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PS2 | RPG | Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest

Boxart for Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest
Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest 33 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 5.0
  • SOUND: 4.5
  • CONTROL: 4.5
  • FUN FACTOR 5.0
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.8
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.4
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Review: Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest

Review by DUNJINMASTER | 02/10/2004 | 18:37:53 PM PST

The Snowblind-style action/RPG goes online with flying colors in Champions of Norrath.

When Sony Online teamed up with Snowblind Studios, everyone figured the resulting game would be awesome. What came out of that partnership is Champions of Norrath, a game that sets itself apart in an up-and-coming genre with its lovingly crafted look and devilish sense of challenge.

SOW For Corpse Run
Anyone who?s played EverQuest knows that Sony Online isn?t a company known for coddling its players, and Champions of Norrath?s top feature, despite the bullet points on the package, is its challenge. Tougher by far than the other games in the growing action/RPG genre, Norrath rewards cautious and smart assaults where others give incentive to simply wade in and slaughter. That sense of challenge rides a thin line between difficult and frustrating, and in places, it crosses that line without apology. For each player you add to the game (up to four people can play), the gameplay moves from tactical ambushes toward all-out war, but the game will kill your characters (and do so frequently) without mercy.

Luckily, your characters are built to take a beating. All five classes (each with male and female versions) have a Diablo II?inspired skill tree, and while some don?t make sense, even from an EverQuest perspective (why can?t the cleric heal until Level 8?), there are plenty of options for character customization. A shadowknight specialized in disease spells will play differently from one who concentrates in Lifetap and skeleton summoning. This customization is a good thing, especially because you?ll want to take your guy online, and you don?t want to be just like everyone else.

Ding!
Norrath looks and sounds great, and the game (shipped on a dual-layer DVD to make room for the detailed textures) really makes the PS2 sing with vivid textures and highly detailed character models. You can move the camera, though your control of it diminishes as you increase the number of players in the game. Playing with four, no one has any control over the camera at all, which can get frustrating. Gorgeous (if not a bit inappropriate to the action) music flourishes throughout the game, and professional voice acting gives personality to the rather loquacious characters. Strangely, the iconic (and immensely satisfying) EverQuest ?Level-Up Ding? sound is missing, which some EQ fans might notice, but most players won?t care.

Playing the game feels very similar to playing others of its type, most notably Snowblind?s own Baldur?s Gate: Dark Alliance. Constant inventory management stalls the pace of the multiplayer game, though the online mode (complete with vital headset support) solves just about every problem you?ll have with multiplayer. Control is pretty straightforward and simple, though spellcasters might find themselves wishing for D&D Heroes? targeting control for aiming spells.

Gratz!
Snowblind all but created a genre with Dark Alliance, and Norrath is a good followup to that title. It?s gorgeous, long, deep, and fun, and that extra level of challenge should whet the appetites of gamers bored with typical hack-n-slash.


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