Ok, so i'm writing a review of Everquest 2 for my website and was wondering what people thought of it. I have posted this on several forums and am getting mixed oppininions, so please /discuss.
(also, please note that pictures aren't included YET)
Everquest 2 (EQ2) is the sequel to the popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game Everquest, a game that captivated the minds and imaginations of millions of people across the globe. It seems Everquest 2 is to follow in its 'fathers' footsteps and already has a large number of dedicated players, although no where near as many as Blizzards similar game, World of Warcraft (WoW). Then again this is probably due to the poor advertising of EQ2 when compared to the hype that Blizzard stirred up months before the release of WoW.
The storyline is set several hundred years after Everquest, once again in Norrath, however the world is in chaos after the destruction of the moon of Luclin due to unknown magic. Many cities have been wiped out by falling shards of Luclin, savage armies or other more natural hazards such as plagues and floods. The only two standing cities over the world of Norrath are Qeynos and Freeport. Those whom wish to do good have flocked to Qeynos whilst those who lust for wealth and power have moved into Freeport. The rulers of both cities although not engaged in open conflict have a severe dislike of one another, and it is said that their is a secret war being raged all the time by 'covert agents'.
Being an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game) there are no set goals and there is no way to 'complete' the game as new content, in the form of quests and new features is released all the time. Please note that this game requires an internet connection to play as it is a purely online game, also due to the size of the gameworld and the number of players (thousands) it has to support their is a monthly fee charged to play the game. The fee is only around £8.00 or $12.99 and for the endless lastability of Everquest 2 it is well worth it for those who love games of this genre. Speaking of lastability I myself am astonished at the amount of new content to arrive into the game. During only a couple of months several Live Updates have already been released to the public introducing many new features, relating to both the graphics and gameplay. One of the most impressive additions is the new graphics for Combat Skills and Heroic Opportunities (which are basically 'super' moves that can either mean a swift defeat or a valiant victory)
Now its time to actually review how the game is to play. The first thing a player must do is create a character. Firstly you must select your characters race, those whom played Everquest will be well 'at home' with the choice of character races. Players may choose from:
Human
Half Elf
High Elf
Dark Elf
Ogre
Troll
Dwarf
Halfling
Gnome
Ratonga
Iksar
Kerra
As you can probably see from the list you have a hefty number of choices available to you. After picking your character race you then move onto the customisation screen, which in my honest oppinion is the best in ANY online roleplaying game. You can customise everything from weight and height to hair colour and even skin colour (all dependant on the race you have chosen, so sorry, no green humans!). Now its time to choose your characters name and the server you would wish to play on. Please note that Sony Online Entertainment (the creators and publishers) asks all players to name their character sensibly and in fitting with the game, so, you won't see anyone called Diabetic-Dude running around.
Ok, now your actually in the game world you'll find yourself aboard a ship. This is basically just a tutorial where you learn the basics of the game, you'll learn how to fight, pickup objects, equip things, etc. Once the ship has landed at its destination your character will be on a beach. The first thing you will notice is the amazing graphics of the game, you should see birds flying through the air, clouds floating overhead and the lapping of the water upon the beach. That is if your system can handle it. This leads me to the one floor with Everquest 2, its required system specification is rather high. Here are what Sony Online Entertainment recommends:
OS: Win 98/2000/ME/XP
CPU: 1ghz
Memory: 512mb
3D Card: 64mb card (requires Pixel and Vertex shaders, no MX cards i'm afraid)
Hard-Drive Space: 6gb
Internet Connection: 56k (112k for more fluid ping times)
Your probably thinking, thats not to hard, that however is only the minimum spec. God knows how SOE expect the game to run on a 64mb card, i suggest at least a 128mb Geforce 5 series graphics card. Also, if your like me and have a pretty high end system don't expect to be able to top out all the graphics and still have a fluid FPS rate! I have a nice system (6800 GT graphics card, 2080ghz CPU, 1024mb RAM) and even i still play on Balanced video settings, with a few optimisations, and even at this setting EQ2 is amazing to look at. Visually stunning I tell 'ya!
Ok, back to actually playing the game. After wandering around the island for a bit, selecting what type of character you want to be (mage, scout, warrior, priest) you will undoubtedly want to start killing things (or helping other players). So, equip your weapons and head out, 'thar is Goblin bashing to be done'. First things first i would like to say the combat animations in this game are AMAZING! Enemies block, parry, dodge and lunge in an attempt to stop you. Your character of course does the same making the fights look particularly impressive. Nothing however beats a five minute parry fest with an enemy around your skill level whom just continually blocks your blows and vice versa. Then theres the feeling of accomplishment that follows as you land a Herioc Oppurtunity, causing your character to play an impressive animation accompanied by fire, sparks, etc.
