Middle-Earth Online

Five years after Sierra announced Middle-Earth Online, we��re finally starting to see progress on it. The massively multiplayer game is emerging from vapor at Turbine Software (developers of Asheron��s Call) and is tentatively slated for late 2004.

MEO is set after the Fellowship exits the mines of Moria. The game lets you choose from one of four races (Men, Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves) to bash orcs, explore, craft objects, and own homes in places like Bree, The Shire, or Rivendell.

Three new character classes have been announced: soldiers, sages, and elven scouts. Soldiers are obviously good for fighting. Sages are students of lore and the secrets of Middle-earth. Although weak in melee, their healing spells make them invaluable in a fight.

Elvish scouts patrol elf realms to counter the menace of orcs and other interlopers. Scouts are completely at home in the wild and are able to turn the terrain of the land to their advantage. Stay tuned for more news in coming months.

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.