Lord of the Rings Online – Review

My first review that I will be doing will be on Lord of the Rings Online, a MMORPG by Turbine which is no doubt well known in the MMO universe. LoTRO is a formerly pay-to-play game but has recently switched to a free-to-play model, which is great because there’s no excuse to not check out this excellent game now! If you absolutely love games which have rich story and lore, then you will definitely have to try this game out. The game has four races which include the Humans, Hobbits, Elves and Dwarves and has a total of nine different classes available but not all of them are usable to all races. In terms of graphics, LoTRO definitely has some of the richest graphics to date in the MMO world. It utilizes both DX9 and DX10, and everything looks fantastic either way.

The nine classes in this game include:

• Captain – Use a large variety of weapons and armors. They control pets and have many buffing abilities which enable them to be good tanks. This class is only usable by the race of Man.
• Champion – Can dual-wield and tank, but are mainly damage dealers which learn several area-of-effect moves. This class is usable by the race of Man, Elves and Dwarves.
• Guardian – Can use most weapon types and armors, can deal moderate damage but are mostly used for tanking and absorbing damage for their fellowship. This class is usable by all races.
• Hunter – A ranged damage dealer, hunters dish out heavy damage using bows or crossbows from a distance. They have lower defense and health than the other classes. This class is usable by all races.
• Burgler – Burgler’s fight with daggers and are the debuffers of LoTRO. They can dish out heavy damage but have low defense and health. This class is usable by the races of Man and Hobbits.
• Minstrel – The Minstrel is the healer class in LoTRO. They use their instruments to play songs which heal and buff allies. This class is usable by all races.
• Lore-Master – The main spell casting class in LoTRO, Lore-Masters deal heavy damage, but have low health and defense. They are capable of summoning pets and have good crowd control. This class is usable by the races of Man and Elves.
• Rune-Keeper – This class must first be purchased through the Turbine Store in order to be played. The Rune-Keeper is a multi-purpose class which is capable of dealing heavy damage, but also healing. This class is usable by the races of Elves and Dwarves.
• Warden – This class must first be purchased through the Turbine Store in order to be played. The Warden is a melee class which uses medium armor and many different weapon types to annihilate it’s opponents. Warden’s are mainly damage dealer’s, but can also tank. This class is usable by the races of Man, Elves and Hobbits.

My experience:

My experience with Lord of the Rings Online has been nothing but positive so far. The animations, story/lore and graphics of the game pull you in effortlessly. The quests in LoTRO are very interactive and are not repetitive, which is a nice change of pace in the MMORPG universe. The rumors of Lord of the Rings Online dying because it “had” to switch to a Free-To-Play model is totally incorrect. The game didn’t “have” to switch to a Free-To-Play model, but doing so was the right choice as it increased the player count substantially. The game still has a huge community with many different servers. The crafting system in this game is top notch. This game is definitely one of my top favorite MMORPG’s and probably my favorite free-to-play MMORPG.

Rating: 8.5/10

Videos
LoTRO Free2Play Launch Video

LoTRO