EverQuest is most known for being an insanely addicting massively multiplayer online role playing game. For those who have been living under a rock for the last five years, it’s the type of game where you rely on an internet connection to place you in a virtual environment populated by thousands of players across the world. EverQuest kicked the now booming genre into high gear and the franchise has since moved into new areas. Last year’s Champions of Norrath scored big with critics, gamers and even us here at VideoGameCity. It took the franchise into the action-RPG arena in a game built around Snowblind’s engine which powered the popular Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance series. It featured thousands of items, enemies, spells and plenty of environments to explore. Its key feature was the ability to play online (for free) and build up your own online persona, collecting weapons and items with the help of people across the world. The original Champions was fast, fun and genuinely surprising, proving there would be life for EverQuest outside of MMORPGs.  

The first thing to be noted is that when you take a first look at the game, the gameplay seems fairly repetitive and simple almost like a Gauntlet type game. This impression quickly slips away as the meat of the game is found in its armor and inventory systems. The game is all about packing on the armor and weapons and finding more and more on your journeys. A truly beefed up player can go a long way and searching for new equipment is a lot of fun. Champions is played from an overhead view and the commands are laid out perfectly. You move around with the analog stick, attack with the X button and select and assign spells and abilities with the D-Pad. When attacking enemies, numbers appear in the wake of your attack to show you how much damage you have dealt. The damage is determined by a number of factors including your strength attributes and the damage rating of your currently equipped weapon. When being attacked, an enemy will deal a certain amount of damage on you depending on the armor and accessories you have equipped. It is always recommended to replace armor and weapons with new material as often as possible, quite simple considering enemies drop many different things.

Return to Arms is fairly similar to its predecessor and most of the additions come in the form of gameplay tweaks and the new added races and classes. To the dismay of many fans of EverQuest, the original Champions didn’t feature two of the franchises’ most popular races the Vah Shir and Iksar. The Vah Shir is a race of tiger like creatures that are known for being very noble but primal at the same time. They are added into the game as a Beserker class, one which focuses on dealing damage more than anything else. The Iksar are a group of lizards that are hated by pretty much every other race in the game and they have been added as a Shaman class. The Shamans are good with magic and also posses the ability to wear most any armor. Both of these classes add more variety to the game and of course they are accompanied by old favorites, the Warrior, Ranger, Cleric, Wizard and Shadowknight. It is important to choose your class wisely as magic users will be more vulnerable to larger groups of hulking enemies while the melee fighters will have a tough time with magic using enemies.  

Return to Arms is played through a story arc involving the restoration and safety of Norrath and Friona Vie has called you along to aid in the fight. The story won’t matter much to those estranged from the EverQuest series, but there is enough to love in the gameplay that makes this hardly matter. The game has you traveling from environment to environment picking up small quests and proceeding with the main plotline. The side quests are fun and time consuming and allow you to further beef up the characters. When a major area is completed you can access secret levels and earn medals by completing challenges under preset conditions. These are sometimes extremely difficult but can be fun especially with a friend.  

There are literally thousands of items old and new that populate the world. Giant swords, axes and maces will guide you through the evil hordes and the many new spells will not only amaze visually but will help when fighting large groups of monsters. The game features several large and imposing boss battles, difficult to solo but fun with a friend, they aim to test your skill and show you how much you should have been training. Overall the main single player mode can last up to 40 hours if you are looking to find a lot of the items and even up to 100 if you choose to import characters from the original game and take on harder enemies in the single player game. There is literally a ton to do in Return to Arms. 

The standout feature of the original is also just as prevalent in its sequel. Playing Champions online is addictive, fun and time consuming. Traveling through the realms of Norrath collecting new items, leveling up and fighting constant waves of enemies is a blast. Most of the kinks from the original online system have been worked out and most games are with little lag. Voice options are available and an in-depth game and chat room system have been added to the lobby. Aside from going online, you can stick in a second controller and play with a friend. This is where the bulk of the fun can come from especially if you play with the right people.