Lord Of The Rings Online: Shadows Of Angmar - First Look Preview

Almost like the story of the Ring of Power itself, the history of the development of a Lord of the Rings MMO is a complicated and protracted one. Back in 1998 Sierra Entertainment announced that work had begun on an MMO based in the lands of Middle-Earth; at a time when Peter Jackson was just about to start working on his own opus based on Tolkien's most famous text, anticipation for the game was already quite high. Following the acquisition of the licence to produce videogames based on Tolkien's literary works in 2001, Sierra's parent company VU Games signed a co-development deal with Turbine two years later for Middle-Earth Online. Turbine finally took full responsibility for Lord of the Rings Online in 2005, with Codemasters securing the European publishing and operating rights to the game ahead of its anticipated release later in 2006. So eight years after the conception of a Lord of the Rings MMO, how is the game's development faring so far?

Recently TVG was invited to get a first look at Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, which was in attendance at the inaugural Codemasters Online Gaming LiVE event. On hand was the game's Executive Producer at Turbine Jeffrey Steefel, to lead us through the game and handle the torrent of questions from a self-confessed LotR geek like myself.

Set in the Middle-Earth land of Eriador towards the end of the Third Age, the Shadows of Angmar takes place during the events of the first LOTR book, Fellowship of the Ring. Taking areas such as The Shire, Rivendell, Breeland, and more, Eriador is set to provide gamers with a massive exploration experience as they travel around the forests, fields, and towns developing their character as they go. Restricting players to four races (Man, Dwarf, Elf, and Hobbit) and seven classes (Captain, Champion, Guardian, Minstrel, Hunter, Burglar, and Lore-Master), players won't be able to play on the side of Sauron...just yet. With playable evildoers not featuring in the game at this stage, PvP gameplay will be omitted from Shadows of Angmar, to begin with at least. A contentious issue that's bound to irritate MMO fanatics, Turbine explained the reason behind the decision, speaking about the desire for Lord of the Rings Online to focus on the Free-Peoples of Middle-Earth. That said there was a hint that the studio is working on an alternative for PvP gameplay, though exactly what form this will take was left for a later date.

Conversely, Turbine's takeover of the Lord of the Rings MMO responsibilities has meant that one of Sierra's controversial ideas, that of permanent death for avatars, has actually been turned around to the extreme. In Shadows of Angmar there'll be no such thing as Health Points and there'll be no risk or worry of dying. Arguing that it's not just a case of semantics, Steefel explained that the substitute for Health Points in the game, Morale, adheres closer to Tolkien's attitudes towards honour and noble, unselfish, actions than the traditional health levels of a character. Likewise, Turbine also explained that the penalty for 'death' in the game would actually be the avatar's transfer to a place of safety with no loss of powers, armour, or any actual penalty brought upon a player.

One of the key aspects of any game based on Tolkien's world is to establish to the player that they are indeed standing in the world of Middle-Earth, and for Turbine the solution is a simple one; within the first few minutes of starting the game, players will find themselves in the presence of a Nazgul or Gandalf the Grey. From there, encounters with Lord of the Rings characters will dip back and grow towards the end of this first instalment of the series. The whistle-stop tour of Eriador took in a number of recognisable places for anybody that has read the books, seen the movies, or looked at some of the paintings set in Tolkien's world. The Shire is a lush, green, and idyllic place with the instantly recognisable Hobbit holes peeping out from any number of hillocks throughout Hobbiton. The town of Bree, and The Prancing Pony Inn, where the four hobbits first meet Strider was also shown. One of the primary settlements in Eriador, the town seems a lot larger than perhaps people anticipate, yet it still seems very Tolkien. The balance is attaining that goal will be all the more difficult for Turbine given the clichéd fantasy worlds that we've all become accustomed to, but the Massachusetts based developer is pinning its hopes on the strength of the IP to help gamers recognise the world that they'll find themselves in later in the year. Eventually the launch game will end with players in the Elven city of Rivendell, which is where the expansion packs will start off; sadly the mythical city remained just that and we couldn't get a look in, but at least we know where the Shadows of Angmar will end. Other sections of Eriador that didn't feature heavily in the books such as Buckland and the Old Forest will be included in the game, although Turbine are yet to make a decision as to whether the mini map will work in the depths of the Old Forest (though watching Steefel struggle and get lost on more than one occasion in the environment suggests that it will by the final release)

Weather effects are also implemented in the game, with heavy rainstorms pouring down during certain sections of the demo, though in his interview with TVG, Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel confirmed that the weather is there for atmosphere and ambience only; there're no adverse effects on avatars of any kind. The storms and sheets of rain certainly add a strong level of atmosphere, helping to create a sense of foreboding during a quick taster of a mission that saw the avatar kill a number of Orc camps on the way up to Weathertop.

In addition to the standard loot that comes in MMOs, Shadows of Angmar will also feature 'traits', which will appear on completion of some of the more important quests, and modify an avatar's skills and characteristics. For instance after killing a certain number of Orcs, players may be rewarded with an Orc Slayer trait, and by wearing the trait it'll enable players to perform more powerful attacks on Orcs. Despite the variants in race, class, and experience level, the addition of traits are seen by Turbine as a further way of creating more unique characters, and it'll be interesting to see how important a part they'll play in the final game.

The variety of enemies were evident through the various sections of the game with Orcs, Goblins, Uruk-Hai, Wargs, Trolls, and Nazgul just a smattering of the opposition that players can look forward to facing later this year. A number of variants have been created for every enemy race with the likes of Warg-Keepers, Goblin Conscripts, and Orc Warriors just a few demonstrated throughout the course of the presentation. Combat seems to rest quite a bit on the state of the enemy, whether that's in an aggressive, defensive, or even a knockout state. An interesting element of the game that rides on these states is the dynamic skills set; though certain skills are a constant, others appear and disappear according to the 'state' of the opponent, for example a defensive stance. The level of depth that these dynamic skills get to, and their effect in actually playing the game will have to be seen, but it does sound as if Turbine are trying to add greater variety to the standard "Which spell/attack shall I use from the never changing list" that features in other MMOs.

Despite the solo-character demonstration, it was announced that specific group dynamics have been created for parties (naturally called Fellowships) so that one member attracts the attention of number of enemies, which allow the rest of the party to deal with. In addition, a gameplay element called Conjunctions will also feature in the game. Built as a party skill, conjunctions occur when an enemy is put into what is described by Turbine as a 'knockout state'. Comparing the ability to a deck of cards, players will then choose a coloured gem that forms a combination of gems chosen by the other members in the group. Different combinations create attacks of varying power, with the idea being that parties will be able to learn which gem combos cause the greatest damage. It's an intriguing dynamic that sadly wasn't demonstrated by Turbine, so how successful and practical it actually is will have to be seen.