A good effort on a great title
The first impression i got from playing this game is how wooden your characters are, which is in contrast to the landscapes which can be quite beautiful.
You will find yourself peering into the distance time and again, your eyes coming to rest upon some ruins or fortress, and your adventurous juices will begin to flow.
Looking down upon picture-postcard Bree, or up at the lofty heights of Weathertop, something good will tweek inside of you - the type of feeling everyone likes to have in a good game.
No more is this true than when you ride down into the valley of Rivendell for the first time, where (especially at night) it is a sight to warm the heart.
LOTR Online was a world i escaped to inbetween my breaks from WoW, and it was a worthy replacement. Even now it is a world i shall return to now and then.
Unfortunately, mundane tasks like shaping wood and turning ore into bars is excrutiatingly boring and drawn out - to the point where you can take a shower while you wait for it to finish, only to find it is still crafting when you return.
This is however a minor hiccup in what is a solid and enjoyable experience, one that does a commendable job of recreating middle-earth.
The music is very good, and i still remember riding into the trollshaws for the first time and falling in love with the soundtrack.
The community was very good and the product very polished when i last played.
For anyone looking for a stop-gap game this is still a good title to try out, and i would recommend it also for anyone who - like many of us - has fallen in love with middle earth - and would like to own a small piece just for themselves.