Based on the success of World of Warcraft and the huge fanbase the world of Tolkien has, it was only a matter of time before a Middle-Earth based MMO would see the light of day. The name “Lord of the Rings Online” would probably be enough to sell anything, even an empty box, so it was a nice surprise when it was announced that Turbine would be the developers of the game. Their games might not be as popular as Blizzard’s, but when it comes to MMOs they are one of the biggest names in the field.  Was their talent enough to give justice to Tolkien’s high fantasy setting?

Based on the Tolkien books and not on Peter Jackson’s movie world

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: Shadows of Angmar is based on the Tolkien books and not on Peter Jackson’s movie world. What this means is that although you will meet Gandalf and Aragorn, they won’t look like their movie counterparts. They will be similar enough as they represent the same character, but don’t expect to see Viggo Mortensen’s face on Striders character. You can also kiss goodbye to the signature music we have all grown to love.

Not all is bad however. While I have nothing against Jackson’s interpretation of Middle Earth, I always felt that the world he created wasn’t completely true to the books. This being an entirely subjective matter I don’t expect everybody to agree with me, but as far as I am concerned, with Shadows of Angmar Turbine managed to come as close as possible to Tolkien’s vision. The places in the game look just like I imagined they would when I was reading The Hobbit or the trilogy books. For a fan of the Middle-Earth lore this is probably a crucial aspect and I am pretty sure that most of those who read the books will enjoy the world Turbine created.

And they will have countless reasons to enjoy it as well. The game world is limited to Eriador (the region north of Gondor and west of the Misty Mountains), but even though you won’t get to visit places like Mount Doom or Lothlorien the authors still managed to cram dozens of landmarks from the books into the game. You’ll get to see the petrified trolls Bilbo encountered in his travels, meet Tom Bombadil in the Old Forest and explore Rivendell to name just a few. There is a lot of new content here as well. Angmar, the dark fortress from the game’s title was only mentioned in Tolkien’s books, so Turbine had to use their imagination to fill in the blanks. I think they did a fabulous job with it, as well as with the other regions and landmarks that Tolkien didn’t write much about.

Shadows of Angmar has a story for you to follow

What good is a detailed world if it is lifeless though? I’m starting to repeat myself, but the guys at Turbine managed to nail this as well. The NPCs around the land feel like they belong there. Their names could hardly be more ideal as well. The most amazing part? Almost every single NPC is either a merchant, crafter, trainer or he plays a role in a quest. If that doesn’t tell you anything, let me spell it out: The game has countless quests for you to do. But every MMO has that, right? True, but in no other game are the quest so well written and intertwined. You’ll be tasked with delivering an ancient sword to a ranger for safekeeping one day, only to have another quest lead you right back to him. And both times the dialogue with him will make sense (heck, if it weren’t for the 10 or so other players around you’d actually think he was placed there just for you). This whole continuity of the lore and quests is just amazing, especially when speaking about the main quest line.

Yes, just like Guild Wars Shadows of Angmar has a story for you to follow. Most of the time you’ll have to do a quest or two on your own, after which you’ll have to group with other players to finish an instanced quest. Before all the solo players out there freak out and stop reading, let me reassure you that getting a group isn’t a problem and most of the instances only take a short while (especially when compared to the instances in WoW which can take several hours to complete). Not only that, but a lot of the story progression happens during these instanced adventures, so not having to worry about outside interferences is a blessing.

Most of the killing can be done via quests

Outside of the main quests you’ll be mostly killing stuff, collect items and explore the land. It gets repetitive after a while, but thanks to some ingenious ideas the authors had, you won’t notice it as much as in other games. Overall the grinding is kept to a minimum, unless you want to have all the titles, all the bonus traits and get every single extra feat you can.

Just like in WoW every single class has a predetermined skill-set, so players of the same class have access to the exact same skills regardless of their playing style. This is where the trait system comes in. Completing enough quests in a region earns you a special title and grants you a small stat increase. Killing enough animals of one kind has a similar effect. Killing even more animals grants you a bigger boost as well, up to a point where you get a new skill! So yes, you’ll have to grind a bit to get all the skills, but luckily most of the killing can be done via quests. Exploration grants you similar bonuses, so visiting everything on the map has its advantages.

