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The Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard(PC) by tapkoh on November 22, 2011 BackgroundRise of Isengard is the third expansion to the Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG. It adds three new regions (Dunland, The Gap of Rohan, and Isengard), raises the level cap from 65 to 75, and introduces wide-sweeping changes to classes and game mechanics.

1. Minecraft Isengard

At E3 2011, we get a tour of the new lands coming to The Lord of the Rings Online.

Minecraft Isengard

According to developer Turbine, The Lord of the Rings is on the rise. As reported by the NPD, LOTRO was the third most played massively multiplayer role-playing game last year, an upswing Turbine attributes to its successful free-to-play model. In the meanwhile, the game's European servers were all migrated to combine the different versions of the game into a single global service. But that's only a small part of the studio's continuing strategy for the popular massively multiplayer online game. On September 27, 2011, it plans to release another full expansion, Rise of Isengard. At E3 2011, we sat down with several members of the development team to find out what famous areas fantasy fans could expect to explore next.

Rise of Isengard will make several key additions to The Lord of the Rings Online. The expansion includes three new regions: Dunland, Gap of Rohan, and Isengard. In addition, the level cap will be raised to 75, a new 24-player raid dungeon will be added, and the player-versus-player monster play will be opened even to free-to-play subscribers. Other changes and additions will include new crafting tiers, various class revisions, stat adjustments, and item tweaks--many of them meant to give you more chances to make meaningful customization decisions. We didn't see much gameplay during our visit, but we did receive a guided tour of many of Rise of Isengard's new areas. First up was the Bonevales--a region of Dunland and one of ROI's two new starting areas. Your focus will be to learn of Dunland and its various peoples, many of which are succumbing to Saruman's subtle manipulations. In the Bonevales, for example, one tribe's chieftain has fallen victim to his darker side and is diminishing the morale of his followers, who are not native to the region.

Trum Dreng is the other starter area, and its agricultural ambience gives it a very different feel from that of the Bonevales. You will get a glimpse of the rich traditions and social interactions of the seemingly simple people that inhabit this place. Trum Dreng is far north of Isengard, so the area hasn't fallen yet, but the residents are suspicious. In these areas and others, Turbine will make plentiful use of phasing technology, which lets them change your surroundings based on your quest progression.

Next up on our tour was Dunland's main hub, Pren Gwyth. Here you will meet people from many different clans, all with their own unique rivalries and values. The environments we saw were beautiful; abodes with thatched roofs dotted the land, and towers crafted of both stone and wood rose above. In Pren Gwyth and elsewhere, global quest givers will keep the pace moving forward. Rather than giving you quests that force you to complete your tasks and then return for a reward, quest givers may accompany you or move to a new area so that you no longer need to backtrack. One clan you will meet in this area is the Falcon clan; its members do not support Saruman, and they are willing to fight him if necessary. Not every clan is so willing, however, and the Dunlendians are hardly unified in this regard. There is a lot of strife among the clans--and the seeds of mistrust have been planted by Saruman himself.

From here we moved to Dunbog, which, as you may have guessed by its name, was characterized by its murky swamps. The people here are secluded and mistrustful, and you must win their favor in order to discover their secrets. Eventually, you will learn that that were pushed from their home region by abominations created by Saruman, who needed a place to hide these remnants of experiments gone wrong. In this area you will also meet the Boar clan, which is resistant to Saruman, but not yet willing to take up arms. We next visited the Gap of Rohan, which boasted a great view from the hills above. We watched people in the settlement milling below, which made it feel very much alive. And then we visited Gravenwood, where you will begin to encounter Rohirrim scouts trying to minimize the developing strife among clans. They know that tensions are building--they just don't yet know that Saruman is the one inciting war. It's here that you may start glimpsing famed Lord of the Rings characters, such as Grimbold and, later, the Ent called Quickbeam.

