Lord of the Rings Online
Published on December 23, 2009 by Chris · No CommentsIt’s simply the state of modern MMO design and culture that every review in the genre must address the issue of World of Warcraft’s influence. WoW is the rubric by which all other MMOs are measured, for the simple fact that everyone has played it, and it has perfected its gameplay formula.
But while WoW is a known quantity and control, it isn’t all the genre has to offer. I, for one, am a little bit sick of it. As objectively great as it is, I’ve spent so much time in that world and with its population that it’s maddening. I’m done with its style, both in graphics, which are beautiful but lack a sense of realistic wonder, and its lore and post-modern, tongue-in-cheek attitude.
So I struck out to find my new MMO home. Over the past year, I’ve played a long list of games, including:
And while I might review some or all of these in the future (EVE in particular was close to getting me to settle down), today I am going to talk about my current love affair with Lord of the Rings Online. I think it’s pretty serious; we’re talking about going steady.
My journey through Middle Earth began when Turbine gave every attendee of PAX a complete copy of the game and its first of two expansions. This was a smart move; I almost assuredly will be giving them a bunch of my money in the future as I continue to play the game. As I fired it up and took my first steps as an elven Champion (LotRO’s non-rogue melee DPS class) named Senight, I was struck by how great its design was. LotRO has a very traditional fantasy aesthetic, for obvious reasons considering its traditional fantasy source material. It reminded me a lot of my old EverQuest days, where I would wander the virtual countryside looking for little nooks and crannies of fantasy wonder. This alone was enough to get me more excited about playing the game than WoW, which, while beautiful, never seemed quite real enough to evoke feelings of awe, and stuck you on so many railroad tracks that exploration never felt like discovery.
LotRO’s story is familiar to fans of The Lord of the Rings, yet a fresh take on the story. You don’t play as a member of the Fellowship, but you interact with them on occasion and assist them in peripheral ways. Instanced story quests serve to drive the narrative, which is exciting and fun, and gives a sense of fluidity to the world.
As for the gameplay itself, little can be said. It is a traditional MMO with MMO combat, and if you’ve played one you’ve played them all. LotRO has a few nice touches, like the ability to prime your next ability so it activates as soon as the previous one ends, but there’s nothing mindblowing here. Unfortunately, the interface is only passable, and while you can move and resize every window, there is no way to add extensions or make major interface modifications. Here WoW is clearly the champ with its fully customizable and extensible interface.
While its game mechanics don’t set LotRO apart from the rest of the field, one area other than style where LotRO resoundly beats its competition is in its community. Playing LotRO is like playing mirror-universe WoW; where hateful, dirty, and offensive things are said in World of Warcraft, caring, sensitive, and heartfelt sentiments are expressed in Lord of the Rings Online. As a self-proclaimed care-bear, I can say that LotRO is the care-bear-iest MMO that I have ever played. Logging in and grouping up is like playing MMOs with a bunch of preschool teachers or children’s television hosts, and I have to say that it is a god-damned pleasure to experience. Seriously, people are NICE in this game. Add to this the cool, non-gameplay mechanics like player and kinship (guild) housing and playable instruments that allow players to team up and perform any piece of music under the sun AS A BAND and you can be assured that the community is rich and vibrant. This is LotRO’s special sauce, and it’s delicious enough that I don’t want to ever have to deal with MMO griefers ever again.
LotRO is a solid, though not spectacular, MMO in terms of its gameplay, but its beautiful style, the way it tells its story, and its awesome community definitely set it apart from its ilk in the MMO space. If you’re looking for something nice and fun to replace your WoW habit, I think that you should give LotRO a shot. Odds are, you won’t want to go back.
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Tags: Featured, Gaming, Geek, Lord of the Rings Online, LOTRO, Review
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