Everquest Review
NOTICE: This review was written with Everquest, The Ruins of Kunark, Scars of Velious and Shadows of Luclin installed.
Overview: Everquest is an MMORPG based upon a fantasy World called Norrath. It is a pay to play game, so in order to keep yourself playing you need to supply Sony with a monthly subscription fee (12 USD).
Visuals: It's surprisingly pretty for a 4 year old game. Although this comes from the expansions i have installed, more than the original game itself. It's nice to see that the creators are keeping with todays standards a bit. There are a lot of unique character races (like the Frogloks or Vah Shir) and many different types of weapons/armor with unique inventory pictures, and changes to your player model. Some of the areas are quite large and highly populated with all manner of creatures, whether they be people or Klikniks, there is a lot of variety in the different NPC's you will encounter (both helpful and hurtful). It all runs well on a low end machine too, though if you want some of the nicer perks of lots of high polygon models and far draw distances a fair bit of RAM is required (though I'm sure 512MB is fine).
Textures are also nice, in some regards. The ground however seems like the texture has been stretched then the edges blurred to rid it of that "jagged" look. This is rather unpleasant on the eyes, though it could also be because I adventure in the early parts of the game, whereas the newer spots would have higher res textures and just generally look better.
Sounds: I guess the sounds are ok. They get very repetitive though. There seems to be only two or three music tracks and very few battle sounds. Of course further adventuring will sort this out, as to whether the sounds are truly recycled over and over or if they change with later enemies. It can get a bit annoying hearing that same clunk or chink every time I swing a weapon or bash a monster. MMORPG's aren't really about the sound though anyway, and the fact that it has any puts it above any other games of this Genre that I have played.
Gameplay: Standard fare, you go out and kill stuff to collect money to buy items that allow you to kill stronger stuff to buy better items to allow you to kill stronger stuff quicker, it's not brain surgery, but it's a good formula, and if you do get sick of killing there are a myriad of other things you can do.
For one you can go around your starting town looking for quests. These are often varied and some are of harder difficulty than others, giving plenty of variety.
There are also many tradeskills to master, like blacksmithing, fletching, tailoring, making jewellery and much more. It's all very simple to do as well, provided you have the necessary items and ample skill to allow you to make items without fear of failure.
Combat is simple to do, click on a target, click on attack. It's pretty much that simple at first. Later you may be running around your enemy pelting arrows at it, or casting powerful spells, but all this is acheived through simple button clicks. Nothing is beyond a new player, and if trouble does arise there is a useful in-game help which tells you all you need to know to play the game.
Lastability: The game has been out for 4 years and with many, many clones but it still manages to stand on top of the rest. It is addictive, plain and simple. I don't know what it is about this Genre but whenever I play I just can't stop, it may be because I want to get just one more level, or I'm so close to finishing a quest, I simple can't stop playing. The World of Norrath is so large and diverse that you'll be unlikely to get bored of your surroundings for too long, and even if you do, you can always try finding somewhere else to go.
With about 15 races, and just as many classes you'll have plenty of variety on your playing style if you feel the need for something fresh, it's not subtle changes either, you will need different strategies for a warrior compared to a paladin or an enchanter. It's things like this that keep you coming back, all the new challenges that can be had by simply choosing a different character and playing with it for a while.
Conclusion: Everquest is a fun and addictive experience. With lots to see and do you'll have many hours of enjoyment out of this game. The monthly fee may turn off those used to the free servers of other games, but EQ has almost no lag on my 56k modem, whereas a lot of the free games are damn near unplayable. The constant updates and many, many expansions will keep you occupied for long enough until something else comes up (most probably Everquest 2).
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Very little lag, a persistent World, plenty of monsters and diverse quests all add up to an enjoyable gaming experience. |
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Stacks up well considering it's age, the high poly models are nice, though some of the texturing looks a bit poor. Spell effects can be quite spectacular. |
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There are a few nice sounds, but after the hundredth time hearing them they get a bit stale. |
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You won't get sick of this game easily, with 70+ different zones to explore, a lot of which are huge, thousands of quests, and people to meet and actually care about enough to protect/destroy you'll be sure to find plenty to do in EQ. The fact that SOE continue to update the game World adds to it's replay, even high end players will find something they haven't done yet. |
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A great experience for anyone willing to pay for it. With plenty of variety for many different types of players. |
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