"This is one of the best games ever!!"

Turbine/Microsoft's Asheron's Call is one best games I have ever played. I am a big fan of RPG's and play all of them I can get my hands on. Except for possibly Baldur's Gate for PC this is the best one I have found yet. If you have the proper equipent (A good 3D accelerator) -- The graphics and effects look great -- especially the details for the flaming swords and such. There is a wide variety of monsters little rats to big huge Shadow Captains. My only major complaint is the sound. The lack of music tends to make things quite quiet at times and the monster sounds like drudge squeals can get downright annoying at times. But the ambient sound such as birds and water are done very nicely. The gameplay and community feel are supurb. With about 10000 people playing at any given time there are always people around to help if you need it, but with such a huge world (500 sq. mi.) you can easily be left alone if you want. The allegence structure helps get new players on their feet and also helps for long-lasting online friendships. There are few problems with online lag -- except when there are about 100 people in one town -- but then the game corrects for this by moving some people just outside the town to speed things up. I have had no problems on a 56K modem. The large variety of weapons, armour and spells makes for endless options to customize and make the perfect character for yourself. And as for replayability -- new content such as Quests, Items, Weapons, Armor, and spells are added each month. All of this added together makes this game well worth the $30 purchase price and the $10 a month MSN Gaming Zone membership -- in my opinon this is a steal.

Graphics: 8
Sound: 5
Gameplay: 10
Interface 8
Replay Value: 10

Total Score -- NOT AN AVERAGE: 9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/15/00, Updated 04/15/00