 | | As you can see, EverQuest II is one pretty arse game |
|
EverQuest II is an amazing game. The underlying mechanics of the thing are such a work of art, that it makes you wonder why other developers would ever make their MMORPGs any differently to this.
Take the loot system for instance - after a fight, instead of one cock-weasel always nabbing the goods before anyone else gets a chance to, now a mini-lotto is held to see which member of your group gets to keep it. No arguing, no bitching, just the luck of the draw. Or how about the lock-on system, where no other player can interrupt your fight and steal those precious experience points off you unless you specifically "call for help" and ask them too. Simple little well-thought out concepts like this cut down on all the agro you might normally find in an online RPG - and as a result you're free to concentrate on the good stuff instead.
EverQuest II is little different to every MMORPG I've played before though - it actually plays a lot more like a single player game in some ways. Oh sure, everywhere you look there's other players running around, but most tend to be minding their own business rather than chatting and laughing with each other.
Take my first day for example; from the moment I first logged on in the morning, to the wee late hours of night when I signed off, I'd pretty much done nothing but follow a linear series of quests and assignments the entire time. This felt no real different to an offline single player RPG like Fable or Never Winter Nights. There had been no grinding, little deviation from the set course, and most surprisingly of all, no interacting with real people. It's safe to say in fact, that 99% of my conversations were with NPCs on that first day.
Is all this good or bad? For the most part, it's very, very good. The bottom line is that EverQuest II is built from the ground up around
huge amounts of in-game content and things to do. For players of pretty much any MMORPG up ever made, you'll know what a rare commodity content can be.
An Apt Title If Ever There Was One
 | | The cities are absolutely bloody massive, and you can even live in them |
|
Stuff to keep you busy - that's what EQII does so well. You're constantly told to go here, get that, take it there, fix this, kill him, save her, rinse and repeat. Not for one moment do you ever log on and ponder, "What shall I do next?". There just isn't time. There's so many things that need taking care of to even consider a few minutes off. Whether it be the great opening missions, the occasional odd-jobs around town, or the more epic profession-related quests, it all boils down to content content content. Sony can be proud of the first MMORPG to feel genuinely packed to the gills with it, and it certainly makes it stand out above the crowd.
And these quests are cool too, for the most part. Okay, so some are standard FedEx delivery jobs, while others are your regular old "Kill 10 Rats" bollocks, but there are also much more advanced and interesting ones on offer if you can find 'em. There's a tutorial mission where you have to go and tidy up some guy's basement for instance - picking up items and moving them around. That certainly wins points for originality. Then there was a "Predator Mission" where I had to sneak into a building full of bad guys, tip-toe past all the guards and finally assassinate their head honcho. This sorta thing makes you feel more like you're playing Splinter Cell than a MMORPG, and I'm in love with it.
You can take on 50 (!) such quests at any one time, and you'll be rewarded with cash, experience and even high quality items for your troubles.
MSORPG
As mentioned though, this kinda emphasis on questing lends the game with more of a single player feel to the whole thing. In fact, you could easily do the first five hours or so of EverQuest II with your modem unplugged and be none the wiser. You'll have a great old time experiencing the epic expanses of Norrath and all the mini-adventures it offers, but just stopping for a moment to think about it all makes you wonder why you need to be paying a monthly fee to do it.
 | | Combat is your standard RPG style and nothing to shout about |
|
The in-game buddy list and communication tools are very limiting compared to others I've used too, with the feeling that they're almost designed around keeping you
away from your mates, than vice versa. The friends list for instance, often doesn't tell you when someone logs in or out. Inter-guild chat is also surprisingly hard, with setting up a specific guild window something of a chore too. Bare in mind EQII also lacks any kind of player vs. player combat, which further diminishes the inter-player relations.
