Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings

"The Best MMORPG To Date!"

Introduction

Since the release of the original UO, I have adopted MMORPG's as my favorite genre. This being stated, of all the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games that I have tried, AC2 is currently the best in it's class.

Review Based on playing with a PC with the following specs:

1.7ghz Athalon
512mb DDR RAM
Geforce 4200ti
Cable Internet connection

Graphics

The graphics are nothing short of amazing by any standards. The game looks breathtaking on a mid-ranged PC, provided you have at least 256mb of RAM and a good graphics accelerator. You will need a high-end system to run at the highest settings. The first person perspective, coupled with the dynamic camera options make for visual delight. The amount of detail included in everything from a blade of grass to a sunrise/sunset is without comparison.

Sound

The sound is very well done in AC2. The music is subtle but dynamic, while the sound effects are immersive. You often forget the sound is even playing in the background until you unplug your speakers for a moment. It all adds to element of the beautiful rendered world of AC2.

Gameplay

The AC2 universe is completely unique in terms of races and lore. It is not your typical D&D style universe but the unique fantasy theme will appeal to fans of this genre. The quests are plentiful and well done. Most of the quests are based on the rich story of the land. Quests are added via monthly patches and include incursions, vaults, story line quests and hosted events. Quests can be soloed or done in Fellowships.

Fellowships are temporary questing/hunting parties that can be formed to hunt or quest, while sharing XP. Allegiances are the games answer to guilds. Allegiances come with a unique XP granting structure and Allegiance ranks. In both types of groups, there are proprietary chat channels and other options that make it easy to communicate and keep tabs on your group. The game boasts a plethora of emotes that make chatting very customizable. In addition to Fellowships and Allegiances, you may also choose to join a kingdom (Order, Shadow or Dominion). Each kingdom gives unique bonuses and will allow you to participate in KvK. PvP is also available in PvP zones or on the PvP server where anything goes.

The concept of crafting is quite unique to AC2. Crafting is streamlined so that you can essentially make all of your own items. It is a challenge to raise your level to make the highest quality items and maintain the resources to keep them up. Crafted items do carry a finite lifespan. This paves the way for gatherings at town forges and trading for items and resources. Of course, you can choose to ignore crafting and purchase your items from other players or loot from monsters.

Currently there are three player races: Humans, Lugians (large brutish creatures) and Tumeroks (naturally adept) The skills and classes are XP and skill point based and are very customizable. You can choose to untrain a skill and go a different route at any point in the game. The classes are based on Melee, Missle and Magic with many subcategories than may be mixed and matched. You do not lose XP for dying, instead you have a temporary vitae penalty (lowers max HP and vigor). Vitae can be recovered by gaining additional experience or with a vitae heal.

The world of Dereth itself is enormous. Currently it consists of three continents. You can travel via mounts, portal ringways or some recall spells if you have trained them. You must be a certain level to reach a new continent, as they are difficulty based.

Support

Support in AC2 should be a model for all online games. The developers frequently communicate with their players and actually listen to and implement their suggestions. Don't worry about ever buying an expansion pack...all updates are done through monthly updates. A great deal of content has been added already and the devs are promising great things down the road.

Summary

To summarize, I would like to restate that this is IMHO the best MMORPG out there and I have played them all. Some people have complained about the content that it released with and lower server populations but I can honestly state that both have been relative to the games age. Content is actually added faster than any other online game that I have played from the beginning...this alone is sure to draw in many new players. I can only see bright things for AC2's future.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/03, Updated 03/18/03