The actual system to control combat is entirely mouse driven, you select skills (spells, moves, etc.) from your Hotbars or from your Skillbook. Movement is controlled with the W,A,S and D keys although they can be configured to your liking. Your character can also do other actions like jumping, crouching, etc. although doing any of these whilst in a fight is particularly retarded and likely to get you killed quickly.
A hotbar:
Your probably now wondering, "If Everquest 2 can't be completed then how can i progress in the world?". Well, players progress by fighting creatures and doing quest for both riches (items, currency, etc.) and Experience (XP). After gaining a certain amount of XP the character 'levels up' and becomes stronger. For example: A Level 1 has no chance against a Level 12 even if they are both wearing the same gear. Get it? Currently the max level any character can attain is 50, but that will change as more updates are released. As you level up you can wear better armour and wield more powerful weapons, you also gain access to a lot of really cool spells and abilities (all depending on player class)
Another thing i should mention is player classes, remember i said at the start where you had to decide what type of player you want to be? Either mage, scout, warrior or priest. Well, at Level 10 you then get to further enhance your character via selecting yet another class. For example: Lets say i'm a Mage (which my character is) and I reach Level 1, i then have to select what area i want to focus my skills in. I have access to either Sorcery (war spells), Conjuration (summoning spells) and Enchantment (enchanting spells). To specialise in any of the above magic types i must become either a Sorcerer, Conjurer or Enchanter. This is accomplished by completing various quests given to you by a certain NPC (non playable character). Another class change occurs at Level 20 but lets not get into that.
One of the other things that makes Everquest 2 so fun is the player interaction. Throughout your journeys through Norrath theres gonna be times when you need someone to guard your back. This is where Everquest 2 really excels, players can join up and form groups (up to 6 players can form a group) to help each other out. Groups can take on stronger enemies due to the advantage of numbers, quest together and split the rewards or just have a good time chatting. Some times though a group of six isn't enough to take down a really big foe, lets say a dragon! In situations like this group leaders can decide to merge their group with another to form a 'raid group', upto three groups can merge into one another, meaning thats 18 adventurers all helping to bring down a tough foe.
Just as a note, I haven't actually mentioned what happens when a player dies. If your character dies via falling, drowning, wounds, etc. then your character has a chance to be resurrected by a Priest character. If there is no priest around then you can choose to respawn at your city, leaving a thing called a 'spirit shard' in the world. Your armour will also take a bit of damage and be less useful until it has been repaired at a Menders (blacksmiths). Remember the spirit shard i mentioned? If you don't then your memory is SEVERLY lacking, anyways, that spirit shard will remain in the world, draining your gained XP until it is recoverd and reabsorbed into your body. To do this just locate the shard ad double click it.
Death in EQ2 is NEVER permanent so do not worry.
In this paragraph i'm gonna explain about NPCs..... because I can. Non Playable Characters are an essential part to Everquest 2 as they are what make up the game, NPCs are everywhere. They are the creatures/people you fight, they are the people that give you quests and they are the people that you buy things off. Everquest 2 pulls immerses players into the game even more due to the fact that most NPCs actually SPEAK to you. As in, use their voice, although you can opt to disable the voices and just read text. Wheres the fun in that? Whats even more great is the different races have different accents. Take the Iksar for example, a proud and fierce Lizard race, they have a sort of 'hissing' accent similar to what it would sound like if a snake were to speak. Oh come on, if you doubt that I know what a Snake sounds like then your obviously a maniac.
For the final paragraph I would like to speak about some locations in the world of Everquest 2. Depending upon what city you opted to join your surroundings will differ. Take Antonice for example, it is a lush land filled with forests, hills and streams. A great and attractive place to explore! But be warned, despite the beauty of the surroundings there are many dangerous beasts around that could quickly turn a pleasant 'stroll' into a run for your life.
Now lets look at the Commonlands, a barren and desolate desert populated by the worst scum of Norrath and filled with nomadic Orc Clans whom would be more than happy to 'remove you from the world of the living' or, to put it more bluntly, to ****ing eviscerate you. Thats why a sword or other weapon should always be at the ready in locations such as this!
There, thats it for my review. Thanks for taking the time to read (or scan) through this document and I hope you continue to browse this website. Now, go and enter the world of Norrath and experience the fun and fear that Everquest 2 brings to your computer screen!
