Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle

"Just another levelgrind. When is the next gen of MMORPGs coming?"

Lineage 2 is what one might call a clone. It takes something that has gone before, duplicates it, and fixes it up a little. There's nothing new, revolutionary, or, god forbid, fun in this game.

Graphics: 6
The graphics in Lineage 2 are generally very pretty. There are some fairly detailed character models, very little lag, and some flashy higher level spell effects. Unfortunately, there is extremely little variety where it matters. You can barely customize your character at all, so everyone looks pretty much the same. One hilarious/scary thing is the dwarves. The men look like old perverts and the women look like underage girls. Must be that korean hentai fascination showing through.

Sound: 6
The music, what there is of it, is alright. Good background music, nothing you'd remember. The sound effects are very standard. Nothing bad, nothing that stands out, either.

The Story: N/A
Well, it is a role-playing game right, so it should have a story? Pretty much, the story is nonexistent. There is some background info, but the game is all about hack & slash to gain levels in order to siege castles. Also, the NPCs are generally very poorly translated.

The Gameplay: 2
How do you play Lineage 2? You select one of 5 races, then one of 2 professions, then one of 2 genders, and then you get to choose haircut. After that, you run around and double-click on respawning monsters for hours to gain levels. Quests consist of killing more respawning monsters. Wolves and giant spiders strangely enough leave gold pieces, so you can buy better equipment to keep getting better at killing things. Little-to-no skill is required, all that matters is having the hours free to pump into the game to levelgrind, and a sturdy left index finger that can take a few cramps. If you have no life, you can waste away months double-clicking to become the strongest of them all in the entire game. Well, except for everyone who wastes as much time as you.

There are a few other issues. There is no role-playing (as in people pretending to be that orc warrior that just tried kicking your ass but instead got pwned. instead, you will get a whisper with "why did u kill me? i was kidding!!11" ), people have ridiculous names, and you get bombarded with ooc messages in languages you don't understand (and i speak 3).

The main positive aspect of the gameplay is after you've wasted 40-50+++ hours and gained some levels so you can take part in the castle sieges. Very, very cool. But quite frankly, it still has nothing to do with skill. Just who has had the opportunity to put the most hours into their character.

Conclusion: Lineage 2 is a disappointment, and certainly not a next generation MMORPG. It is a much prettier, more limited Everquest. Or a really, really boring & slow version of Diablo 2. If what you want out of a game is endless double-clicking to death of enemies to gain levels, while chatting with people from all over the world, go right ahead, enjoy the game! If you want something that will challenge you, be original, or has a story, then stick to something else.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 05/09/04