Given this, we weren’t in the best of moods as we trudged through the morning Covent Garden rush-hour traffic (this having survived standing for ten minutes on the tube in the breath stream of a portly gentleman who had clearly consumed some sort of meat product shortly before). Added to this, the general feeling of bedazzlement that overcomes one every time we venture central London conflicted the mission in hand – our quest was to find the Hospital Club nearby – we actually found it without realising about ten minutes beforehand; we walked past it twice only to finally realise that the big H on front of the building must have meant Hospital Club (although it could have easily equally stood for Horse, or Helicopter, or Hadoken). Needlessly ambiguous letters aside the Hospital Club looks the part. Moving through the heavy glass doors was enough to suggest that a quality day and a quality title in the shape of Lord of the Rings Online Shadow of Angmar lay ahead for our perusal.
After being ushered in the lift and through the tight corridors we found ourselves in an intimate theatre – the seats were plush red velvet and the screen huge only feet in front of us – perfectly apt for the glorious visuals that Shadows of Angmar demonstrates. Then it was time, following a swift introduction, for the man responsible for delivering Lord of the Rings Online to the held out hands of gamers worldwide, oh, you didn’t know? This will be the first MMO to be released at the same time to every gaming region in the world, excellent when a world full of players is tantamount to the success and the enjoyment factor of all MMOs.
His name is Jeffrey Steefel and he has a calm and welcoming manner about him. To hear him speak you wouldn’t think that just over a month’s time his game will be out and the world’s critics will be waiting. Obviously the specialist and lifestyle press will have their say, but the real test will be how well it’s received by fans of the Tolkien franchise – a task that clearly doesn’t overwhelm Steefel. He talks of reading the books three times over, and insisting his team does the same. But more so, hearing Steefel describe the world Turbine created it’s clear that he’s a man in love with Middle Earth and that no-one would be more upset if Shadows of Angmar didn’t do the books justice.
Lord of the Rings Online has been in development for something close to four years, so any thoughts of this being a license that cashes in on the existing fan-base are quickly banished from the mind. Untold effort has gone into making this not only enjoyable for fans, but also for all gamers having the inclination to give it a go. Steefel is at pains to stress that at its heart Lord of the Rings Online is an excellent MMO first, and an extension to Middle Earth second. And an extension it certainly is offering players the chances to not only explore areas already described in detail by Tolkien but places that he only briefly took us. Also while throughout the hundreds of hours of gameplay you’ll be acutely aware of the narrative of the books, although your path lays in a different direction – you have your own mission in defeating the forces of Sauron.
Shortly after the detailed and passionate presentation from Steefel we were treated to an extended hands on to the beta. Rather than simply setting us up and letting us loose on Middle Earth we were instead allowed to play through a Fellowship quest (basically a mission that requires more than one player to complete). We played the part of a Brynn the Hobbit burglar (gutted) whose task it is to heal, steal and kill. The others, an Elf, Man, Wizard, and Dwarf slay as they play with magic and sword. We never thought it would be a stressful experience, but playing with others in close proximity adds a certain tension: from the other end of the room, past the other gamers and their laptops and the nibbles, sat a player who controlled the Elf. As he died on screen his frustration was reaching a point of awkwardness. The guy was so vexed after the third and forth death that he became vocal from a mutter to practically a scream ‘CAN I GET SOME HEALTH?’ and ‘RES ME UP’ were two choice assertions minus the expletives.
There were some wry looks as Brynn the Hobbit managed to survive the quest without the hint of a single death and it soon became apparent due to the enthusiasm of my esteemed members of the fellowship that we had in fact been only healing our own character. While individualism might work in the real work, and apparently Middle Earth as well, the reaction from the others wasn’t the best – Leeroy Jenkins isn’t welcome.
Our time in Middle Earth and indeed with the man who created it flew past all too swiftly. However the finger food, bountiful press pack and an Ipod Shuffle loaded with the Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar soundtrack softened the blow as we plodded back to reality. Still we were shown enough to warrant a level of excitement tantamount to that of the buzz for World of Warcraft pre-release. What we saw was a game that had been beautifully created by a team of people who are clearly in love with the books, who have all the right minerals to make sure that Shadows of Angmar is as accurate and playable as possible. Given the choice of spending time in their world and ours we know where we’d rather be.
