he original EverQuest is the big poppa. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game, for years it was the benchmark against which all other MMORPGs were measured, and EverQuest II reimagines the same fantasy landscape. In EQII, you'll start in one of Norrath's two surviving cities, Qeynos (for good characters) or Freeport (for evil ones). Quests are similar in both environments, but in Freeport they come with a surly edge.
When picking your character, the possible races include barbarian, dark elf, dwarf, erudite, gnome, half elf, high elf, wood elf, Halfling, human, iksar (evil lizard), kerra (tigerlike predator), ogre, ratonga (evil rat) and troll. As you complete missions, you'll continue to specialize, picking your character's "adventure archetype": fighter, mage, priest or scout. All of these have their own subtypes (necromancer as a type of mage, for example).
The point of EverQuest II is, well, questing. You'll quest day and night, mostly in battle, but sometimes with a simple assignment, such as meeting and talking to non-player characters. While most of your time in EQII will be spent in battle, there's also the option to collect recipes and craft items, or other more peaceful pursuits.
Even at the outset, some quests are too tough to take on alone, and the game's design strongly encourages players to join up with others into groups of complementary adventurers. It's possible to play alone, but cooperative gameplay is still the central concept in EverQuest, whether you're fighting as good or evil.
EQII is a vast 3-D environment, with everything from walled cities to swampy bogs. While hunting goblins in the woods, players might see a vast galaxy shining brightly in the night sky. When players wander past a campfire, it crackles. EQII is truly an immersive world, especially familiar to fans of the fantasy genre.
Immersive group-oriented play
Are you a longtime fan of the original EverQuest? Then I imagine you're already playing this game, and barely stopping for anything but a brief e-mail check. But what about anyone who didn't play the last time around, who might be considering entering Norrath for the first time with EQII? With EQII, you might assume new players would be at a disadvantage.
Nope. On the Isle of Refuge, you'll follow a helpful tutorial. The game's safe design—no player-killing is allowed—will make it possible to learn the basics in peace. For new players, EQII completely accessible, even if you've never tried an MMO before.
Even with the weight of expectation, EQII is fun gaming experience. But like all MMOs, it also involves direct contact with actual people. This can be great ... or less so. In an early training adventure, my group took care of a bunch of baddies with expertise and broke into a post-battle dance party. (EQII has pages of amusing avatar emotions, including curtseys, royal waves and less friendly greetings.) But another posse had a lame leader, and we wound up standing around trying to direct one of the group's lost souls to where we were waiting. During our tedious vigil, another member left for a bathroom break. Eventually, we disbanded without ever going into battle. The human element of EQII is its least predictable one—with all the pros and cons that brings.
But one of the most successful aspects of EQII is that the majority of the time, no matter what you're doing, you're leveling up some aspect of your character. Spot something shiny on the ground, and you're on your way to starting a valuable collection. Cut through the water instead of retracing the same tired steps, and you're adding to your character's swimming skill. EQII is an endless puzzle, and "LevelQuest" can certainly get tedious (50 levels is the current max, with more potentially to follow). But EQII also grants players plenty of positive reinforcement along the way—a likely source of so many people's dedication to the game.
Definitely check out the system requirements on EQII before picking it up. It's a huge game, and I noticed lots of players with much slower reaction times than mine. Even my reasonably hefty machine had occasional stutter. Those great graphics come at a cost.
— Jennifer
Back to the top.
