The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Review

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Written by BuckGB on December 2nd, 2008

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The art design is matched by the fascinating landscape design. Unlike most videogame caves, the underground world of Khazad-dum is built like a real cavern. That means that the landscape of Moria is as much vertical as it is horizontal. The huge area is made somewhat difficult to navigate by a plethora of bottomless pits, enormous staircases and monsters and features that exist on different levels and aren't afraid to pepper players with arrows from places said players will find it hard to reach quickly. Indeed, what often looks like a short distance on the in-game map can actually be a tortuous route to navigate. This makes exploring and battling in Moria a unique experience. Unlike most other MMOs, fighting the landscape is as much a part of the game as fighting monsters. Cave-claws, for example, are terrifying creatures more by virtue of their knock-back ability than their damage-dealing. This does mean that Moria is not for beginners, but LotRO veterans will relish the opportunity to step up their game.

Getting through the long dark realm of Moria takes hours and hours of gaming, not to mention going up a few levels now that the level cap has been raised to 60. "Bugger that," I thought, "I want to see Lothlorien." Taking the Steve Hill approach, I just legged it from every single enemy and made my way with barely a passing glance at the wondrous architecture. It took me bloody ages, but with some really determined cowardice I made it.

Lothlorien, once reached, is actually something of a disappointment. Its few trees and tiny population pale in comparison to the grandeur of the Mines. Turbine, quite rightly, have concentrated their efforts on the titular location. And it shows. With my speed-expedition curtailed, I explored the two new classes, the Warden and the somewhat controversial Rune-Keeper.

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