EverQuest Online Adventures Review

More than four years had to pass for the console owners to finally see their way into the virtual world of Norrath, the huge world that is the setting for one of the most popular MMORPG titles on the market. The game is Everquest, or to be more precise Everquest Online Adventures - the recent PS2 rendition of the game. Sony Online Entertainment somehow managed to port their extremely popular MMORPG PC title to PS2 bringing some new boons and some new flaws. The true fans of this game may disagree, but some aspects of the game could have been better... much better.

Size doesn't matter I say!

Griffons can be resilient foes.

First things first... before you can play EOA at all, you will need some new stuff. Apart from the obvious (a PS2), you must also have the PS2 Network Adapter, internet access of some kind, (either dialup or broadband) and the financial capability of paying the monthly fee of $9.99. The game comes with one month's worth of access, and, in my opinion the fee is reasonable, but if you consider the months or even years it will take you to do anything in the game, the amount of money you have to pay for it becomes substantial. If none of the aforementioned things presents a problem, read on!

Everquest Online Adventures takes us several centuries before the time of the original Everquest, when many areas and cities we had a chance to visit in the original game were not yet inhabited or only were only recently developed. We find ourselves in Tunaira, a mountainous area on Norrath, full of dungeons, swamps, thriving cities and the like. The area is inhabited by Humans, Trolls, Elves, Halflings, Dwarves who are all peacefully coexisting. However, as usual there are a great number of aggressive creatures and monsters and this is where you start taking your part in the history of this huge world.

At the very beginning of the game you will get to create your character in common RPG fashion; and while you can highly personalize your character concerning their characteristics, I believe that the developers should have created more possibilities for visual customization of characters. I am not so sure that the four possible options for face, hair-style and hair color each would suffice for the thousands of on-line players. What I am sure of though, is the fact that no self-respecting MMORPG player (me included) likes to meet an exact replica of themselves. But the possibility of meeting someone like that should be fairly small what with nine different races, thirteen classes and over 150 zones.

So, our character is done and it is time to start exploring the world. Your exact starting location will directly depend upon your choice of race. There is no basic plot in EOA, which means you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want, and your main goal is to make your character reach level 50. But that seems a lot easier to do then it really is, the number of battles of fights you have to win and quests you will have to solve is very high. Everyone who has ever played a game like this knows that the amount of free time you have is the main prerequisite for success in this game. As for the methods... the game will offer you infinite possibilities and unlimited freedom... whether you choose to be a lone ranger, or to establish a guild. NPCs will always be there to give you new quests and it will be up to you to solve them, and don't forget that this is the best and quickest way to gain levels. When you get a quest you're off to explore the gigantic fantasy world full of various useful items and magical weaponry, but also perilous monsters and fiends.

The poor Water Elemental just wanted a peaceful holiday...

They only come out at night.

EOA's most important feature is that it offers a living and breathing world which keeps developing and evolving weather you are on-line or not, this means that if you return to the game after several days of pause, you may encounter new guilds see that some players decided to change their ways, etc. On the other hand, as you advance, you'll discover new cities, new territories, full of new monsters and new items. All this makes the game highly addictive and once you really get into the game you'll find it harder and harder to return to the real world. (Ed.- The Evercrack addiction, sad, sad.) Another important feature is the player-to-player communication which can start as an occasional "hello" and eventually evolve into a strong virtual friendship. Now, even though the game features a virtual keyboard, it is still recommendable to acquire a real USB keyboard which will make typing messages much easier. (Ed,- You can get one from Logitech, along with a USB Optical mouse, just an FYI) I guess the whole communication system will start working a lot better as soon as most players buy keyboards.

EOA is a bit more dynamic than the original "Everquest", and it also features the option to go from one location to another with the help from NPCs - if you find a coach driver he will take you anywhere free of charge. I played the PC game, and I can tell you that the character classes and races are better balanced than in the original, for example wounded soldiers will be capable of healing themselves. Another crucial novelty is the fact that you do not lose all your experience when you die, you can "pay off" by getting less experience later, that is, until you pay up the full amount for your resurrection. This is a far better solution and induces less psychological damage to players who reached higher levels.

As for the interface, Sony Online Entertainment tried to adapt the game to PS2 controllers as much as possible, which causes some problems. Still, with a USB keyboard (basically used for communication) everything works like a charm, moving around, using items, and even combat (targeting can be a bit tricky). The methods for weapons and spell access are efficient and will always let you react in time. You can now improve your characteristics from the character screen which makes the process simpler and faster than in the PC version.

The graphics were a bit disappointing. Character models are not exactly detailed, and the surroundings with their simple textures, often look quite desolate. You will find areas covered in lush vegetation and decent-looking cities, and I personally preferred the areas where characters gather and throw parties ;-)). The animation is fairly good and the spell effects were quite interesting. The graphics on the whole are mediocre, but that doesn't thwart gameplay - I mean, graphics are not the most important element of a MMORPG, or are they?

The sound effects come down to ambience noise and sounds of combat, and practically all the music you'll hear in this game will be the tune on the character creation screen. I have absolutely no idea why they didn't throw in some more inspiring music. (Ed. - Because folk is dead, and hardcore death metal would have been somewhat... inappropriate.)

Finally, I have to be honest and say that Everquest Online Adventures is not a game for everyone. Many will find the game dynamics too slow, the missions too tedious, and the combat dull. All this wrapped up in mediocre graphics and sound. So, in a sense what we have is an MMORPG that is made for fans of MMORPG's, and not for many others. MMORPG fans will gladly disregard the downsides and share their enthusiasm on-line. Now, to really enjoy and appreciate this game, you will have to spend hours and hours exploring humongous areas, take part in a huge number of missions and through communication with other players develop a virtual community. One other thing, because it is a constantly evolving world, it is theoretical that some of the problems I found may be corrected in the future. Perhaps Sony will be making updates and sending out new disks, or when the hard drive unit comes out, perhaps there will be on-the-fly updating. So, perhaps some of these issues may eventually be worked out. But, for the moment, the best that Everquest Online Adventures has to offer is the ability to actively participate in a constantly evolving virtual world crammed with challenges... which is more than you can find in real life for only ten bucks a month.