Lord of the Rings Online Preview

OGaming is offering up a preview of The Lord of the Rings Online, after seeing Turbine’s MMORPG firsthand during the recent Penny Arcade Expo. An excerpt:

All in all, when I looked at Turbine’s production and compared LOTRO and/or DDO with any other MMOG out there, the competition simply shrank. I may be biased, but the scenery in LOTRO was unparalleled. As you will be able to see in the few raw clips of the LOTRO demo (to be provided shortly), the level of artistry far exceeds expectation. And when looking off into the distance, one does not see the typical repeat hill; and when looking through the forest, one does not see clones of trees and rocks scattered about. The whole environment appears hand-crafted and placed with the care only an artist who loves Tolkien can muster. I only hope that everyone who doubts this game can see this for themselves, because no camera can capture what is seen in first person. And furthermore, the demo build that we have seen at PAX, and previously at E3, is an old demo. Patience and Floon kept remarking that the game has improved even more. It had the smooth look of a first-rate console game, yet was indeed a kick-butt MMO!