OK, while a lot of people out there agree that Baldur’s Gate for PS2 was one of the cooler titles out a year or so ago, many were not happy with the fact that the game was just way too short. I personally thought that it had the makings of one of the better games out on the market, and eagerly awaited the release of Baldur’s Gate II, hoping that the continuing story from the first one would retain the fun hack and slash action and some of neatest graphics around. Like many other gamers though, I just wasn’t too impressed by the sequel and found that it didn’t live up to my expectations … but then I also learned that the original Baldur’s Gate development team was also heading up a different project known as Everquest : Champions of Norrath. Well, after playing the newest Snowblind Studios EQ: CoN hack and slash action title, all I can say is that it is what Baldur’s Gate II should have been, and is definitely another quality title for you dungeon running adventurers out there.

EQ: CoN takes place in the world of Everquest rather than Dungeons and Dragons if you couldn’t tell by the title. It opens with a cool little cutscene where the story is revolving around a rogue band of orcs and goblins that have suddenly become very aggressive and have started attacking from Feydark, and at this point you get to select (and customize) the character that you wish to play as whether it be a Human Barbarian, Wood Elf Ranger, High Elf Cleric, Erudite Wizard, or Dark Elf Shadowknight, change hair, skin, and facial hair from a few templates, and off you go to defeat the rampaging army and help out. Of course, nothing is as simple as that, and you’ll uncover more plot info and a deeper reasoning behind the assault as you go on.

The controls to EQ: CoN are pretty standard for what any BG player will be accustomed to. While the left stick moves the character and the right stick moves the camera, L2 and R2 are used to refill health and mana, the X button attacks, and the circle and triangle button can cast spells that can be selected and set using the D-Pad during play. In addition, hitting the select button will take you to the menu where you can look through and select all info about your character, including status, quests, weapons, armor, items, and spells. As I said, it’s pretty standard stuff and even the novice dungeon hacker should be able to hop in without too much of a starting issue, even if you don’t read the instruction manual.

Another thing that people familiar with the development team and game style will see as they venture through the various areas is an overwhelming amount of loot drops. These consist of more common things, like gold and potions, and of course some more common weapons and armor, but here and there you will also see magic items and armor too along with enhancement items. These enhancements can be things like fire jewels or carapaces, and are actually equipped to your belongings rather than to you directly and will give various additions to you stats like increased fire or poison resistance or an additional +10% fire damage and things like that.

One big thing that I will caution all of you wizards and warriors about up front here is that the challenge rating in this game is much higher than that of other similar titles that have been released. The days of running through a cellar chopping down a rat here and there are gone, and instead replaced by such things as running through a dank section of tunnels while getting assaulted by anywhere from 5 – 9 (maybe more here and there) orcs or other nasty beings looking to pound you into the ground. Thusly, trying a full frontal kamikaze assault can make the game a bit frustrating as an FYI, but it also helps to emphasize some caution along the way. After a couple of stages you’ll probably get a good rhythm of “dash in, run back, attack” going … but hey if it keeps you alive then that’s what it takes. Fortunately, the developers also kept in the ability to warp to towns and back through using gate scrolls (instead of recall potions) in case you ever are in need of replenishing your stock of potions, buying items, or selling off some stuff so you don’t get encumbered … so don’t worry about getting stuck in a bad place unless you forget to pick up a gate scroll while you’re there.

Another nice thing that the developers did to CoN is to add in a random dungeon generator to help improve replayability. Overall, the game sports over 50 areas to go through and check out, including some out of the way extra dungeons and whatnot, so having the ability to go back and play the game over and over again without getting the same layout is great. On the replayability note, CoN also has multiplayer both online and off, so even gamers like me who normally find themselves playing on our own since either (A) everyone else is asleep or (B) no one else wants to play can still team up with up to four other people online to help lower the chances of getting overrun too badly.

Graphically, CoN looks pretty darned good in my opinion. The colors are bold and the character’s appearances will change as outfits are swapped out or changed around. The level design itself was also done very well, and players will find themselves venturing into creepy, undead filled dungeons or hacking their way through frozen wastelands … just to name a couple of areas. The sound for CoN was also done very well indeed … with both the monsters and the characters voices and grunts or roars standing out decently enough to add to the game but not get too overbearing, and the music was something that reminded me of a mixture of tunes somewhere between Lord of the Rings and Morrowind. Also, battle sounds consisted of the thudding of blunt weapons, the slashing of bladed weapons and the clashing of steel.

Overall, hack and slash adventure fans will no doubt have a good time with CoN, and is a definite improvement over the Baldur’s Gate series that it so closely resembles. If you enjoyed Baldur’s Gate or Baldur’s Gate II, then the additional hours of play time, increased action, and random dungeon generations mixed with easy to get into and operate gameplay will be a great purchase that will offer lots of enjoyment. If you are new to this type of game but enjoy a good dungeon running hack and slash title, then check out Champions of Norrath. Definitely good stuff.

Gameplay: 8.7
The gameplay to Champions is easy to get into, and falls almost right in line with past Baldur’s Gate games so veterans should be able to hop right in. The level design was laid out well, and in addition the randomly changing dungeons and side areas should offer some variation when going back through to play again.

Graphics: 8.9
The graphics were bold and colorful, and stood out well. Each area looked pretty darned good overall, from mountains to dungeons to forests to snow, and the characters and monsters were all well animated and change with various changes to outfits or skin tones. The spell effects had some great lighting and textures to them and are definitely in line with what we’ve come to expect from the developers (as were the cool rippling water effects which are present here as well). 

Sound: 8.7
Great sound, especially in the music tracks. Overall, I thought it was a unique blend of orchestrated tracks from Lord of the Rings and some tunes from Morrowind. The voiceovers weren’t bad, and while characters would comment when overburdened for example, it wasn’t overdone to get annoying.

Difficulty: Hard
There are three different difficulty settings (The harder two have to be unlocked by beating the easy mode), and each one of them is by no means simple. Each one is very challenging, from regular encounters to boss battles, and only gets more difficult from there.

Concept: 8.8
I thought that the developers did a great job in taking a formula that has worked well and adding in some additional gameplay time and some changes to increase initial and replay value. It was also interesting to see them take the MMORPG world of Everquest and make it into a fantasy action game.

Multiplayer: 9.0

Definitely the high point of my personal experience. Playing multiplayer offline is a lot of fun, as it usually is with hack and slash dungeon runners like this, but the added feature of multiplayer just made it that much better. The online mode is a lot of fun and can be saved onto your memory card as well to continue offline if you wish to do so. Also, you can communicate both on the headset and through typing if you have a keyboard or an Itype2 controller.

Overall: 8.7
While it’s not as deep as a lot of RPG titles from a plot or character building perspective, that’s not what it’s intended to be. This game is for the hack and slash fan who enjoys a lot of action with their RPG titles vs. a lot of story and character stuff which is a definite 180 turn from the MMORPG style that EQ is commonly known for. If you enjoyed the Baldur’s Gate series or games like D&D Heroes on Xbox, this is a game that should provide a lot of fun for you initially and for a while to come.