by BrianC - February 17, 2005

The Champions of Norrath have destroyed the god Innoruuk, shattering his body into Shards of Hate. Innoruuk's followers and allies have taken it upon themselves to gather these Shards in order to resurrect their fallen prince. Firiona Vie has called upon the champions to take up the crusade against evil to rid Norrath of this evil threat once and for all. The game is designed to offer up to 100 hours of gameplay per character, unlimited battles, deadly missions and the ability to import characters from the original game.

Gameplay

While Champions: Return to Arms is the sequel to Champions of Norrath, it has little more to offer as far as gameplay. The overall experience of this game is very similar to its predecessor.

The story presented within Champions: Return to Arms is laid out fairly similar to Champions of Norrath, which is not as heavily as some RPGs, but still enough to keep the gamer interested in something other than beating the life out of creatures that roam the lands. The game begins by being able to choose your character from seven race and class combinations. Champions: Return to Arms introduces two new playable races: the Vah Shir Berserker and the Iksar Shaman. The overall gameplay is the ol' hack �n slash method that most of you have experienced, especially if you have played Champions of Norrath. The 10,000 or so weapons and armor in the game world of Champions of Norrath has been added to with thousands of new items, weapons, and magical artifacts. In addition to these new items, Secret Epic items have also been added that can be obtained through side quests that you must unlock.

The level system works just like Champions of Norrath ...kill monsters and gain experience...gain exp. and move up in level. Where Champions: Return to Arms differs from its predecessor is with its increased ceiling for character levels now raised to level 80, and all new skills and spells added to each character type�s skill tree. This makes it great for all of you Champions of Norrath fans out there, since you can now import your character from that and build on it with new spells and items.
 

Visualize this

When Champions of Norrath was released in 2004, I thought I had seen the best of the best as far as dungeon crawling graphics go, and I was right�until now. Champions: Return to Arms has delivered spectacular graphics. Return to Arms brings its players all-new superbly detailed environments as well as all new designed monsters.

Noise?

Champions did in fact return armed and dangerous as far as the sound is concerned. While most of the effects can be heard in Champions of Norrath the quality and strategic placement of certain music adds more to the experience of the game than it did in the first Champions.

Co-op

As seen in Champions of Norrath the use of the multitap can support 4 players in the world of Champions. This alone makes the game worth playing. The hours of slashing away at enemies and trading equipment will draw gamers from all walks of life. The online features have been upgraded to now include a friends list and server-side saves to prevent cheating.

Co-op is for little girls!

Player Vs. Player is another feature added into the game which adds to the multiplayer features. This can be accessed through the arena which in single player mode is a battlefield in which wave after wave of enemies come at you until you eventually die. This is also fun if you want to import your character from Champions of Norrath and test it out against the new classes introduced in Champions: Return to Arms.

Champions: Return to Arms is a must have for any gamer who loves light RPGs, hack n� slash type games, or for those who just love to look at games with beautiful detailing and graphics. While the gameplay is almost identical to Champions of Norrath, after playing around with this game in single player modes and with some friends I have found it increasingly difficult to put down my PS2 controller. I recommend that you cash in your pay checks or break open that piggy bank that has been sitting on your dresser and go pick up this game today.