The Lord of the Rings Online: An honest review
Lord of the Rings is the great grandfather of fantasy epicness, the king of any fairy tales. Let’s see how does this look?
The game is still in development and lives next to the competition. I think this is because of its fantastically written lore. The new 2021 upgrade, The Fate of Gundabad, will be released and they plan to make a huge graphical update to the game. I think that is a great idea.
Characters in The Lord of the Rings Online
You can only give a basic name to your character or you can use a random name generator. Later in the game, you can gain a family name and a title. The races are good old classic RPG races. Human, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, not long-eared night elves or cute little Poporis and Elins (like Tera Online) this time. This is not that game.
Unfortunately, you can’t be the servant of the Dark Lord, but there will be an interesting gaming mechanic, which makes it possible. In the race option, there are few refining possibilities. For example, as an elf, you can choose the origin of your elf. If you want to be Legolas, choose Mirkwood, if you prefer more like as a Lord Elrond, then choose Rivendell. After you adjusted everything, you can click on the glorious „Enter Middle-Earth” button.
In the game, there are different time zones, depending on your chosen character. You can meet the heroes from the book and aid them on their quest defeating evil.
Gameplay
The game has the basic system that makes an MMORPG. Go this way! Go that way! Do this quest! Kill monsters, then next quest characters. You gain items, weapons, armor, everything you need in an MMORPG. You can make Trait and Deeds. Those are extra quests controlled by your actions with your hero. You can get special abilities and stat bonuses. I don’t find any problem with this game it is just too down-to-earth Fantasy game that has nothing extra to offer. Forging weapons, fishing, housing, PVP, raid possibilities. There are two cool things thought. You can create a fellowship with 6 people and you can do special quests dedicated to this game mechanic.
The second interesting trait is the monster fight. At level 10, you can choose a servant of Sauron and attack level 90 players with these baddies.
Graphics of The Lord of the Rings Online
The graphics: the landscapes, the characters, the NPCs, the monsters need an update to be able to compete with other MMOs. I don’t think the graphics are bad, it is only not fantastic, looks kinda dull. The HUD is also oldschool looking.
I hope they update everything as planned in 2022, I was waiting for good fantasy music like in Warcraft, but all I got was not as good as in The Lord of The Rings movie trilogy. I felt like something is missing. I created a hobbit hunter. There is much, but not enough apparel customization available. Instead of looking, there are a lot of professions, you can get. You can be a burglar or minstrel for example which is the healer’s local class. Of course, there are the usual classes for tank and DPS characters.
Conclusion
The Lord of the Rings Online is a nice little game for beginners in the MMORPG genre. It gives a look at how this genre works. It is not special or groundbreaking but has its charm.
You can play it for free if you download it from the creators’ website.
The community is still alive. They made a memorial event in the game when the actor of Bilbo Baggins passed away. They shoot fireworks and stand around the in-game character of Bilbo. This gave me my decision to try it.
Am I disappointed? Yes, a little bit. I expected after the trilogy and the Hobbit movies too much. It is not a bad game. It is a nice fantasy setting MMORPG, everyone shall try.
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