Champions of Norrath

The latest attempt at spreading the EverQuest franchise has arrived.  Champions of Norrath takes the world of EverQuest and creates a hack-n-slash RPG out of it.  Sounding a little bit like a way to milk the EQ franchise?  Well, yes...but the game is pretty good, so that's okay.  The people that made the original Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, Snowblind Studios, are the developers of Champions of Norrath and their experience shows.  The story is a bit on the simplistic side (EQ addicts will get a lot more out of it than a newcomer), but the amount of detail put on the rest of the game is outstanding.  You'll constantly be upgrading your skills and spells on an intricate tree system as you venture out on numerous quests to kill this or collect that, as well as picking up new stuff for your champion.  What puts it over the top though is the online play, which none of the other Action RPG's (BG:DA2, Fallout:BoS) have.  Oh...and the online play is FREE...and it supports the USB headset!  Yes, an EverQuest game that you play online for free.  A novel idea.  If you can only afford one hack-n-slash RPG for now, Champions of Norrath is easily your best option. 
 
 
Graphics 

Much like the original EverQuest, the 'zones' you'll visit in CoN range from one end of the spectrum to the other, and they look great.  From the forests of Faydwer to the Plane of Air, they all are extremely well done.  The lighting and water effects also live up to Snowblind's reputation...gotta love water effects.  You may not be able to immediately tell much difference between two players of the same race, but once you zoom in on the action you can immediately distinguish the little details that make each character different.  The only drawback that I've noticed is that when you get too many mobs on screen, the framerate slows down a little, but nothing drastic. 
 
 
Control 
If you played Baldur's Gate on PS2, you'll be right at home.  You've got your basic attack button to smash, but you also have two buttons for special attacks and spells, as well as one each for mana and healing potions.  So the controls are pretty straight forward and easy to use, which is how a hack-n-slash game should be.  Simple as that. 
 
 
Sound 
The bad news...there's no trademark "ding" sound when you gain a level.  The good news...everything else.  The voice acting ranges from pretty good to barely decent, but it's always better than reading pages of storyline.  The high point of the sound is the background music and ambient sound effects.  It's been over three years since I actually thought the Plane of Hate was creepy and Snowblind made it creepy again with excellent sound.  I really enjoyed that.     
 
 
Replay Value 
You could play through the single player adventure once with each of the five classes for a semi-new experience.  I doubt many of us would do that, but it's available and must be noted.  That's okay because the online feature is where the Replay Value really comes from in CoN.  The interface is a bit archaic without a buddy list or lobby, but jumping in and playing is fun and easy.  You can trade items with other players and the experience you gain is shared throughout the group with a bonus to whoever gets the killshot, which keeps everyone focused most of the time. 
 
 
Conclusion 
If you love the EQ universe, but are sick of the original game and/or just fiending for something new, Champions of Norrath is going to be a blast.  The game is fast paced and unlike any EQ experience you've ever had.  Little things scattered about the game, whether it's a name of a piece of armor or slight mention in a random NPC's rambling, will bring distant and fond memories to your mind of the original game.  Call me nostalgic, but I love that kind of stuff.  I suggest this game to anyone and everyone who ever got the slightest bit of enjoyment out of EverQuest.  It's a good game on it's own, but as I said before, an EQ veteran is going to have that much more fun with Champions of Norrath.     
 
  
*** This review was written for Flamevault.com shortly after the game's release. ***