14 DAY TRIAL // 
You've read about Frodo's intricate quest to save the world of the greatest imaginable evil, you've kept your fingers crossed for him as he set on the path to Mount Doom and you felt like helping him in any way you can. Well surprise, surprise! Turbine had always had a fascination with fantastic realms and more to the point, they were hooked on developing some extremely appreciated MMORPGs. Turbine (formerly Turbine Entertainment Software, Second Nature and originally CyberSpace) are the proud creators of Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call 2 and Dungeons & Dragons Online. J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth seemed like the next obvious fantasy realm to go to. Hence was announced Lord of the Rings Online.
The history behind the development of the game is as intricate as it comes. The game was first announced ever since 1998 by Sierra On-Line stating a Middle-earth MMORPG on the way. At the time not even the movies were released so the fans got all excited. Nothing was heard about it anymore until 2003 when Vivendi Universal Games (the parent company of Sierra) agreed with Turbine to produce Middle-earth Online. Two years later, March 2005, another shocking news came out - Turbine had bought the rights to make MMOs based on Tolkien's literature and was assuming the publishing duties of Lord of the Rings Online from Vivendi and once again delayed the release date until Spring 2007. This whole story brings us to the Beta testing that started September 2006 and that we could get our hands on to present you with a quick inside preview.
Story Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is the first MMORPG set in the fantasy world of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. It was originally an independent project from the trilogy movies (and it still is as far as we know), based on the written works The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (Turbine's license doesn't include The Silmarillion - thus far, anyway). The game takes place in the Third Age, during the War of the Ring. The whole big (even huge from what I've seen) adventure begins about the time that Frodo leaves The Shire with the One Ring. The background story goes something like this: as Frodo departs on his dangerous journey, many adventurers from all the races of the Free People of Middle-earth rush to clear the path up ahead. You - the player - will assume one of these roles. The friendly NPCs in the world will guide you on this challenging mission - make yourself useful to the Fellowship of the Ring. You'll even have the chance to encounter the Fellowship and many other important characters in the books such as Barliman Butterbur (at the Prancing Pony) and Tom Bombadil (in the Old Forest). The aspiring hero will be able to challenge the Middle-earth on his own or join a fellowship that will make battles seem easier and provide the extra fun that is specific to a MMO.
Concept For various reasons the developers concluded that alignment would not be appropriate to the world of LOTRO (not at first at least), so the playable characters will be restricted to the races of the Free People of Middle-earth - Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits. Being particularly powerful the High Elves and Dunedain, these won't be available for play either (initially, can't say anything about the future).
Seven cardinal classes will make the delight of any adventurer. The Champion class is available for Men, Elves and Dwarves. Being a true master of arms, this character focuses on destroying the foes proving to be a most appropriate choice for the loners in this game. Their style of combat revolves around the idea that the best defense is a good offense.
The Guardian addresses those that feel like being protective and is available to all the playable races. He's a master of the defensive arts, skilled Guardians being able to face even the toughest foes and survive. They rely on their strong shields and weapons to turn aside incoming attacks with blocks and parries. They can even taunt their enemies, challenging them to a "fair" fight, thus allowing freedom to maneuver to the allies.
The Captain class is only available to Man. He's the one bearing the banner in battle and providing hope and leadership to the fellows. A skilled Captain can rally the party from the brink of defeat. His style of combat focuses on inspiring those around to great deeds and eventually to glory.
The Burglar is a stealthy trickster class available to Men and Hobbits. He's the obvious choice for the ones that enjoy using cunning and tricks to defeat their opponents. He can strike from shadows, sneak past his foes, trap them or inflict even more damage by attacking from the behind.
The Hunter is no close-quarters fighter, generally letting his bow do the work rather than resort to his sword. He's available to all the races and his combat style focuses on his ability to injure a foe while staying out of harm's way. His skills include setting traps and several "special" arrows - poisonous, slow movement speed inflicting barbed arrow and a rain of five arrows that can hit multiple targets.
The Minstrel class is available to all races. This is for players that rather concentrate on raising the morale of the rest of the party members rather than engage the enemy in melee combat. He's able to wield weapons but his strength lays in words. Since morale represents the actual health of the characters, the Minstrel really acts such as a medic but instead of focusing on their wounds, he concentrates on giving hope and cleansing the souls of the allies.
From what is known, there are very few wizards in Middle-earth so an abundance of this kind of characters would have really looked awkward. The players that enjoy using the ancient lore powers can choose the Lore Master. This class is available to Men and Elves and pretty much rely on aiding their allies while hindering the foes. His combat style is anchored in the power of knowledge and using it intelligently enough to defeat the enemies. They can treat wounds and help friends recover from different foe inflicted maladies, daze, harm or hinder the enemy as well as give of themselves to strengthen another. Some Lore Masters can even request the aid of animals.
The real character customization comes from traits - interchangeable abilities that alter the character in some fashion. These can do fairly simple things such as increasing the character's Might stats or they may prove so complex that they modify skills and even groups of skills, such as adding a new effect to the critical hit or reduce the power cost of an entire group of skills. These traits are grouped into four families - Common, Race, Class and Legendary. Naturally, the common traits are the easiest to get and are also the simplest. Race traits will, in example, allow a Hobbit to get better at eating and a Dwarf to get tougher. Class traits concentrate on improving the specific skills of the selected class, while the legendary traits are unlocked at higher levels and truly make the player proud of earning them.