Turbine's goal is to re-create the looks of these areas as described in the books, and if Isengard is any indication, they've done a bang-up job. Our last stop was the tower of Orthanc, which rose ominously into the treacherous sky. Here, strip-mining and deforestation have stripped away the beauty of the once-fertile plains. How fitting, considering the expansion's themes of treachery and corruption. In Rise of Isengard, no one will be as they seem, and it will be up to you to discover just what secrets its denizens are hiding. You won't need to wait long to delve into these mysterious lands: The Lord of the Rings: Rise of Isengard will be available September 27.

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The Lord of the Rings Online has had an interesting history as a game. It began as a monthly subscription-based MMO, but about three years into the project, it went free-to-play. The surprising thing about this transition is that it has worked very well: the world of LotRO rings no less true to hardcore Lord of the Rings fans than it did before this transition. Now, Turbine is expanding this game world toward the tower of Isengard, the fortress of the wizard Saruman. I got to spend some time with the folks at Turbine and get an early peek at this brand new content.

Right off the bat, they confirmed there will indeed be a level cap increase to 75. Yes, that adds ten whole levels to the current cap. This immediately begs the question: will there be enough content to make the ten-level grind interesting?

From what they showed me, the answer is a resounding yes.

First of all, there are three brand new regions being added to the game, with many various biomes to explore. I was shown quite a few of these places, and so far, they have all stood up to the traditional LotRO standard of beauty.

The most breathtaking thing I was shown was probably Wulf's Cleft, an overlook above a camp filled with enemy soldiers preparing for war. One thing that stood out was just how many people were swarming about in this camp: it was like watching an anthill. This is more NPCs than we've ever seen in one place in LotRO, and all of them are moving. Other places I was shown include the Bonevales, a resting place for the undead; Tur Morva, a village that reminded me a bit of Lhanuch in Endedwaith, only with snow; Dunbog, a swampy area; and Galtrev, which will be the major hub of this new landmass. Basically, Galtrev is to Dunland what the 21st Hall was to Moria.

These new locations come with new storylines as well. Being in the heart of Dunland, players will encounter various clans of Dunlendings. Each of these clans has a very different relationship with the forces of Isengard. Some clans are doing everything in their power to hold back Saruman's forces, while others have sold themselves completely to the cause of evil. Other clans are caught somewhere in the middle of the balance, unsure whether they have the strength to stand against this darkness. Sadly, many of the clans siding with Saruman don't have much of a choice in the matter.

Some very important cameos have been revealed for Isengard. Most importantly is Saruman himself. LotRO players will finally get a look—albeit probably a very brief one—at the White Wizard in-game. Secondly is Quickbeam, the hasty Ent from The Two Towers. Thus far, Ents have been rare in LotRO—the only one we've seen so far was Longbough up near Lake Evendim—so this appearance is very exciting. Thirdly, Halbarad, a Ranger long-time LotRO players should be quite familiar with, was spotted carrying buckets of something-or-other to help out one of the Dunlending clans that was friendly to the Ranger cause.

To top it all off, there is a brand new 24-man raid shipping with Isengard. And if this isn't enough end-game group action for you, all dungeons that could scale to level 65 before will now be able to scale up to 75. Of course, there will be new loot to accompany these new level 75 versions of familiar dungeons.

Rise of Isengard won't just add content though. There are some tweaks that have been a long time coming for LotRO fans. Most importantly, Monster Play will be available to free players. This means you'll finally be able to participate in PvMP (Player vs. Monster Player) even if you don't have a paid LotRO subscription. Free players will be able to use the Reaver class, but will have to purchase the other Monster classes.

To keep the PvMP areas balanced, Monster Players will now have access to their own version of the LotRO store tailored specifically for their evil ways. Since the Creeps will be getting store access, the Freeps (Free Peoples of Middle-Earth) will now be able to use a lot more of the powerups that have been prohibited in PvMP for a year. Finally, the gloves come off and players are allowed to really lay into each other.

The Rise of Isengard expansion is something fans have been looking forward to ever since it was first announced last year. Thankfully, Turbine has been working hard to ensure we'll be getting something special in September. The only difficult part now is waiting for it.

By Josh Wirtanen
CCC Contributing Writer

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