State of the PC: 2007
Sal 'Sluggo' Accardo, Editor-in-Chief, PC
I've been writing these state-of-the-PC editorials for the past few years, and inevitably I end up talking about how PC games are cyclical in nature. For obvious reasons, it's tied to new console launches and rises (and falls) in technology. So heading into 2007, we knew it would be an "up" year for the PC; what we didn't know was just how good a year it would be, or some of the obstacles those games would have to dodge to be as good as they turned out to be.
6. Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
The Lord of the Rings Online began life in 2003 as Middle-earth Online and went through such a troubled development process that we gave it our "When It's Done" award in 2006. What a difference a year makes: LotRO, which launched in April 2007, emerged as one of the best-run, most enjoyable casual-friendly PvE-style MMOs on the market today. Sure, its become a second home for Tolkien junkies who like to chat in "Ye Olde English," but LotRO offers much, much more than merely a place to visit Bag End and hang out in The Prancing Pony.
The basic gameplay of LotRO will be familiar to anyone who's ever played World of Warcraft, EverQuest II or pretty much any MMO released in the last few years. There are traditional MMO classes, quests to run, instances to explore, items to craft, mobs to kill and even a fun (albeit segregated) PvP zone where players can go toe-to-toe with members of Sauron's forces controlled by other players. Far from being a weakness, this instant accessibility turns out to be a strength as the game's developers have elaborated and expanded these basic gameplay systems until they've become uniquely LotRO.
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Quests, for example, are abundant and many of them are brilliantly written and staged in ways some MMOs only bother to do with their highest-level content. Particular standouts include a series of quests in which the player becomes a process server trying to legally kick some unruly Men out of a Hobbit village, and one where the player merely has to accompany Frodo on a walk through Rivendell helping him decide whether or not to accept the Ring and the quest to bring it to Mount Doom. "Chicken play," a series of quests where the player actually becomes a chicken and tries to recruit help from Radagast the Brown against a pack of evil wolves, are not only incredibly fun but have become genuine social events as guilds team up to escort groups of chicken players through the wilds of the Trollshaws to Rivendell. Not for nothing has Lord of the Rings Online become known as "the storytelling game."
Perhaps the best element of The Lord of the Rings Online is simply the level of support it gets from developer Turbine. Since release, LotRO has seen a steady series of high-quality upgrades that have improved the game in dramatic ways. There have been huge new regions of the world to explore, the game's first true raid zones, fun seasonal events, improvements to the PvP area, player housing, upgrades to crafting (the game actually makes farming blackberries and cauliflower fun) and additions to the incredibly popular player music system. LotRO is occasionally dismissed by detractors as "WoW with Hobbits." They can have their cheap wit. We'll be over here taking a break from fighting Orcs in the Misty Mountains with a group of folks playing "The Imperial March" in Bree's town square and reveling in the opportunity to live a life in the mother of all fantasy kingdoms.
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