Real "Objective" review of a decent game worth checking out. But not for everyone.
First off the game looks and plays a lot like WoW, which isn't a bad thing considering the success of WoW. If I were going to make a MMORPG you bet I'd base it off a game that has over 9 million players, I mean duh! After a couple of days however the differences start to creep in. Like no skill trees, instead you have traits that you go out and earn through doing various deeds (generally of the kill x number of y or exploring a given area). Crafting is different in that it's slightly more complicated, you are given 3 occupations that come in a set and while 2 of them play off of each other the third is generally needed by another profession, which is set up to promote trade between players. The other large difference is that this game is much more group oriented than wow, and while you can solo without any more difficultly than in wow, it's not nearly as efficient.
Graphiclly if you have a high end machine than it just rocks. I play it on ultra high so the details come through on the level of high end Oblivion. However if you have a low end machine you will take a serious beating. I saw it on a friend of mine on low and it really looked bad. Besides for that it's a matter of taste. The graphics and generally all of the game is a lot closer based in reality as opposed to WoW, if you like the comic look and bright colors of WoW than you will be disapointed here.
Sound, honestly I don't care. I can hear it and it sounds fine. If you're fighting a mob with chain armor you hear the clanking of the chain. Some people are all into sound, but really it's not my deal. One nice feature is the intagrated voice chat that is really nice if you want to hook up with friends. The need for vent or teamspeak is pretty much eliminated (thank goodness).
PVP - I haven't tried it out yet. It exists but not with our heros duking it out with each other (you can spar with one another though). Instead you get to create a monster for one of the high end areas and then through killing the good guys off you earn points to further spec out your monster. Interesting concept, I'd have like to have been able to level up a mob in each zone, but cap it out so that it's never beyond hope for a player in a zone to take on.
Group vs Solo - I'm a huge solo player and I loved that about WoW, that I could level all the way to 70 without ever joining a group (I did group and was in a guild with a bunch of friends, but I like that I had the option). And let's face it in WoW it served you better to NOT group for the solo quests as it would simply eat up your xp. In LOTR it's different in that your xp loss for grouping is not very large and you really can accomplish a lot more in a group as opposed to running solo. The epic quest line that takes you through the game does require you to group up as the elite mobs in the (shorter) instances require it. It's not to say that you can't solo in the game, I've done a lot of solo work, but it's much much much more efficient to group up. One last thing, the fellowship combos that you get to pull off in a group are really cool to see happen.
All in all it's a solid game. I think it's too early to say if it's a better game than WoW, but it's a great change that is fresh and has the back drop of the LOTR books and movies. If you're sick of WoW (and who isn't) I'd suggest giving it a shot and look for the minor differences in the game yourself to really see where it shines (there are too many too mention, but fairly obvious once you start playing). Gameplay - 8 (nothing amazing but lots of fun and easy)
Graphics - 9 (if you have the system for it, it's nice)
Sound 8 - (Good, voice chat a nice plus)
Value 7 - ($15 a month is a lot for any game)
Tilt 9 - (I'm having fun with it)