The Lord of The Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar

Entirely separate from horrible movie based merchandising paraphernalia, Turbine have created their own vision of Middle Earth for some massive multiplayer tomfoolery. Man, dwarf, elf and hobbit are all represented in abundance – with a variety of character classes and trades to choose from, there is no shortage of role playing to be done. The game takes place alongside the main story, with regular visits from Middle Earth's most celebrated characters into your quests.
Comparisons will inevitably be drawn with the MMO of the moment, Warcraft. This is undeniably a sign of strength (Warcraft does have 8 million folk playing it after all): many of the game's commands are the same, easing any transition, and some other features are improved upon. Team-based control options ('fellowships') allow for special group based attacks, for example. Along with this players get the chance to play as their favourite monsters from the books, levelling up as they would usually, giving you the opportunity to play the other (smidgen more evil) side against other players.
The only real gripe is that while graphically superior to WoW, it does have a tendancy to lag, and some rather suspect animations.
This inconvenience aside, the game is easily as engrossing as World of Warcraft; similarities abound between the two, and while there are no major innovations over the behemoth of the MMO scene, this game has massive potential. With the fascination of all the Tolkien lore, and plans for regular updates to expand the play area to the whole of Middle Earth, the game could really be something special. Right now, it all comes down to a matter of preference. (Josh Wilson)