Champions: Return to Arms

"Get Another Axe!"

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's the philosophy that must've been on the minds of the developers of Champions: Returns to Arms. Aside from new areas, and some new characters, it all remains the same. This isn't a bad thing, but if the original game couldn't hold your interest for a while, you may as well just skip this one. Sure, hacking and slashing is a lot of fun, but it can get old after a while. That's my only main concern with this game. The original only came out a year ago, and there have been no significant improvements to the game. I knew this going in, but the game never really captured me the way the original did. Sure, it's still a lot of fun, especially the multi-player, but that isn't necessarily enough.

The story is a total downgrade from the last game, as it isn't nearly as interesting. Basically, the character you select becomes the Champion of Firiona Vie, a beautiful goddess in the clouds high above Norrath. In the previous game, the God of Hate was killed by your character, and now his shards have been scattered over various planes. But wait! Early on in your adventure, you will have the chance to defect to the evil side! You still have to fight through legions of evil enemies, and the story remains remarkably similar, but you get to talk to a few new characters and some dialogue changes. Revolutionary it isn't. The story isn't nearly as cool as the first game, which had you chasing an orc commander through the realms of Norrath. This game seems like a big fetch quest.

The gameplay remains exactly the same. All of the classes that appeared in the first game are back, which means you'll be able to import your level 50 barbarian for some serious ass-kicking. If you're tired of dark elves, rangers and wizards, there are two new races for you to choose from. One is a Vah Shir berserker, a big tiger-man who specializes in ferocious melee combat and throwing axes. The throwing axes are cool, but hardly a departure from bows and arrows. The second new class is the Iksar Shaman, big lizard-men that command all sorts of magical spells to aid them in their melee battles. They have a few cool spells, like summoning a swarm of insects. I choose to go through the game for the first time as a berserker, since I was really tired of the barbarians. It doesn't matter who you play through as, the game will feel similar every time, and will grow increasingly repetitive.

You are transported from Plane to Plane, and your objective is the same: to find the shard. The pacing is much quicker than the original game, which is a good thing toward the beginning of the game, but once you start going back to areas you fought in during the last game, it may easily become boring. Hack your way through legions of enemies to the boss, break a few barrels along the way and kill the boss. There aren't any real surprises, unlike Norrath, which might throw in a boss in the middle of the level. The bosses in RtA are at times, overly hard, and there's nothing you can do but load your save and just try again and again until you get it right. You can't learn anything, since many of these bosses will kill your character in one or two hits. This is odd, since the majority of the game is rather easy. Difficulty spikes like this definitely hurt the pacing this game was trying to achieve. Still, finding new weapons and new armor to make your champion look like a total badass is still a lot of fun. There have been plenty of new weapons and armor added to the game, including a few that are a sidequest in itself. Speaking of sidequests, once you have conquered a plane, you can go back and participate in a challenge. They can be anything from: "defeat these enemies using only three potions", or "defeat x number of enemies within the timeframe." These are a lot of fun, and challenging without being annoying. Plus, if you get bored with the story, you can always fool around with these.

Maybe the graphics have been given a little upgrade, but they were so good to begin with it's hard to tell. The water graphics are still amazing, especially if you run through narrow corridors of it, it will splash off the walls and ripple back into each other. It may not seem like much, but it's very cool to look at. The magic spells, are once again beautiful. Fire and ice raining from the sky looks absolutely awesome, especially if you're the one creating it. The character models are great as well, especially if you're using the closest view. While I enjoyed all of the environments, there were a few that I thought were just downright uninspired and boring. Environment can be everything in a game like this, because if you aren't drawn into a game, it may easily get boring. There isn't much music, only at a few moments will it kick in. This is fine, as I'm here to fight, not listen to music. Still, Champions had great music and I wish they had carried over full scores instead of a few melodies. Nothing major, but a little disappointing. The voices are surprisingly good, no matter what kind of character it is. The enemies can give some fairly hideous shrieks, enough to make a few areas of the game downright creepy.

There are four difficulty levels, and with a few sidequests, this game can be played over and over again. But quite frankly, I just don't see a reason to. I would have gladly waited a few years to come out with a brand new product instead of one that feels like an expansion. It's really not worth fifty dollars at all, so unless you're a diehard fan of the first game, I would rent this one. It's still a blast to play with your friends, but the single player is simply lacking. We've all done it before, and it just seems like I'm playing through the same game all over again. Despite this, it isn't truly a "bad" game, but it does have numerous faults. You also may love this if you never played the first Champions. It at least deserves a try, maybe you'll be surprised. And maybe you won't.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/28/05