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Put aside the Lord of the Rings license for a second. It's an insanely popular fictional universe, the foundation for a majority of today's fantasy works in games and literature, and of course it's going to color perceptions when examining this game.

If you're one of those people whose knees get wobbly while savoring the idea of questing for Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, you're in all likelihood going to enjoy this MMORPG.

If you are, on the other hand, one of those rare gamers hooked on role-playing games yet care little for Tolkien's work, we've first off never met you, but figure it'd be more important to convey how this title plays than how faithfully it reproduces Tolkien's vision.

Dwarves, Elves, Man, and tiny humanoids called Hobbits constitute the playable races in this game, available in male or female flavors. It turns out they're all good guys, all fighting for the same cause, eliminating the possibility of open-world player-versus-player (PvP) combat.

Instead, such fighting is restricted it to The Ettenmoors, one of the game's nine spacious zones. After selecting a race, one of seven classes can be chosen, including a Champion, Hunter, Burglar, Captain, Guardian, Lore-Master, and Minstrel. Each class' function serves roles any MMO veteran is undoubtedly all-too-familiar with You've got the damage-absorbing tank, pure damage dealer, healer, group buffer, enemy debuffer, and crowd controller.

To facilitate solo play, each class is also given skills from outside their traditional class role. A Champion, LotRO's dual-wielding, damage-dealing off-tank, has a few limited healing abilities, for instance. Minstrels, the main healing class, can wear medium armor for increased protection.

Infusing each class with this kind of variety means you don't always have to be grouped up to progress, making the game more accessible and forgiving for newcomers to the genre or those who generally like to play alone.

Full article from IGN