Place 5 – The Lord of the Rings Online
Setting: Fantasy | Developer: Standing Stone Games | Platform: PC | Release-Date: April 24, 2007 | Score on Metacritic: 86
What kind of game is that? The Lord of the Rings Online takes place in Middle-earth around the time of the films and offers a great atmosphere and a special community. In the game, you meet iconic characters like Gandalf, Frodo, or Legolas and can choose from different races for your character.
The focus of the MMORPG is on PvE, quests, and the story. You can expect exciting dungeons and raids. PvP, on the other hand, plays a subordinate role. The combat system is based on classic tab-target games like WoW.
What is the best score on Metacritic? With 96, the website Worth Playing gave the highest value of all testers. In the review, quests and the story are particularly praised. The testers even go so far as to describe The Lord of the Rings Online as a potential “WoW-killer”. Only the lack of raid content at that time is criticized.
What is the worst score on Metacritic? PC Format only gave LOTRO a 72. However, the detailed review can no longer be read today. The excerpt states:
The most perverse thing is that the most entertaining moments have little to do with Tolkien or his wonderfully hyperactive imagination, but much more with Turbine’s ability to create a captivating MMO experience.
How is the MMORPG doing today? The Lord of the Rings Online is still being actively developed today. In April 2022, many of the old contents became permanently free, including three classes, one race, and a total of four expansions.
The next expansion is planned for November. This includes new areas, new quests, and the Mariner class.
On Steam, the player numbers for The Lord of the Rings Online are very stable. This is also likely to apply to the regular client. For the common PvE content, there are definitely enough players in 2022.
In general, there is some new information about player numbers in 2023: The company behind MMORPGs like The Lord of the Rings Online and DC Universe reveals its player numbers – One title has dropped significantly.
Place 4 – Dark Age of Camelot
Setting: Fantasy | Developer: Mythic Entertainment | Platform: PC | Release-Date: October 9, 2021 | Score on Metacritic: 88
What kind of game is that? In Dark Age of Camelot, three realms fight for dominance in the game world. At the beginning, you level a character and improve its skills, while in the endgame, Realm vs. Realm played the most significant role.
Each realm has different versions of certain classes that differ significantly. This led to curious class combinations:
- Shadowblade is a rogue who can use a two-handed weapon
- The Scout is an archer who fights with a shield
- The Animist can create lots of mushrooms that shoot at enemies
Until 2019, you had to pay for a subscription for the MMORPG, then it became Free2Play.
What is the best score on Metacritic? The best score comes from the website Electric Playground. They gave it a 98. In the brief preview of the review, it says:
I cannot remember the last time I had so much fun playing. Sometimes I really felt like a little child completely immersed in a fantastic “let’s pretend” game. At my age, this feeling does not occur so often, but when it does, you enjoy it.
What is the worst score on Metacritic? For Dark Age of Camelot, the website Gaming Age only gave a 67. While they praise it as the best “currently available MMORPG,” they say it lacks innovations.
How is the MMORPG doing today? Dark Age of Camelot is still running after 22 years and is still playable. In 2022, new servers were even opened, which recall WoW Classic at least a little.
Due to its age and the dated graphics, the MMORPG is now more of a niche and cult game.
Place 3 – Guild Wars 1
Setting: Fantasy | Developer: ArenaNet | Platform: PC | Release-Date: April 28, 2005 | Score on Metacritic: 89
What kind of game is that? Guild Wars 1 is not a classic MMORPG. Instead of walking through an open world and meeting other players there, each area is instantiated, and only your group is present in it – like in a dungeon.
Otherwise, GW1 takes some interesting paths:
- For combat in the game world, there are henchmen or heroes, so you don’t have to rely on other players.
- You can create a max-level character directly to plunge into PvP with.
- Level 20 is already the max level, and also the maximum gear can be obtained within a few hours.
- The appeal lies in creating new builds and crazy group compositions.
Overall, Guild Wars 1 offers dozens of hours of story content, over a hundred areas, and several dungeons.
What is the best score on Metacritic? Both Detroit Free Press and Computer Games Magazine gave the game a full 100. However, both reviews can no longer be read in full.
However, Detroit Free Press writes in the short excerpt:
We were overwhelmed by the huge selection of high-quality game content that is available here for 49.99 dollars (USD) and without online fees.
Guild Wars 1 was one of the first MMORPGs ever to do without subscription costs and instead opted for buy-to-play.
What is the worst score on Metacritic? From the website Edge Magazine, there was a 70. In the brief excerpt on Metacritic, they criticize mainly that you constantly need 8 players and good coordination in voice chat to have fun. At release, there were no heroes, only the pre-made henchmen.
Furthermore, it says: “Guild Wars offers an intelligent and demanding thrill that combines the best of the skills and strategies of FPS deathmatches with a role-playing world.”
How is the MMORPG doing today? Guild Wars 1 is in a kind of maintenance mode. There has not been any new content for years as the developers are fully focused on the successor Guild Wars 2.
However, the servers are still running, and small events such as Easter, Halloween, or Christmas take place regularly.
Whether getting into the MMORPG is worth it for you is revealed here:
Why Guild Wars 1 is still interesting 15 years after its release
