Lord of the Rings Online - Reviews @ About.com, MMORPG.com

Lord of the Rings Online continues to garner strong responses with two new positive reviews out.  Let's start with About.com, who awarded 4/5:

It's inevitable that comparisons to World of Warcraft are going to come up, and there are a lot of similarities between the two games. To Turbine's credit, they've learned from WoW's success rather than ignoring it, and it shows in LotRO. From the basic controls to auction houses to the email system to "swift travel" on horseback, Turbine has understandably borrowed a heap of features from previous titles which gamers have since come to expect. Downtime is minimal and death penalties are soft. Still, LotRO has enough of its own nuances and character to make it feel different, and it also has the mother of all fantasy franchises on its side. While there's plenty of lore behind WoW, LotRO makes the story a central part of the game rather than a mere curiosity.

One big difference between this game and WoW is that LotRO does not have an evil faction akin to the Horde. Monster Play, although fun, is a great deal more limited than the array of PvP options available in WoW. It remains to be seen if this feature is popular enough for Turbine to build on it in the future.

..and then MMORPG.com with 8.5/10:

The quest system as a whole is rather good. Even though it carries the same stigma as other MMOs, you'll find the stories associated with them a little more engaging. The stories that make up the regular quests aren't award winning, but they do make things a little more interesting than just being commanded to go do something without any explanation.

The quests come in a couple of different flavors. The first type is the most obvious; the solo mission. There are no surprises in the mission types for solo quests. As you progress through the levels, the missions advance in difficulty to match you, at least for the most part. Sometimes though, the solo missions can feel a bit too hard to go it alone. Depending on your class, you may find soloing harder or easier. A class like the Minstrel, for example, might have a harder time soloing than say, a Champion.