The Great Geek Manual

It’s available today. The game that may bump World of Warcraft clean off the top of the list of the world’s most popular games. The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, in the same time period as The Lord of the Rings books.

Like Warcraft, the game centers around PvE combat and experience-building “storyline adventures.” It’ll also feature six-character “fellowship” group play and multi-group raiding like Warcraft. The new twist will be Player versus Monster-Player (PvMP), in which a characters temporarily play monsters. And, of course, there is no magic. In the entire game, there will only be five wizards, and they will all be NPC’s. That seems a shame, but the developers are obviously striving for authenticity.

Classes will include Burglars, the sneaks, Captains, the buffers, Champions, the nukers, Guardians, the tanks, Hunters, the other nukes, Lore-Masters, who have pets, and the Minstrels, who are the healers. In addition to the innovative classes, the game seems to implement a far more intricate Professions system than Warcraft.

Will LOTR Onlines be a break out hit? Only time can tell, but if you want to judge for yourself, check out the 250 screenshots at IGN, along the 24 video clips of the game in action.

Download the Prima gaming guide preview.
Visit the Official Lord of the Rings Online website.