/9RskQfoEj00/s800/Swimming.jpg
PvP is limited to only one region in the game, and is limited to high end characters, so on the whole, the people you run in to from day to day are very friendly. Most of the asshats level to 10 and head straight on in to monster play (which suits me just fine! :P)
http://lh4.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RbD9Fa I/AAAAAAAAAbo/XPFOzNLPtGg/s800/view.jpg
The game itself is a little resource hungry at higher resolutions, however I'm not running it maxxed out, and the screenies above were taken by me last night.
All in all, this is one of the best MMO's I've played, Turbine have been working very closely with the Tolkein foundation to make sure that everything in the game fits in with existing lore, and it really does feel like you're a part of it all. Right up to the front door of Bag End (complete with whiny Sackville-Bagginses :P)
For the already playing (or even the curious) a few of us already play on the Firefoot server on a regular basis. There's also a free 10 day trial if you want to check it out.
PM me if you don't feel like downloading the 3Gb installer files though :P
http://lh3.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RLD9FY I/AAAAAAAAAbY/WzRKmkn259Y/s800/Bree.jpg
Figured that since there was a game review section, I'd post up some screenies and thoughts on the latest offering from Turbine games, Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar.
http://lh3.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RLD9FX I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/fBHh_04iV_4/s800/Bree2.jpg
I know what you're thinking, something along the lines of "oh no, another WoW or Evercrack clone", and its a fair assumption, but the reality is not so bad.
The interface, and xp gaining methods are much like WoW, in that you get most of your levels through running quests, but the major diference is that the quests themselves often have a storyline thread running through them that ties everything together. The game also actively encourages you to group together, with team xp bonuses and combat manuver skills that can deliver interesting effects.
http://lh4.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RbD9Fb I/AAAAAAAAAbw/6qRgseD_bx4/s800/Weathertop.jpg
Character races are made up of the obligatory Human, Elf, Dwarf and Hobbit. Each race can pick a class (though not all races can be all classes) from Champion, Guardian, Captain, Hunter, Loremaster and Minstrel. Once you hit level 10 with any one of your characters, you can also create a pvp monster character, choosing from Uruk Trooper, Uruk Sniper, Warg or Spider.
http://lh3.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RLD9FZ I/AAAAAAAAAbg/9RskQfoEj00/s800/Swimming.jpg
PvP is limited to only one region in the game, and is limited to high end characters, so on the whole, the people you run in to from day to day are very friendly. Most of the asshats level to 10 and head straight on in to monster play (which suits me just fine! :P)
http://lh4.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RbD9Fa I/AAAAAAAAAbo/XPFOzNLPtGg/s800/view.jpg
The game itself is a little resource hungry at higher resolutions, however I'm not running it maxxed out, and the screenies above were taken by me last night.
All in all, this is one of the best MMO's I've played, Turbine have been working very closely with the Tolkein foundation to make sure that everything in the game fits in with existing lore, and it really does feel like you're a part of it all. Right up to the front door of Bag End (complete with whiny Sackville-Bagginses :P)
For the already playing (or even the curious) a few of us already play on the Firefoot server on a regular basis. There's also a free 10 day trial if you want to check it out.
PM me if you don't feel like downloading the 3Gb installer files though :P
http://lh3.google.com/obsidian.gargoyle/RwV4RLD9FY I/AAAAAAAAAbY/WzRKmkn259Y/s800/Bree.jpg