Death in battle isn’t horrible. If you die, you can recover near where you died, and later have your equipment repaired. The bad part of death is that you have to earn a set amount of experience back before you can gain new exp. If you find your body, and collect a spirit shard, this experience debt is reduced.
Graphically, EQ2 is a marked improvement from the first. Considering the release date, it’s still very pretty by today’s standards. Armor you wear shows on your character when you equip it. While most gamers expect that these days, it’s still an awesome feature! (Any game that doesn’t show your armor automatically loses points in my book, and it’s a point I look for in RPGs.
Scenes are bright, colorful, and visually stunning. Characters are customizable, to a point (although other games have done character customization better). Light and water look good, which can always be a deal breaker in even the prettiest of games. Edges and boundaries are well done as well, and while you will experience a mild amount of clipping in some areas, most are so vast that when you do clip, you can just walk around.
Animations look good, and character movement is fluid. You also don’t have the old Tomb Raider clomping as you walk around, I wasn’t even aware of my character’s movement after just a brief period of adjusting to the controls. Often the details that you DON’T notice are more important than the details you do. When something is done well enough that you take it for granted, that means it’s good!
Towns are almost too sprawling. While this adds to the “world” effect, it’s annoying for task oriented people. I found myself getting lost among the vast architecture and large townscape. Often times I’d pop into a house or hut only to find nothing of any game play value actually inside (A note to game developers, empty spaces frustrate gamers!). They may add a lot to the overall appeal of the environment, but put something in those empty rooms that I can interact with on some level.
The large worlds are reflected in the size of the game… 7GB disk space! This game came out in 2004; in 2007 this is still a huge amount of disc space! It’s well worth the space however, and worth the small frustration of size to see such a large and immersive environment.
The music in EQ2 is beautifully composed. There is a full orchestra, and the composure is epic sounding. It’s really a beautiful sounding game, you’ll want to play with the volume cranked up, as the sound effects are natural, and loud enough… sometimes you can actually be startled (not quite scared) in some areas.
EQ2 also features the addition of voices. This is really nice, but inconsistent. Some characters will read part of the dialogue, and omit other parts. While I would like to see more of the dialogue filled in, even the parts add more personality and give you a voice to fill in the parts you read with. I understand that as the game evolves through updates that some dialogue may become out of date, and to preserve file size (and due to budget constraints) some dialogue must be omitted, so this is really just a moot point.
In game conversations now allow you to click different responses giving different answers as you go. This is quite cohesive with current day standards for RPG dialogue, and fits Everquest 2 quite well. Different choices yield different responses from NPCs, which also adds personality.
So in summation, we’ll start with the pros. Everquest 2 came out in 2004, for computers that is quite a long time (as this review is being written in December of 2007). EQ2 has stood the test of time, with updates and expansion they have driven the game forward, giving it a lasting appeal. Graphically and audibly EQ2 is still very pretty by today’s gaming standards. There are more quests and character classes than in the previous version which again are appreciated. The emphasis on teamwork and cooperation makes it worth playing online versus alone as a standalone game like many RPG gamers are used to. The good versus evil idea is a bit cliché, but also ads two different game play experiences. The crafting skill was fun, and it was rewarding to level up in other non-combat skills.
Now for the cons; I still detest the business model of paying a monthly fee to play a game. Granted, it has proven profitable, and allows for more content and server maintenance… but $15 per month is $180 per year to play a game! I’d really like an on screen mini map to track my progress, and quests would benefit from a better organized quest journal. It’s pretty easy to get lost or off track, but I guess exploration is part of the Everquest experience. The biggest con is that EQ2 still has the crack-like addictive qualities of its parent, Everquest. I really had trouble playing other games I was supposed to be reviewing, and my editor is probably upset at the amount of time I spent playing EQ2 before actually writing this review. Sorry Nathan!
