In the crowded MMO market, this game shines. A true masterpiece that will appeal to all fans of the genre.
The first thing I noticed was the graphics. The game world is beautiful and stylized well. The visuals are better than EQ2's, and yet the game runs amazingly well with no slowdown whatsoever. The graphics engine performs flawlessly even when many players are onscreen at once. Turbine did an amazing job of keeping everything looking great and still capable of running smoothly at 30fps.
Another very impressive part of the game is how interactive it is. Most MMOs offer little in the way of pulling the player into the game with scripted events. LoTRO does this very well, and even the opening sequence is a mission that will have the player engaged in a scripted rescue mission that works perfectly. There are more of these events throughout the game, and they do a great job of immersing the player into the world.
The sound is another area of the game that impressed me. The voiceover acting is very well done, and the sound effects are top-notch. The wind howls and there are ambient sounds everywhere. The surround sound system is flawless and will help those who prefer a first-person view, as you will be able to hear the clanking of swords behind you, as well as grunts and groans of monsters approaching from the rear. I also liked the "titles" available in the game. If you perform certain missions trees you will recieve a moniker that will appear after your name for the rest of the game world to see. There are also titles given for making it to level 5 and level 10 without dying. Of course, this can also be disabled if you'd prefer not to show off your successes. It's little things like this that make the game very rewarding, as well as keeping the players busy finding all of the extras that are out there. Regarding the UI, it works perfectly. Some people have complained that it is a WoW clone. I agree, yet disagree. It is extremely similar to WoW's interface, I am happy with that. If a system works, then it should always be utilized! I don't think it's fair to complain about Turbine deciding to replicate a design that has proven itself very popular and easy to use. Besides, Blizzard definitely didn't invent WoW's UI either. Everquest was the first game to include most of the UI enhancements that we all take for granted these days.
The only concern that I have regarding LoTRO is the amount of content in the game. I have not seen any shortage of content yet, but I am not top-level. Since the game is based on the LoTR novels, I don't think it would be possible for Turbine to include many new areas to explore, since I find it unlikely that they can "invent" new areas. There surely will never be an 'Outland' or 'Kingdom of Sky' type of expansion, since those far-fetched ideas weren't in Tolkien's world. Also, there will never be insanely-sized swords or shoulder armor made from humongous turtle shells. This may put off some WoW fans, but this is LoTR and it's not supposed to be as far-fetched as that game. The designs in this game are more realistic, for better or worse. The races available for play are true to the novels, but I would have preferred to see more. I understand that this would probably be impossible due to keeping the game true to the license, but it would have been nice to play an orc or troll instead of only the "good" races. There is the Monster-play option, and it works surprisingly well. However, these characters are not as unique as regular player's characters, so it's not quite the same thing. Still, it's much better than only having four races available, so I'm not going to complain much about it.
The class system is very well done. There aren't as many classes available as in some other MMOs, but the basics are covered. You won't find any Shadowknights or Shamen in this game, which was disappointing to me, but again, that's the price that must be paid for playing a game based on an already established franshice. One thing some people may not like is the Loremaster's magical abilities, which are considerably less powerful than mages from other games. Don't get me wrong, the LM's still very competent, but not quite as flashy as spell casters elsewhere. I am playing a Blade Master and enjoying it greatly. I have always been a DPS spec'd Warrior in all MMO's I have played, and the BM suits that style perfectly. Not able to take as much punishment as a Defender, but the sheer amount of damage done by the BM makes up for it. Seeing the tide of a nasty battle turn because of a Blade Master mowing down enemies is a great experience, and having one in the party will definitely make most fights easier to handle.
All in all, I was extremely impressed with Lord of The Rings Online. Considering that it is based on an existing franshise, I was a little hesitant to pick up the game. I have always felt that games based on franshise movies or books are of lesser quality, but that's not the case here. Yes, there are a few limitations due to keeping with the Middle-Earth legacy, but there's still more than enough game here to keep players busy for years, and I've heard that there's already plans for an expansion. Hopefully then we'll finally get our Shadowknights!