by BrianC - March 4, 2004

In 2001, one of the best games to release was Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. This provided PS2 gamers with a more action packed, faster paced version of the PC game that they had been asking Santa Clause for these past Decembers. Snowblind developed the engine used for Dark Alliance and a few games of its kind. What ever you like to do in Baldur's Gate style RPGs, Champions of Norrath has something for you. While this game doesn't really have any groundbreaking additions, it polishes to near perfection already existing features. With Champions of Norrath being the second expansion off the Everquest series, like Lords of Everquest no previous knowledge of Everquest is needed to be able to fully enjoy the overall experience that comes with this adventure.

Hack and Slash or Cast?

Which ever you like to do in Baldur's Gate style RPGs, Champions of Norrath has something for you. While this game doesn't really have any groundbreaking additions, it polishes to near perfection already existing features. With Champions of Norrath being the second expansion off the Everquest series, like Lords of Everquest no previous knowledge of Everquest is needed to be able to fully enjoy the overall experience that comes with this adventure.

The plot is not laid on as heavily as some of you RPGers might like with days and days of story being spit at you, but this is not so much a negative thing as Everquest has generally relied on the lore of the game than the in depth story line. The game begins by being able to choose your character from five race and class combinations that, like every other RPG known to gamers, has their own strengths and weaknesses. Next, you move on to set out in the Wood Elf City of Kelethin in which you help defend it from attacking orc raids. For the most part the overall game play of the game is the ol' hack in slash method that I�m sure most of you have experienced with a few minuet changes here and there. All of the weapons and armors found in the game have strengths based a point system. The game tends to give you the illusion that you have complete freedom in controlling your characters strengths and weaknesses by allowing for the placement of armor on lots of parts of your body. Speaking of weapons and armor, there are over 10,000 randomly placed items throughout the game world, which makes for almost 100% unique characters.

The level system works just like every game that has a leveling system...kill monsters and gain experience...gain exp. and move up in level (easy right), at which point you can assign points to different attributes of your character (i.e. strength, dexterity, etc.). You also have skill points at your disposal, which will make new spells available to you, like fire arrows, or a spell to help increase the chances of landing critical hits.

The battle and magic system in Champions of Norrath is exactly what you make of it. While it is possible to go through the whole game making only minor changes to equipment, but making your character increasingly stronger; to fully grasp to battle system you need to customize weapons, armor, and attributes. Also, by doing this, you make it possible for your character to perform combos you could only dream about. One of the most important aspects of battling to me in video games today is the BOSSES. While most games these days have increasingly stupid and sissy bosses, Champions of Norrath's bosses require a certain amount of strategy and skill to "leave behind a path of destruction" through those little buggers. Bosses do things like having little minions around them to make you decide which to eliminate first.

Did you see that?!

If Champions of Norrath was a hot young girl on a beach in California, every one of you would give the old wolf whistle at her. But it's not (too bad huh?) so we'll just say it has awesome graphics. Snowblind has enhanced some parts of the original engine used for this game to include more special effects, texture, and vivid color work than ever before. Models of characters have amazing detail and the background shouts, "look at me because I am super neat!" One example of this attention to detail is while walking through the Queen Ant�s lair you will come across larvae that are squirming around on the ground as you pass. Signature spells, amazing lights, caves lighting up with the casting of certain spells, and explosions make this game's graphics rock my socks. If this is soo awesome why a 9 and not a 10 right? Well there are a few boxy images and skips in the framework to lower this rating. But overall great job on Snowblinds part.

I wanna rock and roll all night!

Well, if by rocking and rolling all night, I mean jamming out to the beautifully orchestrated music that seems to fit near perfectly with every situation and feeling of the game which is also supported by some excellent sound effects, then yes I do. From swords clanking to barrels exploding, if your television has any type of sound coming out of it you will be amazed at how well these effects take hold in Champions of Norrath. SOE did a great job with giving you the feeling of being a true 'Champion' in the world of Norrath (no pun intended).

Fun in the sun

Champions of Norrath should take most seasoned gamers about thirty hours to complete and a little more for the casual ones, but what makes the game great aside from a nice random dungeon generator, is that you have the option of playing with a friend, or going online. The multiplayer aspect of the game is great and smooth. Champions also feature an online portion, which allows you to join up to three other players on SOE�s very own server, and for free. I know free?! Yes, unlike other games like Everquest there is no monthly fee. That in itself makes the game worth getting. For the most part game play is smooth, but on lower connections lag can affect everyone in the game, and we all know nobody likes a 'lagger'. Multiplayer and the online section are definitely going to be points that make Champions of Norrath stand out.

Plasmafactor

The online and offline co-op open up a lot of different venues for constant replay. The unfortunate thing, though, is that the title is limited by its genre: as RPGs are essentially all about character creation and their storylines, once you've been all the way through the plot starts to get old. Though if you are just into hack and slash ways of playing these RPGs then perhaps more lies in store for you. While many RPGs bury themselves in their own clutter, the intuitive menus in Champions of Norrath can be navigated with the greatest of ease. For example, the straightforward visual checkerboard inventory screens are a far superior alternative to their cumbersome text-based counterparts. Similarly, health and mana potions can be easily accessed with the press of a button. The strange glitches and such that might be encountered along the way tend to break the mood that the game puts you as the gamer in, it doesn't completely take away from what is important...killing as many orcs as possible.

Wraping it up just like at Christmas

In the end, you cannot help but wonder why recent games like Baldur�s Gate 2 fail to surpass their heritage and how games such as Champions of Norrath can do that and much, much more. Regardless of how you feel about MMORPGs, if you liked Diablo and Baldur�s Gate then this is most definitely the game to acquire. Plus if you are inching your way into the genre, then Champions of Norrath is also the best way to start. If the Playstation 2 had any heavy hitters these first two months of 2004, then Champions of Norrath was definitely it which only goes to show that just because it may not have the reputation in the action genre that BG did, it doesn�t mean it can�t be a much better game, which is everything it turned out to be and more.