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 88% (a stunning game)
- Thanks, Diabetic-Dude
(also, please note that pictures aren't included YET)
Everquest 2 (EQ2) is the sequel to the popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game Everquest, a game that captivated the minds and imaginations of millions of people across the globe. It seems Everquest 2 is to follow in its 'fathers' footsteps and already has a large number of dedicated players, although no where near as many as Blizzards similar game, World of Warcraft (WoW). Then again this is probably due to the poor advertising of EQ2 when compared to the hype that Blizzard stirred up months before the release of WoW.
The storyline is set several hundred years after Everquest, once again in Norrath, however the world is in chaos after the destruction of the moon of Luclin due to unknown magic. Many cities have been wiped out by falling shards of Luclin, savage armies or other more natural hazards such as plagues and floods. The only two standing cities over the world of Norrath are Qeynos and Freeport. Those whom wish to do good have flocked to Qeynos whilst those who lust for wealth and power have moved into Freeport. The rulers of both cities although not engaged in open conflict have a severe dislike of one another, and it is said that their is a secret war being raged all the time by 'covert agents'.
Being an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game) there are no set goals and there is no way to 'complete' the game as new content, in the form of quests and new features is released all the time. Please note that this game requires an internet connection to play as it is a purely online game, also due to the size of the gameworld and the number of players (thousands) it has to support their is a monthly fee charged to play the game. The fee is only around £8.00 or $12.99 and for the endless lastability of Everquest 2 it is well worth it for those who love games of this genre. Speaking of lastability I myself am astonished at the amount of new content to arrive into the game. During only a couple of months several Live Updates have already been released to the public introducing many new features, relating to both the graphics and gameplay. One of the most impressive additions is the new graphics for Combat Skills and Heroic Opportunities (which are basically 'super' moves that can either mean a swift defeat or a valiant victory)
Now its time to actually review how the game is to play. The first thing a player must do is create a character. Firstly you must select your characters race, those whom played Everquest will be well 'at home' with the choice of character races. Players may choose from:
Human
Half Elf
High Elf
Dark Elf
Ogre
Troll
Dwarf
Halfling
Gnome
Ratonga
Iksar
Kerra
As you can probably see from the list you have a hefty number of choices available to you. After picking your character race you then move onto the customisation screen, which in my honest oppinion is the best in ANY online roleplaying game. You can customise everything from weight and height to hair colour and even skin colour (all dependant on the race you have chosen, so sorry, no green humans!). Now its time to choose your characters name and the server you would wish to play on. Please note that Sony Online Entertainment (the creators and publishers) asks all players to name their character sensibly and in fitting with the game, so, you won't see anyone called Diabetic-Dude running around.
Ok, now your actually in the game world you'll find yourself aboard a ship. This is basically just a tutorial where you learn the basics of the game, you'll learn how to fight, pickup objects, equip things, etc. Once the ship has landed at its destination your character will be on a beach. The first thing you will notice is the amazing graphics of the game, you should see birds flying through the air, clouds floating overhead and the lapping of the water upon the beach. That is if your system can handle it. This leads me to the one floor with Everquest 2, its required system specification is rather high. Here are what Sony Online Entertainment recommends:
OS: Win 98/2000/ME/XP
CPU: 1ghz
Memory: 512mb
3D Card: 64mb card (requires Pixel and Vertex shaders, no MX cards i'm afraid)
Hard-Drive Space: 6gb
Internet Connection: 56k (112k for more fluid ping times)
Your probably thinking, thats not to hard, that however is only the minimum spec. God knows how SOE expect the game to run on a 64mb card, i suggest at least a 128mb Geforce 5 series graphics card. Also, if your like me and have a pretty high end system don't expect to be able to top out all the graphics and still have a fluid FPS rate! I have a nice system (6800 GT graphics card, 2080ghz CPU, 1024mb RAM) and even i still play on Balanced video settings, with a few optimisations, and even at this setting EQ2 is amazing to look at. Visually stunning I tell 'ya!
Ok, back to actually playing the game. After wandering around the island for a bit, selecting what type of character you want to be (mage, scout, warrior, priest) you will undoubtedly want to start killing things (or helping other players). So, equip your weapons and head out, 'thar is Goblin bashing to be done'. First things first i would like to say the combat animations in this game are AMAZING! Enemies block, parry, dodge and lunge in an attempt to stop you. Your character of course does the same making the fights look particularly impressive. Nothing however beats a five minute parry fest with an enemy around your skill level whom just continually blocks your blows and vice versa. Then theres the feeling of accomplishment that follows as you land a Herioc Oppurtunity, causing your character to play an impressive animation accompanied by fire, sparks, etc.
