On September 5 the next big chunk of Turbine’s ever-expanding virtual recreation of the path of the One Ring across Middle-earth will be opened up, allowing access to a significant portion of Rohan. The total amount of explorable terrain will dwarf previous expansions to this free-to-play MMO; it’ll be over twice as large as what was offered in Mines of Moria.
The storyline for the expansion will follow the Fellowship as it proceeds down the Anduin river and splits up beyond the Argonath. The Anduin forms the eastern border of the expansion’s territory which extends north to Lothlorien and encompasses Fangorn forest and Treebeard’s Hill but does not extend all the way west and south to Helm’s Deep. Expect that to come in a future update.
To get around faster this large new space you’ll get a War Steed shortly after arriving and can take part in a mounted combat system, where you can swing at wargs and enemy riders while galloping across the countryside. The mounted combat mechanics aren’t simply a few tacked-on options to swing swords while riding. Turbine has implemented a deep leveling and upgrade system to make the gameplay of mounted combat really stand out compared to combat on the ground.
When your character is astride a War Steed you’ll immediately feel a difference, because the new horses move two to three times faster than standard mounts. To be successful in combat, you’ll also need to keep moving. Charging across terrain builds a Rage meter, and the degree to which the meter is filled bestows bonuses to your attacks. This means it’s in your interest to charge an enemy, land an attack, then continue riding past to build more Fury before charging in again. Considering the alternative – charging into a fight then standing still next to an enemy while trading sword strikes – this seems like a smart design decision.
While riding across terrain you can queue an attack for your intended target, which will then trigger once you’re within attack range. Before you gallop away, it’s also possible to land a few more hits while nearby, lending a welcome sense of urgent excitement to each attack charge to deal as much damage as possible within a small window of time. Combined with the Fury system, it seems like an excellent way to keep battles exciting and reward more skilled play.
Factor in how these mechanics play out in groups and the system gets even deeper. While there aren’t any formalized combo attacks possible, all classes get entirely new, class-specific skill sets while mounted on a War Steed. Many will provide short-range buffs for attack and defense, so for tackling some of the more challenging beasts and enemy packs, called War Bands, roaming the stony fields of the expansion’s terrain, it’s advantageous to stick together instead of scurry all over as soon as an enemy nears. Coordinated sweeps across the terrain, where party members strike and regroup in tightly-bunched packs to stay in range of area of effect buffs will result in more frequent victories.
Depending on how you want to fight while mounted, you’ll be able to switch between three different stances that add custom effects to enhance damage output or survivability, letting you adapt to a role needed within the group. Not only that, but your War Steed will level up as you play, and can be specialized through a detailed trait system separated into three main categories. The Light trait tree represents the glass cannon approach, where you sacrifice defense for higher acceleration, which in turn helps you more quickly build Fury to launch high damage attacks more often. The Heavy path is more for bulking up defenses and staying alive longer, and the Medium build is a blend of the two, with some additional utility skills like the ability to scare away targets and a bonus to remount speed, useful when you get knocked from the saddle.
It’s possible to build and save multiple trait allocations for each horse, letting you switch roles depending on the group, though only one build can be active at a time. The steeds also have completely customizable appearances, letting you drop new pieces of armor onto sections of their bodies, swap around saddles and even dye them to change the color of their coats. All this, together with the smart gameplay decisions, makes the mounted combat system seem not like the flimsy advertising gimmick it could have been, but an excellent way to provide alternative gameplay while keeping it consistent with the Lord of the Rings universe.
Other elements of gameplay contribute to this impression as well. After accelerating your horse will automatically run across terrain, relieving you of the responsibility of telling it to move forward, letting you focus on proper turning, target tracking and ability use. This helps give combat a certain sense of rhythm not before present, where an opponent’s slowing attack has a whole different effect than simply hindering your movement speed, because it also wipes out your fury bar, meaning you need to loop around again if you want to rebuilt it and make an efficient strike.
About half of the content in the Riders of Rohan expansion involves mounted combat, the rest will be the types of more familiar on-foot encounters within some nicely detailed environments. Fangorn is particularly impressive, with some parts wreathed in ominous fog and shadow as sickly shafts of light stream down through the canopy, where towering hostile trees lurk and spiders wait to attack. The views from some of Rohan’s higher ledges are equally striking, offering broad views of wide river plains while you fight orcs atop towering stony ridges.
Hopefully Riders of Rohan lives up to its promise when Turbine launches it on September 5.
Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com
