Lord of the Rings Online expands

Codemasters Online Gaming has magically revealed that Book 9: Evendim will be the first of many significant expansions for Lord of the Rings Online when it arrives sometime this month.

It will add a vast new area for players to explore, Evendim, which will offer more than 60 quests to get stuck into, plus lots of content for players over level 30 - including the first major raid in the game.

There's also a spattering of new skills to enjoy, enhancements to the Champion class, as well as a handful of new monsters and a fresh storyline to get stuck into.

You see, Aragorn needs your help to scour the ancient city of Annúminas for the powerful relics within, so that he can repair his uber sword. Typical royal behaviour. You'll also get to meet an Ent who is roaming the hills in search of some missing Entwives.

It's just the start of the ongoing support Codemasters Online Gaming will offer the game, according to product manager Ed Blincoe, who insists the publisher has huge plans for the future.

"The Lord of the Rings Online has had a great launch. We're please to welcome the hundreds of thousands of people that have already signed up to play the game," Ed Blincoe told Eurogamer. "We have huge plans for content updates going forwards and the arrival of The Shores of Evendim just a few short weeks after launch highlights this perfectly."

The Lord of the Rings Online is a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game that is actually pretty ruddy good. You can't play as Aragorn and the Fellowship cronies, but you can interact with them on crucial storyline quests.

Head over to our Lord of the Rings Online review to see why it's one of the best MMOs out there.

Alternatively you can follow Frodo into our Book 9: Evendim gallery to see what awaits you in the first major update.