I have been playing MMOs since EQ first came out, which is not that rare considering the huge market that has emerged over the past couple years or so. Anyway, since the original EverQuest came out all those years ago, I have only really gotten into one other MMO since. Word of WarCraft. Now, this is nothing amazing considering there are tens of millions playing the game, but if you look at all the MMOs that have come out since EQ broke the market wide open, I have only really enjoyed 4. I have tried others but they all fell short of what EQ offered, what MxO could have been, what City of Heroes/Villians tried for and what WoW perfected.
Which is why I am surprised that I have enjoyed the last few days I have spent playing LotRO. I went into the free trial not expecting much at all. Only reason I even bothered with it was because I watched the movies again. So I took a crack at the game, did not do much research and just went into it to enjoy it, maybe kill some time while my friends were all occupied this past weekend with babies, wedding planning and being out of town.
So I popped in, fired up a hunter and entered J.R.R Tolkiens world. Now, I just got a beast of a new video card so the game was running full tilt graphics wise. I did not find the graphics to be as clean or as enjoyable as WoW but they are decent for what the game is. The sound is impressive, with lots of noises from the surrounding area, monsters, your character and little details that some developers miss. Still, even though the game is not as sharp as WoW in every aspect, it passes muster and doesnt distract like the graphics in EQ2.
Where LotRO really starts to shine is the story. There is no real "story" in WoW, nor was there in EQ. There was some vague back drop of a main story line but it was lacking and really was not that important. You just went along, doing quests, getting loot and leveling up. Atleast in EQ, there was roleplay to be found all over the place, which is why I loved the game. WoW, it was the game play, the graphics and the ability to log on for an hour or two, knock out some quests and log off again. LotRO manages to recreate that feeling easily. You can jump on, do a few quests and log off. Even the big event quests don't take long and, so far, I have been able to do them alone.
The classes are interesting, as are the races different bonuses and negatives. The starting stories, atleast for humans and elves, is very different and gets you into the main story line quickly. Where in most games I will take up a rogue or thief type class, I have yet to really try the bandit class yet. So I can't really delve to deep into the real differences between the various classes, though the hunter class is pretty powerful. I have not really enjoyed the Captain class much and I HATE starting over again when the starting quests are the same, so I havent tried anything else.
Overall, I suggest any one who has started to stray away from MMOs for single player games or shooters to give the free trial a shot. LotRO takes a formula that has been perfected in WoW and gives it a enough twist to not be a clone. Its original as a MMO can be now-a-days and keeps you interested. If you can get past the vastness of the world once you get out of the newbie area, find a good kinship (guild) or even a few people to group with every once and while, I can see LotRO keeping things fun for a while.
Just so long as you don't treat it like a grind and burn yourself out.
No comments:
Post a Comment