Recent reviews by SneakyPhoenix

I'm doing my part too!

Was a pleasant surprising hearing the theme song to the Sharpe (Sean Bean) TV series

"Here's forty shillings on the drum
For those who volunteer to come,
To 'list and fight the foe today
Over the Hills and far away
[Chorus]

O'er the hills and o'er the Main
Through Flanders, Portugal and Spain
King George commands and we obey
Over the hills and far away

When duty calls me I must go
To stand and face another foe
But part of me will always stray
Over the hills and far away
[Chorus]

If I should fall to rise no more
As many comrades did before
Then ask the pipes and drums to play
Over the hills and far away
[Chorus]

Then fall in lads behind the drum
With colours blazing like the sun
Along the road to come what may
Over the hills and far away"

Ever since the game released on Epic i've been patiently waiting for the day it released on Steam - AND at long last it has come.
The game is alright, its not reclaim Moria (got that experience with the Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria) but it is fun exploring the map and finding locations the Fellowship travelled through.
I'm having fun clearing out debris and and making serviceable repairs to buildings/bases. I also picked up an addiction with plastering walls with torches whenever possible.

Like Arma but Sci-fi

Nothing quite like slowly advancing into a swarm of bugs with your squad mates matching pace

You're trying to force players to buy the game again by shutting down the servers and then releasing a (full price) "remaster"? Really?

I knew the game was poorly optimised (be prepared to buy a 500gb HDD/SSD just to access all the content), but I didn't realise that was down to greed and not simply incompetence.

Its a fun game with fun mechanics. Its a lot easier to find a game in Infinite as opposed to MCC and rocking camo on Spartan armour is great.

Its like Gears of War and Vermintide had a baby. Plus the soundtrack gives off some Jurassic Park Lost World vibes which is nice.

I like all the references to the entire Starship Troopers franchise, it feels like a trip down memory lane in the best possible way.

I've been playing the game on and off since 2007, but lost my original account when ownership of the servers switched over from Turbine to Standing Stone Games. I got back into the swing of it around 2016, the game has gone through some changes since then:
- You can grind up on any Virtue you want, so you can tailor your experience much earlier and easier than before.
- You don't have to have 4 or 6 players to form a Kinship, you can form one on your own and wait for 3 months to get your very own (legal) kin house/storage space.
- The fact its much easier to level up and that you're allowed to pick what virtues you want to level up means the game is much more solo friendly, you don't have to stress yourself out with finding a fellowship in order to progress through the storyline.
- Houses are more than just a trophy room, you can craft stuff in them and if you're a VIP (subscriber) you can access the mail or auction hall without having to move an inch - which saves heaps of time.
- The crafting bags are great for saving space. One of the main issues I had with the game was finding space for all my items (..mostly cosmetic). I would highly recommend getting the starter bundle (located on the LOTRO website, under LOTRO market, special offers) as you get one crafting bag and a race pack for a pretty good price.
- And more..

Overall I still enjoy playing LOTRO and am happy to pay to be a VIP (subscriber).