Tolkien’s large high fantasy universe has basically been begging to be turned into an MMO. It’s gotten the movie treatment at this point and has several video games made out of the stories within the fictional universe, but every real fan of the literary masterpiece has been looking for a way to really become part of the universe and make a mark on the history therein. MMO veteran Turbine is the company to make those dreams come true. They’ll be bringing Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar out in 2007 and fans the world around will be able to jump into control of men, elves, dwarves, and hobbits and integrate themselves into Middle-earth in a way that’s never been possible before. We had our chance to step into the world today and thought we’d share our experiences.

The game begins, as all others do, by creating a character. Males and females of the humans, elves and hobbits can be chosen along with a male dwarf. I guess females with beards aren’t that appealing. After picking a race and gender a racial intro cut shows to give a little bit of background on that particular entry to set the stage for events to come.

Those unfamiliar with the title up to now should know that it takes place during the events of The Lord of the Rings trilogy of books. This simple fact opens up a lot of questions. Will we get to see the fellowship traveling around? Will we play a role in the events leading up to Frodo dropping the ring into the fire pits of Mount Doom? Well, the answer is yes and no. The Lord of the Rings Online is launching with the area of Eriador as the main focus. Eriador encompasses the northwestern lands of Middle-earth which includes Rivendell, the Shire, Bree, Gray Havens and other provinces less familiar to those that aren’t steeped in the lore of Middle-earth (or very familiar to those that play Lord of the Rings RISK). So yeah, players will get a chance to see some of the Fellowship hanging out in Rivendell. But no, you won’t be able to participate in the Battle of Pelinor Fields or some such thing. The passage of time won’t be an issue either so there’s no worry of the game suddenly popping up a message that Frodo destroyed the ring and the game is over. They’re taking the fiction and making an experience out of the environment rather than sticking religiously to the passing of events.

Instead, the game will focus on players as helping hands to the most important characters in the battle against evil. Players will acquire quests from powerful men like Strider (Aragorn) and Gandalf that play a role in the events of Middle-earth but that don’t directly involve the personal stories of the main characters in the novels.

For instance, players will begin the game experience in a tutorial instanced zone that should build character importance while firmly establishing a different identity from the books. Characters begin in jail next to a similarly incarcerated ranger. He explains that he and two hobbits had been caught by some nefarious characters associated with the Nazgul roaming the Shire and surrounding areas. As he explains, the hobbits, one of which is a Baggins, need to be rescued from certain death (and torture). After breaking out, the ranger splits off to hunt down the baddies while pushing the responsibility of finding and saving the Hobbits onto the player. Several fights ensue and the hobbits are saved.

After setting a fire for cover, the trio of character and hobbits find a dead end where they watch a scene unfold where a black rider and the ranger have a confrontation. This is probably one of the neater parts of the experience for the day as the screen began to warp as the town burned down. The black rider’s evil was represented strongly with the visuals. After stabbing the poor ranger, the nazgul took off away from the fire leaving the two hobbits, dying ranger, and player character to flee from the fire to another town, where the game proper begins.

At this point, players are dropped out of the instanced zone and into the world of Middle-earth. Plenty of random NPCs walk around the town, some offering wares, others offering quests. Quests vary but at this stage involve a lot of finding and collecting items and killing various amounts of enemies as would be expected from any MMO.

The gameplay mechanics will be instantly familiar to any MMO players. Skills line-up in a bar on the bottom of the screen and can be used to present advantages to the player both in and out of combat. As a champion class character, our elf was all about dealing damage as quickly as possible. Champions have a value similar to WoW’s warrior rage that needs to build up through the use of other skills before some of the more powerful abilities can be used. Other skills in the champion’s arsenal include some attacks that can do damage to multiple enemies within melee range. Seeing as we only were able to get to level 7, the combat was still pretty simple at this stage.

Defeating enemies through combat and completing quests are the two main ways to gain experience to push characters to new levels though exploration into dangerous areas will include a nice experience bonus as well at higher levels. Once new levels have been gained, characters become stronger, can use different armors and weapons, and gain new skills from the class trainer found somewhere in the town. Anyone familiar with World of Warcraft will be able to jump into early gameplay with ease.

After a bit of adventuring that reveals corruption within the town watch another instanced zone is triggered that will charge players with fending off an attack on the starting town. After being transported to the instance, players will have to fight through several battles to save the burning town from total annihilation. After fending off the attackers and waiting for the fires to burn down, our adventures were over for the day. After exploring the world and adventuring for a couple of hours we’re satisfied with the pace of the action and how many quests were available right from the start. If Turbine can fill the rest of the world with as many things to do, players should be happy.