The Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan Review

 

Fans of the Lord of the Rings Online MMO have waited a long time –pretty much forever– for an expansion worth their time. The past two entries put forth into the five-year standing game have been cookie-cutter at best, hurting the game more-so than it did improve it.

Riders of Rohan is the best, and largest, expansion since we first braved the depths of Moria many years ago, and it is the reason every past player of the game should return back to the game for at least one more go. And heck, the game is free to play, so why not?

A few refreshing changes

From the moment you first step into the Wold, you'll have noticed a lot of big changes. For starters, I personally recommend turning your speakers back on for the first time in years because we finally got something else to listen to than the rehashed soundtrack that has been lazily pasted into every game environment since its creation, minus Moria.

Now don't get me wrong, the music of the shire is wonderfully done Chance Thomas, I just don't think I could mentally bare the song for the 300th time! The award-winning composer is back for more however, delivering 22 riveting new tracks that brings a sense of adventure to almost anything you do in Rohan.

You might also notice how much attention some of the many, far outdated gameplay mechanics received as well. My favorite additive being the open loot and XP system that has been put into place. Everyone, no matter if they're in your fellowship or not, will share loot and experience on all kills they make, and thank goodness for that!

The only downside to the new feature is that it only works in Rohan.

Another neat new mechanic implemented into the game is the new loot system. For the players that enable auto-loot all, all the goodies will from your dead foes will get plopped right into your bags on the fly, no matter how close or far you are to your opponent, or even if you're in combat!

The system was originally designed so players wouldn't have to dismount from their Warsteeds to collect their loot, but it works twice as good when on the ground! Why pick up your own loot when someone will do it for you?!

Fighting from horseback… Yes in an MMO…

That's right, you read that correctly. Mounted combat has finally made its way into the Lord of the Rings Online, a highly requested mechanic over the last few years. But it also marks the entrance for mounted combat into any MMO on the market! And Turbine threw a bulls-eye.

Mounted combat is an amazing new mechanic, that for the most part, actually works. But what's important to say is that it is fun. While it may not be perfect design wise, it doesn't hinder my liking of the game in any way, which is how it should be!

When a player mounts their special Warsteed –the only type of mount you can use to fight from horseback– for the first time, they're given an entire new skill bar and a whole new set of skills to play around with. Instead of forcing players into trying to figure out ways in where their already equipped skills would come into play while in mounted combat, the system was simply watered down to a few simple attack and navigation moves, plus one self-heal skill.

Grasping the concept may take some time, but sooner than later, you'll find yourself zipping across Eastern Rohan at lighting speeds, cutting down Orcs with a ferocity you never thought to have before.

The setup for a Warsteed is broken down into three parts: A skill tree for the steed, a legendary item saddle, and its cosmetic appearance. From every kill and to every quest you complete, you'll earn XP that will both level up your steed and your saddle.

As you level up, points can be applied to the skill tree and legendary item saddle to do anything from increase your steed's hit points, to how fast it can run.

Problems begin to arise with the mechanic however when you come across a more heavily enemy populated area. A typical mounted combat fight consists of charging an enemy, wheeling around, and charging them again, of which requires a lot of space. If you so happen to run right by another enemy, a simple one on one duel might very well turn into an angry mob hungry for your blood!

Dipping into the dynamic events "fad"

One of the coolest new features of the expansion are the notorious Warbands that roam the plains of Rohan.  From all the hype with dynamic content between Rift and Guild Wars 2, it was only a matter of time before other MMOs in the genre jumped onto the bandwagon to see what it's all about.

Turbines experimentation with it came up with Warbands at the end of the tunnel. They may just be a pack of wargs terrorizing the players in a nearby region, or maybe its a nasty Uruk out to raid the many farms scattered across the countryside. Whatever the threat may be, if you happen to come close to one, a quest alert will pop up onto your screen for you to accept or deny.

Accept and you can go brave the Warband on your own, or grab a friend or two to take them down together depending on the event. If you manage to wipe out the band, you'll receive a generous reward for your hard work.

The chase for Merry and Pippen

The fellow has broken, its members scattered and the Horse-lords of Rohan look to defend their land against the onslaught of the joint might of the Easterlings and Saruman  The famed, epic story from the game continues with Riders of Rohan, focusing in on you and your three companions in hot pursuit of Merry and Pippin after they were captured by the Uruk-hai.

You'll get to witness the eye-jarring beauty of the Argonath, all the way to the twisted, discombobulated Fangorn Forest. Riders of Rohan proves that LotROs still got it when it comes to the visuals department, even though its aging game.

Horses need a lot of space. Thus so, the wide-open, majestic rolling plains of Rohan had to be huge to house it all in. The landscape is twice as big as Moria in terms of size, adding a tremendous amount of new lands to uncover and explore!

Closing Comments

Riders of Rohan is the expansion to hit the Lord of the Rings Online in years and is a breath of new life for the game, steering the game in a new and exciting direction. Most notably altering the very way we all played the game by adding in mounted combat.

Just one grudge weights the game down from greatness, and that is the lack of any end-game dungeons or raids. The only option players have once they reach the level cap is to rebuild a burned down city until a free update arrives to those who pre-ordered the expansion arrives with all the goodies.

Turbine gambled with this expansion, solely relying on a single gameplay mechanic to decide the fate of the expansion. Turbine gambled… And won.

Score: 9/10

Replay Value: Very High