Lord of the Rings Online(LOTRO) : The Gameplay

'Glonir steps into the Silvermine Deep, his trusty war axe in one hand, and war hammer in another, peers into the darkness of the mine. Dwarves, being accustomed to life underground, have heightened senses when in underground caverns and eyes that are able to perceive better than most humanoids in the darkness of a cave. All around him, even from above and below, he could hear sounds of activity, unnatural activity -- Caveclaws. Vile creatures of the deep, they are almost blind but have a high sense of hearing and vibrations to the air current movement, they are relentless hunters of any unlucky adventure who ventures into their lair.
With resolve of steel, Glonir grasp his weapons tight, aware that an ambush might land on him at any time. The once busy and properous Silvermine Deep, now taken over and ravaged by the Caveclaws, Glonir's people, the Dwarves of the Blue Mountain, have vowed to reclaim their territory, ending the Caveclaw threat once and for all.

With steady but wary steps, Glonir steps slowly, deeper into the caverns, seeking for his goal -- a dwarf, or the remnants of a missing dwarf called Duril. The condition of the surrounding area tells Glonir that Duril might have been long dead, being missing for 3 days, probably devoured by the vile creatures that inhabit the mine. Having made a promise to Duril's family, he will find out the whereabouts of the missing dwarf, his demise shall not go in vain but in turned be honored in courage. So are the way of the dwarves.

A sudden tremor shakes the ground beneath Glonir, disorientated from the sudden tremor, he gets caught offguard by a Caveclaw, emerging from the rocks right under his feet. Being a seasoned fighter, Glonir knocks back the creature. Tightening his grip on his weapons, He charges - '

Lord of Rings Online(LOTRO): Shadows of Angmar, is truly a game worth of praise. Being introduced to the game by a friend of mine, I fell in love with it the first few hours of gameplay. Although the character selection is limited to only Humans, Dwarf, Elf and Hobbit, other aspects of the game definitely compensate for it. With a diversity of specialised classes to choose from: Champion, Guardian, Captain, Minstrel, Hunter, Loremaster and Burglar; players are able to playout the rich storyline and history of Middle Earth, meeting characters like Gandalf, Gimli and other notable characters from JRR Tolkien's masterpiece.

What really attracts me personally are the in game graphics, especially the impressive background and as well as the awesome music score( sounds like an orchestra playing in the background everywhere you go!) . It really gives players the 'feel' of being one with the character, being in the environment, being in Middle Earth itself. As a Dwarven Champion, I was dual wielding all the way, dealing swift damage to my enemies, with great tankability, i could take on 3 mobs at a time(most of the time being left with 20-30% hp left after combat). The combat moves are impressive and realistic with lots of variety to choose from. Being a strong DPS class, Champions are great for fast levelling and survivability, being able to go from mob to mob without taking much rest to regen. Quite Similiar to an Arms Fury Warrior for World of Warcraft(WoW).

The game shares alot of common points with WoW, hotkeys, bag slots, combat style, action bars etc. But the best thing is, you get 5 bags with full slots in the start instead of just one! Having a profession crafting system, i.e. Armorer, Armsman, Explorer etc, players are able to create items and strenghthen themselves or ease the process of levelling. Instead of reputation, players gain titles through different task, i.e. Glonir the Undying and lots more. Players can also purchase and customize a surname to fit their character name. It also shares the same currency style as WoW and comes with a mailbox system. Their savepoints are called milestones.

Being a WoW player myself, getting familiar with this game was a breeeze. What sets the game different from WoW is the combat and graphics and as well as the great music score. The graphics are great, costume details are showed intricately with more realism, instead of the cartoonish graphics of WoW. Same goes for the background and combat.

I couldn't resist from falling in love with this game during first play. I activated my account straightaway with the Lord of the Rings Online CD-Key, and thanking my friend at the same time for sending me that buddy-key, it was truly a god-sent.