Thankfully as things progress, EverQuest II does open up into more of a group game. You may not be fighting against each other, but you will be teaming up to take down some of the harder missions after your first few days alone - you really have to if you want to stay alive. Ultimately, EverQuest II feels like a big old game of massively multiplayer online co-op than anything else.
I guess it all boils down to your style of play, and yours may well vary compared to mine, but for me the single player questing has thus far taken up way, way more of my time than any multiplayer shenanigans have though.
Background
The game itself is set hundreds of years after the first EverQuest (which Sony will continue running, incidentally), and doesn't require any extensive knowledge of its predecessor to enjoy. It doesn't even need any major MMORPG experience either, with your early actions all guided and explained pleasingly well by the many in-game characters.
 | | The captain from The Simpsons introduces you to the game |
|
You start off as a refugee on a ship heading towards the Isle of Refuge. Both the ship and the Isle act as tutorial and newbie zones, where you can level up five levels or so in relative ease. After that you'll be given the choice of heading to the cities of Queynos (good) or Freeport (bad), depending on which faction you've aligned yourself with, but given the lack of PvP, this really only affects your setting more than anything else.
As you level up and your character advances, you'll eventually make further choices as to what your profession will be. These range from rock 'ard fighters, to sneaky scouts, to wizard like-Mages, and they all have their own specific role to play in combat that slot in with each other.
Graphics, Sound & The Competition
 | | The races on offer include Humans, Elves, Trolls and crazy Cat People |
|
The visuals are near-perfect. Using light blooming, real-time shadows, detailed architecture, and highly customisable player models, it creates a lush and inviting world for you to play around in. There's also tons of options to keep it running on older systems, and rather brilliantly, the whole game is played in widescreen view for that epic movie-like feel.
Sound is arguably its greatest asset though. Get this, every single NPC in Norrath has recorded dialogue. Think about that for a moment - all those people you pass by in the street, all the shop owners, all the quest givers - everyone. If you can get your guild mates set up on an in-game voice communication system such as TeamSpeak, you can actually get away without having to read any in-game speech at all. Music is also enchanting and beautiful, and thankfully plays frequently.
 | | It looks just like that one movie. Goonies I think it was |
|
All in all, EQII goes down as the best land-based MMORPG on the market for me. The exceptionally large amount of content elevates it to a level unlike any other - except perhaps World of Warcraft - but the incredible voice work and much advanced graphical engine give it a quality even Blizzard's upcomer can't match. It's also amazingly bug-free, and has been the smoothest MMORPG launch I've ever seen.
Note however, I say best
land-based MMORPG, as for all-round edge of the seat online thrills I think Jump to Lightspeed is more down-right thrilling a game, even if Galaxies' basic ground portion can't match up to EverQuest II's.
But then again EverQuest II isn't about high octane thrills and big arse space ship explosions. It's about relaxing in the local tavern in front of the roaring fire, taking lazy walks across the country, delivering a letter down to the docks, picking up a new set of tongs for the local blacksmith, and just exploring the gorgeous fantasy Shire-like villages. For me it's the ultimate chill-out game - something to sit back and melt away with on a cold winter's night.
World of EverCraft
 | | Epic vistas are the norm when running around Norrath |
|
Still, experiencing the early levels of EQII, my biggest fear for the game is whether or not it can maintain its ludicrously high level of quests and content up into the later sections. I would hate to become so accustomed to a MMORPG with so much to do, only to have it all disappear once I'm properly addicted and am left with nothing left but the grind.
No doubt I'll be revisiting EQII months from now when I'm a much more advanced character and letting you guys know whether those fears were realised. In the meantime though, I'm gonna be having a great old time in what is unquestionably a memorising RPG.
And for those asking the inevitable question of which to buy; World of Warcraft or EverQuest II? As someone who's enjoyed both of these exceptional games, I say only grab Warcraft if you plan on doing some heavy duty PvPing, otherwise it's gotta be EverQuest all the way. It's not that WoW is a bad game by any means...
...EverQuest II is just even better.
