Lord of the Rings Online

[Confucius]

Hello everyone, Today I bring you a review of a game criticized by many but one that I like:

In this article I will talk about graphics, gameplay, audio, and some special features this game has that makes it not just another WoW copy but something on it's own, so lets get started!

(Due to the fact that I didn't know how to do pages and lost this whole article this intro is no good because I can't remember how I wrote it after 3 hours of work XD.)

[break="Overview"]
First lets begin with a brief overview of lotro!


This game has many features that continue to draw me in for the year I've been playing:

Stunning graphics: The graphics are outstanding, which you will see later in this review!

Friendly community: Very nice community, at least on the server I am on.

Awesome gameplay: Each attack has a very specific animation and sound to go along with it. The combat just seems to work, although I am not sure why.

Outfits: You can wear clothes that will appear instead of your armor.

Housing: There is player and kin (guild) housing!

Hard leveling: Leveling takes awhile.

Pure pve: If you are a pvp fanboy then this game is not for you, it does have some pvp but it is very lacking.

Skrimishes: Like instances but can be done solo or with group and changes difficulty accordingly.

Titles: There's many, many titles you can earn through out the game.

Music System: That's right, you can actually play any song in game, and others can hear it, this is due to the fact that the game has a note system.
[break="Graphics"]

(I hope Glyn doesn't mind me using his graphics)
This game's graphics are in my opinion one of the things that sets it apart from other games, and why I like it. Here are some screen shots from me playing:

When you first startup the launcher you get a taste of the graphics:



Character select screen:



In game at dwarf place:





Bree:



A screen shot not from me but I feel this really captures how good the graphics are (although I'm not sure if this is max quality):



As you can see the graphics are quiet stunning, but that raises the question, what is the system requirements?



PC



Minimum System Requirements:

O.S.: Windows® XP, Windows® Vista, Windows® 7
Processor: Intel Pentium® 4 1.8 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 512MB
Video: 64MB NVIDIA GeForce® 3 or ATI® Radeon® 8500
Disk Space: 7GB available
DirectX: DirectX® 9.0c
Optical Drive: 2X DVD ROM
Connection: 56kbps Modem

Recommended System Requirements:

O.S.: Windows® XP/Vista
Processor: Intel Pentium® 4 2.8 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 1GB
Video: 128MB NVIDIA GeForce® 6800 or ATI® Radeon® X850
Disk Space: 10GB available
DirectX: DirectX® 9.0c
Optical Drive: 2X DVD ROM
Connection: Broadband DSL/Cable

[break="Gamplay & Audio"]




The gameplay is much like WoW yet much different, for example you can select an attack and it will cast it once cool down is done, or select an attack and while that one is happening select what attack you want to happen next, here is a video of someone in combat:
(Watch in HD!)

[YT]<object width="980" height="765"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t4EPwYUGf-4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hd=1&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t4EPwYUGf-4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hd=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="980" height="765"></embed></object>[/YT]

PVP: As I said earlier there really is no pvp, but there is something called monster play, where other players can play as orcs, wargs, spiders, ect. You can face them in ettenmores.

Outfits: Basically clothing that shows up instead of your armor, here is an example of one of my outfits:



Housing: Player & Kin housing is one of my favorite features in the game, here is my house:






The audio is defiantly better than most games, with lots of music and certain sounds for each attack, it's really nice, other than that you'll have to buy the game for yourself to see more

Music System: Here is an example of someone playing a song with the music system:

[YT]<object width="980" height="765"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KlPXzU800Cg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hd=1&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KlPXzU800Cg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hd=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="980" height="765"></embed></object>[/YT]

[break="Conclusion"]


Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Replay Value: 8
Value: 9.5



Overall I think this is a game that has earned a bad rep because of a boring beginning, but is much funner once you get into it. In my opinion this game really has something to offer and if you can afford it I would suggest going out to buy it, or at least trying the free trial. This game isn't one of those games you'll love from the start, it's kinda like a book the beginning is somewhat boring but it gets a lot better later on and keeps you pulled in. This is a great game for those of you who like pve. It has some to offer pvp wise although not much, but none the less the pvp has a unique feel just like the rest of the game. Even though many criticize this game and say it's horrible it's because they really haven't given it a try. Another thing I really like about this game is the community, I was kind of shocked at how nice everyone was, if you needed some recourses they'd just give it to you. Also since the voice chat works in the game very well you can talk directly to the people and really get to know them better than in other games. If you're tired of WoW's cartoon graphics and gameplay and want to try something unique and new but not totally alien to you, then this is the game for you!

Thank you for reading my first article! Please post comments below! :wave:

-Confucius

[Confucius]

gah pages didn't work o.o

[Confucius]

Yes I fixed it!

[Zoidberg]

Replay value - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A whole wikipedia page on Replay value.
Google is awesome.

[RyeRye]

Nice review
Didn't mean to put member review, now it won't let me delete it hah.

[Confucius]

Replay value doesn't affect mmorpgs then?

[BYSCUIT]

You have a typo.
In this article I will talk about graphics, gameplay, audio, and some special features this game has that makes it not just another WoW copy but something on it's on, so lets get started!

But good review

[Glynbeard]

Nice review, but the conclusion could have used a bit more opinion. That's where I am sold on a review at least .

News Team Applications are starting up soon, good to see some interest like this.

[Confucius]

Thanks Byscuit I'll fix that , Glyn I know I kinda failed at conclusion, I got so tired after taking all those pics formating them and stuff and then having to do it all over again XD I'll try to write a more solid one now.

Edit: I did my best on a better conclusion, thanks for the tip glyn! Please tell me what you think and if there's anything better I could do, after all this is just my first review XD

[alj03]

I really liked this game when i played it.

Just have not got around to buying it again.

[Confucius]

If you ever buy it again play on my server!

[Glynbeard]

Thanks Byscuit I'll fix that , Glyn I know I kinda failed at conclusion, I got so tired after taking all those pics formating them and stuff and then having to do it all over again XD I'll try to write a more solid one now.

Edit: I did my best on a better conclusion, thanks for the tip glyn! Please tell me what you think and if there's anything better I could do, after all this is just my first review XD

Much nicer I know how hard it can be at the end to post a strong conclusion because you are just exhausted from writing the previous content.

[Obama]

Nice informative review. Conclusion was fine to me seeing as most reviews on these forums are amateur review for the pure sake of fun . Keep going at it and have fun with your writing.

[ßetray]

If nothing else the graphics and sound aspect of the game just look amazing (the way a game SHOULD be standard, not like WoW where lots of people are forced to play at near minimal settings)

[alj03]

If you ever buy it again play on my server!

Will do. I wasted tempted to get the 9.95 deal for all 3 of them, but i didn't want to download that much.

Anyway which server are you on?