The actual system to control combat is entirely mouse driven, you select skills (spells, moves, etc.) from your Hotbars or from your Skillbook. Movement is controlled with the W,A,S and D keys although they can be configured to your liking. Your character can also do other actions like jumping, crouching, etc. although doing any of these whilst in a fight is particularly retarded and likely to get you killed quickly.
A hotbar:
Your probably now wondering, "If Everquest 2 can't be completed then how can i progress in the world?". Well, players progress by fighting creatures and doing quest for both riches (items, currency, etc.) and Experience (XP). After gaining a certain amount of XP the character 'levels up' and becomes stronger. For example: A Level 1 has no chance against a Level 12 even if they are both wearing the same gear. Get it? Currently the max level any character can attain is 50, but that will change as more updates are released. As you level up you can wear better armour and wield more powerful weapons, you also gain access to a lot of really cool spells and abilities (all depending on player class)
Another thing i should mention is player classes, remember i said at the start where you had to decide what type of player you want to be? Either mage, scout, warrior or priest. Well, at Level 10 you then get to further enhance your character via selecting yet another class. For example: Lets say i'm a Mage (which my character is) and I reach Level 1, i then have to select what area i want to focus my skills in. I have access to either Sorcery (war spells), Conjuration (summoning spells) and Enchantment (enchanting spells). To specialise in any of the above magic types i must become either a Sorcerer, Conjurer or Enchanter. This is accomplished by completing various quests given to you by a certain NPC (non playable character). Another class change occurs at Level 20 but lets not get into that.
One of the other things that makes Everquest 2 so fun is the player interaction. Throughout your journeys through Norrath theres gonna be times when you need someone to guard your back. This is where Everquest 2 really excels, players can join up and form groups (up to 6 players can form a group) to help each other out. Groups can take on stronger enemies due to the advantage of numbers, quest together and split the rewards or just have a good time chatting. Some times though a group of six isn't enough to take down a really big foe, lets say a dragon! In situations like this group leaders can decide to merge their group with another to form a 'raid group', upto three groups can merge into one another, meaning thats 18 adventurers all helping to bring down a tough foe.
Just as a note, I haven't actually mentioned what happens when a player dies. If your character dies via falling, drowning, wounds, etc. then your character has a chance to be resurrected by a Priest character. If there is no priest around then you can choose to respawn at your city, leaving a thing called a 'spirit shard' in the world. Your armour will also take a bit of damage and be less useful until it has been repaired at a Menders (blacksmiths). Remember the spirit shard i mentioned? If you don't then your memory is SEVERLY lacking, anyways, that spirit shard will remain in the world, draining your gained XP until it is recoverd and reabsorbed into your body. To do this just locate the shard ad double click it.
Death in EQ2 is NEVER permanent so do not worry.
In this paragraph i'm gonna explain about NPCs..... because I can. Non Playable Characters are an essential part to Everquest 2 as they are what make up the game, NPCs are everywhere. They are the creatures/people you fight, they are the people that give you quests and they are the people that you buy things off. Everquest 2 pulls immerses players into the game even more due to the fact that most NPCs actually SPEAK to you. As in, use their voice, although you can opt to disable the voices and just read text. Wheres the fun in that? Whats even more great is the different races have different accents. Take the Iksar for example, a proud and fierce Lizard race, they have a sort of 'hissing' accent similar to what it would sound like if a snake were to speak. Oh come on, if you doubt that I know what a Snake sounds like then your obviously a maniac.
For the final paragraph I would like to speak about some locations in the world of Everquest 2. Depending upon what city you opted to join your surroundings will differ. Take Antonice for example, it is a lush land filled with forests, hills and streams. A great and attractive place to explore! But be warned, despite the beauty of the surroundings there are many dangerous beasts around that could quickly turn a pleasant 'stroll' into a run for your life.
Now lets look at the Commonlands, a barren and desolate desert populated by the worst scum of Norrath and filled with nomadic Orc Clans whom would be more than happy to 'remove you from the world of the living' or, to put it more bluntly, to ****ing eviscerate you. Thats why a sword or other weapon should always be at the ready in locations such as this!
There, thats it for my review. Thanks for taking the time to read (or scan) through this document and I hope you continue to browse this website. Now, go and enter the world of Norrath and experience the fun and fear that Everquest 2 brings to your computer screen!
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 88% (a stunning game)
- Thanks, Diabetic-Dude
