Champions: Return to Arms

What can I say? I’m a sucker for the hack-and-slash RPG action games that I was introduced to when the first Diablo was released on the PC and finally on the PSOne. There’s just something about jumping into a swarm of enemies, swinging your sword or unleashing a volley of fireballs into a mass of monsters that’s just so enjoyable that fans like myself keep coming back for more and more. Last year’s Champions of Norrath was a treat indeed so you can’t blame a girl for looking forward to Champions: Return to Arms. Is this a return worth of a champion? The answer and more is next so please read on.

By now you should be familiar with a little game called EverQuest and its world of Norrath - a world the first game and Return to Arms uses as its playground and fills it with some recognizable enemies and allies. The game, in fact, begins before the beautiful Firiona Vie (who is featured on most of the covers of EverQuest’s various expansion packs) who summoned you again to ask for your help in a very delicate and dangerous mission. It seems that the forces of evil have gathered to resurrect the Prince of Hate and the most troubling thing about this is that the Army of Hate is not involved at all. A hidden force is corrupting everyone and you yourself can be swayed into evil.

That’s right, you can choose the path of good and help vanquish those attempting to resurrect evil or aid the enemy and destroy everything Firiona Vie has been fighting to protect. Throughout the game you’ll discover various choices that will set you on either path and while it doesn’t get as juicy as the Xbox-only Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, your choice will lead you to a different outcome. It still feels so good to bad, though, and the branching paths will not disappoint those who want to play the game again.

You start the game choosing from seven different classes and thusly seven different races. There’s the usual human barbarian, the Wood Elf Ranger, the High Elf Cleric, Erudite Wizard and the Dark Elf Shadowknight. New to the series are the half-tiger-half-man Vah Shir Berserker and the lizard-like Iksar Shaman. You can chose the gender and even make slight alterations to the appearance like hair and skin color. Each race is proficient in different skills that range from melee attacks and ranged weapons to spell casting. If you hate the idea of starting from scratch you can even import your character from Champions of Norrath thanks to the PS2 memory card.

The game’s style hasn’t changed whatsoever, although few of the original game’s flaws have been worked out. You’ll still find enemies that get stuck between objects (resulting in the hilarious twitching) and an enemy or two that mindlessly runs into some flames but the controls this time around feel a bit tighter and the action runs far more smoothly than the first game. You’ll find a large number of areas and the wonderful level design makes each dungeon actually fun to explore. You’ll also encounter some characters that offer mini quests to complete, and there’s treasure aplenty to use to purchase better weapons or stronger armor.

Since the controls are easy to get into the combat is sheer hack-and-slash perfection. Depending on your character’s class you can strengthen your fighter’s weapon skills or your magic users spell-casting abilities by way of leveling up. You’ll find yourself going up against a large number of enemies, many of which are great at ganging up on you and some of the bigger enemies can even overpower you. This game will have you saving often because you’ll be dying a lot in this game.

Adding to the game’s replay value (aside from the story mode’s branching paths and hidden levels) is the Arena mode that basically places you in various arenas as you go up against waves of enemies. The good news is that you can have up to four friends (using the PS2 Multitap) aiding you in the Arena or you can even challenge them to a bloody duel. Still not enough, you say? Well you can play the game online using a Broadband connection in a co-op mode that has you and your friends going through the main mode’s missions. Online the game runs without any problems and using a USB headset you can communicate during the game and in the lobby and private chat rooms without having to type.

Return to Arms is also a beautiful-looking game with some areas so scrupulously detailed that it makes exploring caverns all the more creepy. Sure, you’ll still find some of the usual assortment of plain areas and those barrels aren’t looking any better, but with great lighting and nice environmental effects (like shimmering bodies of water or scavenger birds landing on the carcasses of fallen foes) it’s easy to dismiss the dull areas. Thanks to the zoom feature you can get a better look at the enemies, some of which go from okay to wonderfully elaborate. Even the magical spells look great - especially those spells that seem to light up a darkened room when you cast them.

The sound, on the other hand, is a bit of a letdown. Okay, it’s more like a real letdown and I‘ll tell you why. Dazzling visuals should go hand-in-hand with dazzling sound and we’ve seen this done before in a similar game like Baldur’s Gate II. There’s a soundtrack here but it’s barely present and comes up briefly when you’re about to clash with enemies. As for the voice acting, it’s really bad. It’s unintentionally funny kind of bad.  There are some sound effects and they do the trick nicely seeing as it goes beyond mere slashing sounds. When you break a barrel it shatters and when you kill an enemy you’ll hear the metallic clank of its weapon dropping.

You might want to consider this one an expansion pack to Champions of Norrath but that’s not necessarily a bad thing considering all the good things Champions: Return to Arms has to offer gamers new and old. While the action might get repetitive, there are plenty of new features worth checking out if hack-and-slashing action still tickles your fancy. If you’re a continuing fan (like me) you can’t go wrong with this one.

Gameplay: 8.2
Nothing has really changed control-wise which is a good thing for returning gamers and, thanks to its simplicity, it’s still one of those games that players can simply pick up the controller and start the hack-and-slash fun. The various areas, side quests and the fact that you can chose to fight for good or evil make this one lengthy adventure.

Graphics: 9.0
Still as gorgeous as Champions of Norrath, Return to Arms brings us more great environmental detail and more characters that look good in action. And by action I mean magic spells that flash across the screen and loads of enemies running after you at once.

Sound: 7.0
On the other hand, the game’s sound isn’t as impressive as the visuals. With a sparse soundtrack and voice acting that doesn’t sound convincing nor decent enough to take seriously, this is just one of the game’s disappointments. The sound effects are done right, at least.

Difficulty: Hard
Imagine yourself surrounded by Norrath’s most vicious monsters and enemies ready to tear you apart if you’re not quick enough to balance your melee, ranged or magic spell attacks with some strategy (e.g. not getting cornered by the enemy). You’ll have to seriously level up in this game.

Concept: 8.2
A story mode that allows you to go between good and evil add more replay value and there are countless side quests you might have missed the first time around. Top that off with different classes and races or the ability to import your level 60 cleric from Champions of Norrath and you have a game with a lot to offer.

Multiplayer: 8.5
Offline you can battle friends (up to four of them) in the arena or lend a helping hand co-op-style in the game’s main missions mode using the PS2 Multitap. If that wasn’t enough there’s a Broadband-only online mode complete with a main lobby with private chat rooms and USB headset support. This is the way you’ll want to play this game, trust me.

Overall: 8.0
Champions: Return to Arms is more of the same but with enough differences to keep old fans pleased and new gamers ready to jump into the fray. With branching paths that can lead to good or evil and a multiplayer mode that kicks major tail Return to Arms is more hack-and-slash action worth checking out.