[LoD v1.09x] Middle Earth v1.8 by Varaya & Khan

[LoD v1.09x] Middle Earth v1.8 by Varaya & Khan

Description: Reviewed by Eisead for the Phrozen Keep.

Categories: Mod Reviews



Does J.R.R. Tolkien ring any bells?
How about Middle Earth?
What about Gandalf the Gray?
Still not got it?
What about Lord of the rings?
Well if you don't have it yet, then I guess I'll just tell you.

It’s the VK Middle Earth Mod, based entirely on the Middle Earth World.

Ever heard of it?


During a slow cold day at the keep I was searching for a good mod to play, something that seemed balanced, fun, and challenging.
A mod that caught my eye was this one.
Upon doing some research I discovered this mod has been around sense the days of Pole Arm Barbs, capless Strafe, and useful Telekinesis.
It's had a lot of time to develop, and it shows.


First lets talk general.
They got rid of that dusty old Cain.
Good, I was tired of hearing his sense babbling about the how I astound him, and my ultimate purpose.
Two
Thumps up, way up.
Now we get to listen to the timeless Gandalf the Gray tell me about the cube…

Almost Everything has been slapped with a shade of Middle Earth Paint.
Orclings, Amazon Chieftains, Wood Beasts, the Balrog of Morgoth, and Melkorohini's. Oh yah, and trolls, trolls till you puke (taken lightly of course).
All the difficulty names are renamed, every super unique is renamed, every area in the game is renamed, and every boss is renamed.
Few mods show this much color anymore.



Each and every character class has some balance to it.
I personally took a Poison and Bone Summoner (Necromancer) to 'Valar' and
did fairly well.
I then took the other six out for a spin through normal.
Like I said the characters are pretty balanced out compared to a lot of mods out there.
But there are no new skills to be heard of, something that is important in mods nowadays.
Some skills have been slightly altered to look a wee bit different, for example the necro summons got a dash of VK paint now get beat down in shades of yellow instead of white.
But if you're looking for new and dazzling skills, you've come to the wrong place.


Items are the next thing in the mod.
Although you'll be hard pressed to find new item leaking out and grabbing you, you'll find new items in a different light, as exceptional and elite versions of the item. A method I liked.
Instead of the same boring Bone knife, you'll get a Bone knife with good, old fashion Diablo 1 Graphics.
A nice touch indeed.
You'll also find there are a lot of new unique and set items, ranging from 'The Orc-Hewer'
to the 'The Swan-Crown of Alqualonde'.
To bad the only real place you'll see these are in the .txt file.
The drop rates are too low for just single player.
It would probably be descent if the mod had a nice host and online, but
it doesn't (that I know of).
The quality of Magic and rare item is also up. Shopping is actually something I did, and rares were commonly good when I found them.
Accident? I think not.


But as far as mods go, this one wasn't that addictive.
Its has a lot of really great features and good balance, but something about it just screams 'been there, done that.'

The new and improved story line is a little interesting to someone that doesn't happen to have Diablo: to Hell and back on hand, and unless you've read the Lord of the Rings or play D&D in the Middle Earth realm then a lot of this mod can be overwhelming almost.
I've always played Diablo II on a less chat more splat bases; this mod is a real system shock to someone like me.
So power gamers should just stick to Zy-El and BG Trappers.


The mod also lacks what a lot of mods nowadays need, pretty interfaces and new maps.
Before I go into a rant about these, keep in mind this mod was here before the days of
shiny new interface graphics, so should I hold it against them?
For the sake of fair reviewing yes, they lack it and I miss them.
There is also a lack of new monster graphics which makes this mod less favorable to the spoiled mod players of today.


Overall, this mod is a great mod with a few, easy to fix problems having to deal with
overall entertainment value.
Balance and playability with a nice item range that works. Well done and it does what blizzard will most likely never do.



Agree? Disagree? Let the world know by clicking here!






Anyone wishing to check out the Middle Earth mod can do so by visiting the official website at http://vkmods.d2mods.com.

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[url=https://d2mods.info/forum/kb/viewarticle?a=108&sid=e77804237f694df3a435fbc24fd61e90]Knowledge Base - [LoD v1.09x] Middle Earth v1.8 by Varaya & Khan[/url]