Gameplay The game proceeds with the creation of a character (what else?). After quickly choosing a race, class and borrowing it a personal touch of colors and an appropriate name the big adventure can finally begin. Your virtual life in the Middle-earth can prove to be as quiet or as challenging as you may wish. After a brief introduction to the great world that you just stepped into, you may choose your own way here. Follow the epic storyline and wonder through the vast region of Eriador confronting the forces of the Nazgul Witch-king in the North, protecting The Shire and destroying the evil on Weathertop. Your journeys will allow you to collect valuable Tolkien lore, knowledge and artifacts of immense powers. Ambiguous quests of courage will unravel compelling character traits. Settling down to create mundane as well as legendary items that will help other players in their fight against the Dark Lord Sauron is also an option. You can even enjoy more peaceful activities such as farming or cooking.
Interacting with others is the salt and pepper of this game (it's a MMORPG, remember?). Feel free to express yourself anywhere in the world through a vast choice of emotes that enable your character to bow, salute, dance, beg, act angry and tons of other actions. An in-game chat is also available, addressing a selected part of the world or to everybody. Feeling tired? Set off to relax and socialize at the Prancing Pony in Bree, the Green Dragon Inn in The Shire and many others throughout the land.
Each settlement has lots of interactive NPCs that will reveal secrets, teach you new things about the Middle-earth or set you off on quests. Some quests become active once the completion of others but usually most of the townsfolk will ask you to attend to nearby jobs. Some quests may reveal even more hidden tasks. Helping out enough people in a certain region (such as Ered Luin, Breeland or The Shire) will reward you with the recognition of the people and award you a prestigious title for you to bear with pride. Killing a fairly big amount of certain beasts in the nearby wild fields can also bring you their gratitude. Ancient secret locations are scattered through the lands and discovering all of them bring you unexpected rewards. The funny part is that there are even quests where you have to perform unexpected actions such as destroy some poisonous plants or get a bucket of water to put off a fire or retrieve stolen/lost objects. There are certainly many types of quests that can be attempted.
Traders and trainers can be found in each town. Just like each class has its own trainer, there is a specialized crafter for each item type. You'll be able to meet light, medium and heavy armorsmiths as well as smiths specialized in bows or other weapons. There are even provisioners that will stock you with the needed materials for the crafting jobs (nine crafts are available so far that include armourer, metalsmith, prospector, tailor, cook and so on) as well as the utensils to get the job done (now how would you collect stones without a pick hammer axe?). Highly skilled specialists will even sell you recipes of their fashionable items. In time, you yourself will get better at the chosen job and be able to create up to legendary items of tremendous powers.
The only thing that made me raise a suspicious eyebrow was that I'm only entitled to five bags to store my goods along with whatever I may equip on the character. It's true that any items only occupy a slot of the bag no matter how big it looks and there are 15 slots in every bag, but come on? I want all the riches in the world and I want them with me where is safe. On the other hand there is this cool option of selling your wears to any trader and then purchase them back for the same price. I still kind of don't trust these strangers with? my precious loot.
I really enjoyed the Beta version of the game and I feel like I could go on forever about what it offers, but I really think I should leave a few things for the review article (hope it will be this spring and the game isn't delayed any longer) and see if the release version rises to the high standards that this Beta promises. To keep it short, LOTRO impressed me with its humongous world and what seemed like hundreds of catchy quests. There is something for everybody to do - it really made me believe that the game actually offers the player a virtual life in the fantastic world that Tolkien creating for his novels.
Video Well, I was never really fond of white especially when it translated to huge amounts of snow. I must admit though that the trees all crushed under the weight of it in the colder region of Ered Luin did look pretty impressive. That was until I got to the sunny field and hill region of Bree. The grass was so realistically green and loads of flowers completed the amazing view, birds traveled the skies and wild animals roamed all the trails. Now that was the moment I really felt in love with this amazing world. That's also right about the time when I managed to allow myself to be fascinated with the multitude of textures used to recreate the atmosphere of the Middle-earth settlements. Yes, the buildings looked just as well in the snowy parts, but that white was killing me. I needed the vivid colors, a blue sky with tiny clouds and crowded towncenters. Well, this world seems to have them all, and they all look pretty amazing, it's just a matter of personal choices.
Deep dark caves, tunnels and mines are also available for visits. They will greet you with their gloomy illuminating systems, torches, camp fires and rays of light that sneak through the breaches in the stones. The inside of the buildings are also highly detailed with light springing through windows and fireplaces scattering strange shadows on the walls.
Great designed characters and beasts can be found all through the land. Some will prove to be your allies and some your foes. The Nazgul will make your acquaintance too. The dark wonderers will show off on their black beasts and eventually become your ultimate enemies. While there's not much blood spilled during the battles, the combat moves and spell animations make up just dandy for that. In a few words - LOTRO comes with a visual aspect unmatched even by some modest solo playing RPGs.
Sound It's okay. I'm sorry, I'm still thinking about the video component. So the sound wasn't even nearly as impressive as the video, there are really no reasons for complaint. The sounds in the game serve the mere purpose of enhancing the feeling of the environment. Living world sounds like cricket ringing and water rippling can be detected. Combat sounds are also pretty good. Slashing, arrow releasing - they all have their specific sound. Growling, mumbling and the "final breath" spice up the battles a little. The voice acting was probably an impossible mission thus far in a game of this complexity so it was avoided by the use of character lines popping up above their heads or on a separate text box if there were lots of things to say or a quest was offered.
Conclusion I loved the books, the movies gave me pleasant shivers down the spine and this game seems to be able to inspire the same sort of excitement. I can't wait for it to hit the market. I sincerely hope that nothing else unexpected turns up. Looks like a title to be on the lookout for in the newly started year of 2007. Spring never looked more promising. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for Turbine to get it right.
