Everquest: Online Adventures is somewhat of an under appreciated gem. Itsrelease has been lauded with mixed reviews and feelings. Some called it toounfriendly to console gamers and somewhat disappointing to Everquest veterans onthe PC. Well the game is actually quite good. I do not share the same emphasison the negative that most writers have approached it with. Is the gameexcellent? No, of course not. It is one of the most ambitious projects everdevised and of course it’s going to trip up here and there, it’s expectedfrom a project of this scope. What truly damaged EQ: OA’s reputation was theconsiderable bashing that the game received from numerous magazines andwebsites. Some even looked negatively towards the game before it was released.The truth is, EverQuest: Online Adventures is a great premiere MMORPG for thePlaystation 2 and is more console friendly than you’d think. The game takesthe PC version’s interface and seamlessly transforms it into something greatfor a console gamer to pick up and play. It has quite a few ups and downs, butthe game ends up just a tad bit short of being excellent.

 

           Thankfully EQ: OA isn’t a port of its PC sister. If it was, I wouldprobably have looked negatively at the game myself, but this was built from theground up. Based off of an interesting premise, the game takes you to theancient times of Norrath, before the continents were formed and before seriousalliances had been created between the races. EverQuest does not have astraightforward storyline, but pieces of Norrath’s lore and culture begin toseep in not long after you start playing. Every area in EverQuest has a historyto it in some way and most of the times a conflict as well. You must keep inmind though, the game is not plot driven and there is no ultimate climax foryour character other than reaching the pending level cap. The whole basis of thegame is about character development and interaction, but mostly teamwork. Justlike the PC version, EQ: OA players rely heavily on team work to progressfurther into the game. EQ: OA’s world is mapped out with dungeons, cities,fields, tombs and bodies of water. Cities are usually for new players to startquests or for seasoned veterans to gather large level teams. Dungeons are wheremost of the leveling processes occur. Many types of monsters await you in thedungeons so it is a must to bring a team with you. A sloppy end will come to anywho try to take on the more serious monsters alone.

 

            Gameplay is streamlined forconsole players and while it remains very similar to its PC brethren it hasquite a few significant changes. First of all, the interface is completelydifferent. You no longer have a mouse, and are no longer bombarded with millionsof menu boxes. Now the game is mapped to the Dual Shock controller, and it’sexecuted quite well. Everything is achieved by navigating simple menus withvarious button combinations. The controls were mapped out very well and asidefrom the tedious typing bits (you can use a USB keyboard), it will suit anyonequite well. The controls may confuse vets of the PC version but for newerplayers, they will become accustomed to it very quickly. EQ: OA features all ofthe famous chat modes from the PC game including: Group, Shout, Tell and Say.Learning how to use them quickly and effectively is key since interaction is amajor part of the game. The targeting system has also been revamped and I findit much more useful than the one in the PC version. You simply target theclosest enemy to you and a colored circle will surround them and tell you theirdifficulty level. I find this to be an awesome addition to the game as it makesfor less tedious monster huntings. Recent patches have fixed some earlystability problems and believe it or not, this game is much more stable than theoriginal Everquest was in its first year. A bug reporting system is partly thereason for the quick fixes and responses. I believe that the team has done awonderful job at tweaking the game.

 

           You will notice that some of the classes and races from the PC versionare missing (Iskar, Vah Shir, and Froglok) along with some other options (sense heading, sit, andhot buttons). While I wish the game would have added in the Iskars, I assume SOEis saving them for an expansion pack to further flesh out the lore. When youstart the game you choose a race and class. You are placed in your starting cityand given basic items required for survival. EQ: OA has a heavier emphasis onquesting than the PC version. Quests are much more vital to characterdevelopment and also allows better learning of the game for newer players.Taking on early quests can shoot you up many levels in a matter of hours, whichexplains the faster progression of development in this version of EQ compared tothe PC version. Soloing is a bit easier but is discouraged even more in thisversion because if you die you must pay back experience points as debt. Thisoften becomes tedious and makes some people simply start a new character whendebt has become too high. Thankfully that gets rid of the annoying bodyretrieval aspect of the PC version that had many gamers turned off. Your goal isto hack and slash many monsters in order to gain levels along with looting andgaining quest items. Teamwork is vital in the game because you need to be ableto take on the bigger monsters later on. Most of the players in the game arepolite, with only a few stray annoyances. The difficulty level of each area ismuch more balanced this time around and you will find easy areas andsignificantly harder ones much easier to locate. You can finally label and area“High Level only” without having to have a mixed mess like most MMORPGs. AsI said before there is no end to the game, so the replay value is pretty muchhow long the game can keep your interest. It has hooked most of the people whohave played it and that’s a very good sign. There are many types of weapons,armor and spells for you to find and collect so the games replay is quiteendless. The game world is massive and would take quite awhile to travel on.There are no horses in this version of the game, so traveling is all done byfoot. This can be tedious but it truly shows your place in the game’s giantworld. Character interaction has never fit so well with gameplay before EQ: OA.

 

           Everquest: Online Adventures’ graphics are a mixed bag. The gamesengine was built from scratch in order to make the game compatible andultimately playable on the Playstation 2. In order to make expansiveenvironments they had to cut down on sky, character and texture quality. It’scertainly noticeable to EQ vets but probably not so much to people new to thepopular franchise. The game has a few framerate hiccups here and there butit’s nothing that affects gameplay too much. You can play in either first orthird person views, and the third person is my preferred view because you get avery good look at the action while keeping an eye on your surroundings. Thetextures in the towns are quite drab and washed out, mainly because the citiesare seamlessly integrated into the environment to reduce loading. The laterdungeons though, feature a lot more diverse textures and it makes up for thesomewhat slow beginning. Character models aren’t that great. They seem toolanky and unrealistic even for the source material. Luckily the enemy models arequite detailed. They are varied, colorful and attractive to the eye (when theyaren’t ripping you apart). EQ: OA made the tough decision of sacrificingstunning visuals for excellent gameplay. Truly though, gameplay is all thatmatters in the end.

 

           The audio presentation was quite disappointing. Not only did it featurerehashed tracks from the PC version, but it was devoid of any original orintriguing sound effects. Aside from a stray tune here or there, there is only afew music tracks in the entire game. Ambience almost makes up completely forboth of these problems. The games environmental ambience is pulled off farbetter than it was in the PC version and it actually feels natural and notforced. I wish the sound has been better overall but the sound of the cold windin Halas really changed my perspective on it since this is after all, a roleplaying game.

 

           Overall, EverQuest: Online Adventures is an admirable effort on the partof SOE and the EverQuest team. They have successfully translated the PCphenomenon into a great console game. While the game did have early salesproblems and was panned by some critics, the games population is increasingquite rapidly as time passes. An upcoming expansion pack called EQ: OA Frontiersis setting out to fix many of the complaints that arose from this version. Youcan expect to see a better soundtrack, a new species, better character modelsand even more side features to keep you entertained. If you’re looking for along lasting game for your underused and dusty PS2 modem, then EverQuest: OnlineAdventures is for you. It’s a faithful and enjoyable adaptation of a PCclassic that shouldn’t be missed. Its worth the monthly fee, hands down.