Champions of Norrath

"An incredible game,suffers only from technical issues."

Introduction-
Ill just come out and say it. this game is amazing. From the gameplay to the graphics everything comes together so well, its hard to not be impressed. this is a action rpg from snowblind the creator's of Baldurs Gate:Dark Alliance. It follows the same type of gameplay but is an improvement on every level. The game takes place in norath and, For those who are ill informed this is the world that the everquest games take place in. but this game is NOTHING like it. Read on.

Gameplay-10

This is one of the funnest console games ive played in a long time,espeacially after the dry spell in gaming that was 03,This is a nice way to start off the new year. The game play is similar to diablo in that you create a character. You can choose a male or female version of each class and adjust things on them such as-skin color,hair color and style,facial hair and lastly you can name them. The classes you can choose are the following-Barbarian warrior,wood elf ranger(my favorite),high elf cleric,erudite wizard,and lastly the dark elf shadowknight. each of the classes have there own skills that you can upgrade as you play in a manner similar to diablo 2. Each character has a skill tree which you add points to. as you level up and upgrade you skills they become more powerfull and after you reach certain levels you can choose from higher level skills. Each skill can be leveled a total of 20 times. Now the gameplay basically revolves around this system. As an action rpg you basically go from area to area killing monsters gaining experience and,Finding items to upgrade you equipment. there are sooo many things too find that its allmost overwelming. every other monster is dropping something new. There are rare weapons as well. similar to phantasy star online in that rare weapons will be in yellow text when you pick them up. this adds a great deal of replay trying to get the next best thing. The game controls solid as well. everything is laid out perfect from the start but you can change it to your liking. one analog controls the camera and the other moves you character. one button blocks and another attacks. pretty simple,pretty effective. You can also assign the Triangle and Circle buttons to use your skills from a menu that is activated by using the d-pad.

Story-6

The story is nothing special but it doesn't have a big head either. the characters you talk to are interesting enough to listen and they dont blab on for eternity. Basically the story is there too give a reason for why you killing all those orcs and goblins. The game opens in the wood elf city of kelethin as it is under siege from an army of orcs and goblins who are uniting across the world to over take it. the king asks you to save them from the attacking army and the game goes from there. its simple and effective,but not amazing either. its just the way it should be for a game like this.

Graphics-9

The only reason this is not a 10 is because of the technical issues i mentioned in my title. The graphics are some of the best the ps2 has ever done and frankly,im amazed snowblind did this on the ps2. particle effects like fire, ice,lightning are awsome. the textures look great even close up. like moss in between the wood that makes up the city of kelethin. even bump mapping (or fake bump mapping as ive been told) make the game really shine. but with the good the bad. The game suffers from slowdown in many areas but most is slight so it does not effect the game. some areas can get real bad but i can only think of about two or three places in the whole game. there is also pop up and a delay in loading the areas ahead of you. for example, you will notice sometimes that an area is black and the game renders in too late,resulting in you seeing a black area and the textures popping up in front of you. some areas this gets real bad and you can walk into a whole area that hasnt loaded yet and see nothing but black than a few seconds later see the whole area just pop up. its not as bad as it sounds and is only real bad in one or two places.

Sound-9

Again the only reason this aint a 10 is because of technical issues. ill start with the bad. what i mean is the music will sometimes skip or even just stop. however this is rare but it happens. also the character that you talk to have speech delay meaning the game wont load the characters voice for a few seconds. ill run out of mana and than five seconds later my character will tell me hes out even though i refilled it. thats the most annoying sound issue. with that said the music has an adventurous sound too it. its not great but i found myself humming a few tunes. Now the sound effects are great. everything sounds amazing like swinging a sword makes a ''ching ching'' type of sound that makes me want to swing it when nothings there,just to get the cool sound. the sounds of steel and magic hitting flesh and bone as you carve up you enemies gives a satisfying slashing sound. arrows flying thru the air sound great as well. sound effects are top notch.

Replayability-10

This game has more bang for you buck than any other ps2 game out there. maybe even any console game out there. it has a diablo like item system with countless items to find and collect,3 difficulties that take about 20 hours each and give out better items the harder it gets. 5 characters and online play means you wont put the game down for awhile. i would like to say here that the online mode can be cumbersome for some people but i wont go into it as this is primarily a single player experience or offline multi-player for up to 4 others. with that said this game has massive replay and you WILL play it many times.

Overall-10

This game has several flaws in the technical department. i was considering giving it a 9 but the gameplay is so great that these issues can be overlooked.

Rent/Buy-BUY

This is an amazing game that NO gamer should be without and it has more replay than any other PS2 game out there for 50 bucks.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/15/04