Warsteeds look cool up close, but I spend most battles with the camera maxed out.
Changing Horses in Midstream
Turbine's essentially redefining the combat experience we've known until now.
That's why Riders of Rohan's mounted combat seems so promising. Stepping atop my new war steed, I feel as though I'm slipping into a new character in a different game. Gone are the mountains of abilities that plague combat on foot; instead, you have a row of six or so customized abilities that translate the experience of playing the nine classes to horseback. What's more, the horses themselves play like new avatars, complete with a massive sampling of traits (or talents, for the non-LOTRO faithful) spread out among three trees to complement the even larger division of light, medium, and heavy horses, and slots for cosmetic upgrades and a slot for legendary items to distinguish the concept further. In other words, this isn't some pointless mini game; on the contrary, Turbine's essentially redefining the combat experience we've known until now.There are plenty of ways to horse around with the new traits.
Turning at full gallop requires wide arcs that take up what feel like the acreage of half a zone in other MMORPGs.
A Horse of a Different Color
Indeed, mounted combat takes some getting used to. It's accessible enough that I was killing mounted enemies on the plains of Norcroft faster than the developers who accompanied me within a couple of minutes of mounting for the first time, but the mounts themselves differ so completely from your standard MMO fare that you might be better off switching to your old-style mounts in towns until you can get used to speed mechanics. Warsteeds retain their realistic turning animations wherever you go, so even turning around on a narrow street will take a little more room that the immediate switchbacks most of us know from other MMORPGs. Again, keep in mind that this isn't some mere gimmick; fully half of Riders of Rohan's quests supposedly revolve around mounted combat, so you'll have to master it if you want to get the most out of the expansion.
Too many trees? Time to get off my high horse.
It's a ballsy move, particularly since LOTRO's competitors usually keep mounted combat tucked in the fringes.
Not Just a One-Horse Town
Turbine, on the other hands, realized the need to introduce entirely new mounts with new animations, ultra fast speeds, and massive health bars, and just to push the concept further, they designed Rohan to be so large that it feels like much of the already-massive game world could fit in its borders. The decision complements the combat, which is based on building up "fury" with each pass of your steed, and thus it requires a lot more room than you'll find in the rest of the game. As a result, Rohan feels like a sprawling prairie kingdom of horse lords rather than the joggable landscape we've seen until now.
Exploring it is fun enough on your own, but there's a touch of Guild Wars 2 involved in that you get credit for kills regardless of who first tagged the enemy while you're in Rohan, and thus playing with others is the most fun I've had in LOTRO in years. Even better, you don't even have to disrupt the action by dismounting and looting, since RoR does it for you. The changes are so extensive that it's hardly surprising that you can't use the mounts' combat skills outside of Rohan (although they retain their speed and movement mechanics); after all, all that running around would eventually have every enemy trailing after you in a smaller zone that's designed for foot combat.
I bet I can make my horse drink that water.
It plays much more like the console hit Red Dead Redemption.
This is key, as previous attempts at mounted combat in Darkfall and Age of Conan felt a little more like the clunky mess we recently saw in Skyrim, which seems much better suited for single player games than MMORPGs. RoR's fast and comparatively accessible combat, on the other hand, captures the same atmosphere that made Red Dead Redemption a multiplayer hit so many months after players wrapped up its campaign, particularly since they both encouraged dismounting when dense terrain or the need for more tactical gameplay demanded it. In this case, it's the realistic density of spots like Fangorn Forest, where roots and low-hanging branches call for the type of strategies aimed at battles on your own feet.
Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth
So yes, I'm in love for now, but I admit it's the kind of love that springs from a first date. Those happy hours, in other words, before you meet the parents and learn about your date's stash of Twilight porn fiction. My time with Riders of Rohan so far clocks in at a mere couple of hours, and all of it in beta. Again, it works well for the ranged playstyle of my Hunter, but I worry that melee-based classes will find it less satisfying overall. Killing enemies on horseback also takes some time even after you've mastered the technique, to the point that you'll sometimes find it faster just to get off your horse and smite your foes the traditional way if you're down to the last orc, and thus usual bunch who rush to the level cap may not feel as satisfied.
Forget the horses for a moment: Riders of Rohan's interiors are LOTRO's best.
It's a shame that new players have to level all the way to level 75 before trying it out.
But this could work out. I've always welcomed excuses to visit Turbine's take on Middle Earth, particularly since it grows more beautiful with each installment (although the outdated character models themselves seem increasingly jarring in a world where gear and scenic textures modernize without them), and even now it puts up a tough fight with Guild Wars 2 for the honor of being my "chill out" MMO. Riders of Rohan's mounted combat makes this rich environment feel even more rewarding, and its promising implementation feels more enticing than many of the other goodies I've experienced over the last year. I'd approach it with a healthy dose of skepticism, of course, but for now, I can't wait to jump in and experience Rohan for myself for more than a couple of hours. It's a massive improvement over the disappointments of the Rise of Isengard expansion, and it's one of the few recent MMORPG features that genuinely feels like something new instead of a refinement of existing concepts. If you'd like to join me, today marks the official release.
Shhh! Keep it down, they'll hear you! Ah, dammit, there they go again: Wargaming.net has already started working on a World of Horses. Ah well. What game has the best mounted combat you've ever played?