Speaking about player differentiation, you are probably interested in the character creation choices. When creating a new character you have 4 races to choose from: humans, elves, dwarves and hobbits. Yes, there are no evil races available, but let me get back to that later. Other than with the dwarves you can create a male or female adventurer. After selecting your race it’s time to pick a class. This is where things get interesting. Turbine decided to include some of the most original classes ever seen (to be fair, they are mostly just old classes in disguise). You’ll be able to play as a stealthy burglar, a supporting captain, a deadly champion, a buffed up guardian, a nuking hunter, a crowd controlling lore-master or as a party healing minstrel. Yes, the class names aren’t standard and there is no wizard class (which is usually my first choice when starting out), but after playing the game for several hours each day for over a week now, I can confirm that the classes work well together. Most groups will need a minstrel and guardian, but other than that every single class has an important role to play. Thanks to the fellowship skills a good team can do wonders (these skills are similar to the Everquest 2 Heroic Opportunity system). Even more impressive, each of the classes is more than capable of staying alive on their own. Because of that working on solo quests is a delight regardless of your choice, though some of the classes require more effort and skill.

It comes as no surprise that the combat system in the game is almost exactly the same as the one found in World of Warcraft. There are some minor differences, but the majority won’t even notice them. The combat is a lot slower though. The skills take a bit more to recharge and casting a spell or performing an attack takes a while. I found the slow pace annoying at first, but later on when I had more skills at my disposal I didn’t mind having a second to think what skill to choose.

With only “good” races available for play you might think that PvP is limited to duels between players. Luckily there is a thing called Monster Play. Every player can create a level 50 PvP only monster to battle it out in the Ettenmoors. It’s hard to say how good the PvP really is, as this aspect of the game hasn’t lived up to its potential so far, because there aren’t all that many level 50 players running around the land yet. Things should clear up in a few weeks time though.

Does a good job of sounding Lord-of-the-Ring-ish

So we have a game that plays well, has an interesting story and features one of the best fantasy world ever created. As far as I am concerned that is enough to get me hooked, but some of you might want to know how the game looks like. In one word: amazing. The land of Eriador is filled with beautiful landscapes, bustling towns, huge forests and more. The level of detail seen in all of these places is amazing, from flocks of birds flying from trees to the dynamic day and night cycle. The texture work is mind blowing, especially when playing at the highest settings (Vista users will have to lower the texture detail until Turbine manage to fix a common crashing problem). The character models look nice as well. They aren’t as detailed as the ones found in Everquest 2 for example, but the game does run great on almost every possibly rig (with some settings fine-tuning). On the downside the animation system is a bit rigid at times, and overall the game doesn’t feel as polished as WoW does.

As mentioned at the start, the game doesn’t have the well known LotR themed music from the films. I still miss some parts of the movie score, but overall the authors did a good job here as well. There aren’t many voiceovers (only the generic hails and stuff like that), but the voice actors for the cinematics did a good job of sounding Lord-of-the-Ring-ish.

Conclusion

Since its release 2 years ago World of Warcraft hasn’t had any decent competition. With Shadows of Angmar non-Blizzard MMOs finally have a champion that could topple the giant. Judging by the launch week Turbine are dedicated to make this game the best MMO ever. In fact, in a few weeks the first free expansion patch will be coming out, bringing countless improvements and an entire new chapter of quests (taking place in a new zone to boot!). And last but not least, the game actually allows you to play instruments. If that isn’t good enough for you, nothing ever will be.

Gameplay	8/10	It doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Instead it borrows heavily from the best, putting some fresh elements in the mix.
Graphics	9/10	Gorgeous graphics with an amazing art direction. You have to see it to believe it.
Sound	7/10	Not as good as the movie soundtrack, but still decent. The combat effects and cinematic voices are well done as well.
Value	9/10	The road to level 50 is a long and hard one. You don’t have to face all the challenges alone though.
Multiplayer	9/10	Stable servers, a good group seeking interface and a good community are an integral part of this package.
Overall (not an average)	9/10	It is Lord of the Rings mixed with WoW – the ultimate combination.