Sorry it’s been a bit quiet round here lately, but we’ve been getting stuck into a few new MMOs. We’d decided to take a bit of a break from WoW so were looking around for a new MMO to try.

As D was already Beta testing Lord of the Rings Online, that seemed like a good choice, although i also wanted to try a non-sword n’ sorcery based game, so we also made a return to City of Heroes, a game we’d both played just after launch. Have to say, it’s got massively improved gameplay from those early days, and really worth a 2nd look. If you got bored with the grind CoH used to be, go back and have another look, really is shaping into a good MMO (issue 9 introduces crafting & auction houses, and is due very soon).

However, after sorting out a graphic card bug that was stopping me play, we’ve jumped on into the Lord of the Rings Online. Going to post a full review in a bit, but first some screenshots… Really is one of the prettiest MMOs i’ve seen in a long time.

This one was a set of shots taken on the hill near Bag End just as the sun was rising, and then stiched together in Photoshop:

And this is Bag End.

Some more shots of the Shire:

Additional Screenshots by D, taken around the Elven area, near Duillond