Arch1

As a long-time player of the game since the bygone days of the first Beta, it saddens me to say that Helm's Deep is one of the worst expansions I've ever encountered for a game, if not the worst, and i truly fear for what its results will do to the game I once loved so very much. There really isn't much at this point that can be added beyond what others have mentioned before. Even after the release of a major patch that allegedly fixed more than 500 known issues, the gameplay remains somewhat buggy and quite problematic, and the unnecessary changes to the skill traits that no-one asked for which have no justification behind them when examining the classes before and after have damaged classes as a whole. The "Big Battles" remain mostly as they were, dull expanded skirmishes if this is what Turbine considers to be 'epic', then to quote a favorite character from an old good movie, "You keep using that word I do not think it means what you think it means." As is a constant in LOTRO and its expansions, the landscape and environment remain excellent. The music is fine, though nowhere near as good as in previous portions and expansions of the game (which can be attributed to the absence of the original/previous composer Chance Thomas). The little good is not enough to forgive what is, in the end, a poor, seriously-unpolished and deeply flawed addition to a game one that has not improved but actually damaged that which existed before.

With the goal of remaking and improving on a gaming classic, LSL Reloaded succeeded above and beyond. Yes, the ages-old age verification remained true to its originally-annoying form but if it was easy to get around it then, it remained just as easy today (even easier, since you can just google the answers if actually fill it out). As to the game itself, the humor the beating heart and soul of the LSL games is top notch. What a difference it makes to have the Al Lowe, the actual man behind the original games, heavily involved in this game (the past few "Larry" games released since LSL7 were without his involvement and boy does it show). The visuals are a treat, and the sound and music even more so kudos to Austin Wintory on a fantastic score that never seems out of place. In the end, a shiny, funny new version of and old classic.