3. Lord of The Rings Online

A trove of Tolkien lore and an epic role-playing adventure waiting to happen

A gem from 2007, Lord of The Rings Online is showing signs of new life. If you have ever imagined life in the Tolkien-verse, take a grab at this immersive massive multiplayer experience spanning adventures all across Middle-earth from The Misty Mountains to Mirkwood. Follow a unique storyline intertwined in the War of The Ring.

Create your character and buckle in to knock out that tutorial. Made it? Great! In Lord of The Rings Online you are more than free to completely ignore the storyline of the game and forge forth into a world that is vast, littered with lore, and frankly intriguing. LoTRs fans will have a field-day and people on the fence may find themselves researching Elf-speak and delving the depths of the differences between Orcs, Goblins, and Urak-hai.

That said, this game stayed true to the main reason to get into an MMO and that is to get immersed in the universe and role-play to your heart's content. With shelves upon shelves of lore and detail for LoTR fans to drown themselves in, this game remains the go-to if you are itching for an RPG experience within the Tolkien-verse. What’s more, in 2016 the game switched hands and is currently being maintained and developed by Standing Stone Games who have been working on Dungeons & Dragons Online as well. The game is alive and being updated so it is not a bad time to get back into it if you have been considering it.

What stands out:

• Free to play
• Incredible archive for Tolkien-lore

Huge raids and PvE    

An array of class specific skills

2. For Honor

For honor! Until you start playing online, in which case do whatever it takes to win I guess

For Honor is a third-person melee which drops you in the boots of an elite warrior shedding blood and making widows for the sake of your homeland. Three heavily-inspired classes - the Knight, Samurai, and Viking - fight for glory and supremacy in this war torn, semi-historical, universe. Ultimately, this game is a competitive arena brawler focused on tactical combat and objective capturing. Variety is brought to the game by giving each faction four classes to choose from and a unique hero for that class per faction. Crush your opponents with the oppressive might of the Samurai Shugoki and his massive spike mace or flitter about the battlefield harassing and staggering multiple opponents with the versatility of the Viking Shaman.

While you may spend the majority of the game edging on the hype of a one-on-one duel with another character and constantly chasing your rival, the game does possess many team-based elements and game modes such as Dominion or Tribute that rely more on a group effort and objective capturing than simply hacking away at the first person you lay your eyes on.

While the game is gorgeous and madly entertaining, it is known to be full of glitches and a fair amount of balancing issues. For a casual player, these issues are not glaring enough to be a total turn off, but I would be wary of becoming too invested.

What stands out:

• Unique warriors to master
• Innovative battle control system

Dying For Honor

Clashing For Honor