The Lord of the Rings Online First View

RPG Vault has released another one of their “first view” articles, this time providing commendations, reservations, and considerations for Turbine’s The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

The celebrated trilogy provides a rich backdrop that is recognized by a huge potential audience. The game seems to have a significant quest component offering a constant sense of purpose and supporting fairly brief play sessions. Based on approximately five hours in the beta, the learning curve is pretty user-friendly. While all combinations are not available, the four races and seven classes appear to encompass a nice range, and the character system promises to furnish increasing depth over time. The pace of combat is neither a click-fest nor agonizingly slow, with group combinations called conjunctions adding an unusual element. Consisting of nine professions, the crafting system looks like it could be good fun. The visuals are definitely attractive and stylish.