Champions of Norrath couldn’t have been released at a worse time. Those interested in this type of game have probably already picked up the heavily touted Dark Alliance 2 and may not be ready to plunk down another fifty bucks for something so similar. Don’t make that mistake; Champions of Norrath is the best game of its kind to ever grace a console and to pass it off as more of the same would be a grave injustice.
Champions of Norrath takes place in the Everquest universe, so many of the locations and characters in the game will be familiar to fans of the MMORPG. Kelethin, the treetop home of the Wood Elves, is under siege by an army of goblins and orcs. A dark, powerful force is binding the goblins and orcs (who are normally mortal enemies) together for its own agenda. A group of adventures, the Champions of Norrath, have pledged to aid Kelethin by finding the true source of evil behind the war. Though the story will be more greatly appreciated by Everquest fans, one need not have experience in Everquest in order to understand the plot. Champions of Norrath has a lot more dialogue than most games of this type which helps convey a sense of purpose that is often lacking in action-oriented games. My only complaint is that the much of the dialogue is always the same, regardless of your chosen character. Hearing a merchant call my Dark Elf Shadow Knight a “compassionate soul” seemed a bit out of place, but it is a relatively minor gripe.
Champions of Norrath offers five unique characters to choose from (male and female versions of each): The Barbarian Warrior, Dwarf Cleric, Wood Elf Ranger, Dark Elf Shadow Knight, and Erudite Wizard. The game also allows the player to edit the appearance of their character by changing such features as hair color, skin color, hairstyle, and facial hair. After completing the character creation process and sitting through a brief introduction, the game begins. Like any good action/rpg, Champions of Norrath’s main focus is on combat. You are given many quests, of course, such as rescuing lost children and recovering stolen artifacts, but these really only serve as an excuse to travel to different areas and, you guessed it, fight more monsters. Thankfully, combat in Champions of Norrath is rarely dull, since each character plays a bit differently. The warrior, for instance, uses melee weapons such as swords and spears to attack monsters directly, while the wizard and ranger excel at attacking from a distance with spells and arrows, respectively. As the heroes level up, they gain access to powerful skills and spells that help combat the increasingly difficult opposition. Slain foes also drop weapons, armor and other useful items that the scavenging adventurer can put to use. Why spiders and other non-human creatures need to carry around such treasures is just one of Norrath’s many mysteries.
You’re probably thinking “So what? This sounds just like every other hack-and-slash game I’ve ever played”. As they say, the devil’s in the details. While Champions of Norrath does indeed use the same basic model as every other action/rpg, it simply does it better. First of all, the game is much more difficult than others in the genre. Even the warrior-type characters can only take a few hits before going down. Blocking stops most frontal attacks, but enemies will do their best to surround your hero and attack from all sides. Enemies also block and counter attack, forcing you to look for openings. Enemy mages and ranged fighters will stand back behind the front lines and attack from afar. Shamans resurrect fallen comrades, effectively undoing much of your work. Some opponents are armed with powerful, magical weapons that will slow your movement down to a crawl and make it difficult to retreat. Others have special abilities, such as the spiders’ ability to reel you in with their webbing. Champions of Norrath’s difficulty steadily ramps up as your character becomes more powerful and the constant challenge helps to keep the game fresh.
Slaying monsters is fun and all, but the hunt for powerful equipment is what will keep you playing into the wee hours of the night. Again, this isn’t a new concept, but Champions of Norrath handles it much better than previous games. There are literally hundreds of items to find and better equipment constantly drops from fallen monsters. You’ll also come across enchanted gems that can be inserted into other items to add special properties, such as fire damage or increased weapon speed. Occasionally, rare weapons or armor will drop; these items are usually much more powerful than other equipment of that level and often have multiple enchantments as well. After completing the game once, you have the option of playing through a second time with the same character on a harder difficulty level. It is worth playing through the more challenging difficulties just for the amazing equipment you’ll find.
The game is played from an overhead perspective similar to the Dark Alliance series. One notable difference is that Champions of Norrath allows you to play from a much closer point of view if you so desire. Of course, doing so slightly decreases your field of vision, but it is worth the sacrifice. It’s easy enough to change views quickly if the need arises. Being zoomed in so close to the action also gives the player a chance to experience some of the nice graphical features that would otherwise be missed, such as the cuts and wounds that appear on enemies as they take damage. Any equipment that your character dons shows up on their person during gameplay, as well. Many magical weapons glow or trail flames, depending on their enchantments. Most of the environments you’ll come across are varied and well done, but don’t feature a whole lot of detail. It’s also a bit difficult to make out some characters and monsters against certain backgrounds. While Champions of Norrath’s graphical effects are impressive to behold, they come at a price. The game is often plagued by slowdown and a choppy framerate when too many characters are on-screen at once. It doesn’t actually hinder gameplay all that much and you’ll get used to it, but you will never cease to notice it. There are also a number of graphical glitches that pop up from time to time. For instance, when a new area loads, it sometimes takes a second or two for all of the graphics to appear. It’s as if the hardware can’t keep up with the game. While a little more development time may have resolved some of these issues, the aging PS2 hardware is surely a contributing factor. The audio suffers from some of the same problems. The music, sound effects, and voices are all great, but some of the tunes break up from time to time and the snide comments made by each character are often delayed.
Presentation problems aside, Champions of Norrath doesn’t have many shortcomings. The controls are tight and responsive and only really pose a problem when trying to switch between different skills. Two skills can be assigned to face buttons on the controller, but switching to a third is a bit unwieldy, especially in the midst of battle. Another minor complaint is that the quests that involve finding a certain item or person often result in a lot of wandering around. A little more direction could have alleviated some of the resulting frustration. These problems are relatively minor, though, compared to how much fun Champions of Norrath can be. With five different characters and three difficulty levels, the game has tons of replay value and can keep you entertained for a long time. Online play is also available at no extra charge. Regrettably, I am not equipped with the PS2 network adapter so I am unable to comment on this feature, but barring some unforeseen connectivity problems, I would imagine that this is a welcome addition for many players.
Champions of Norrath may not be a revolutionary title, but it succeeds at being an incredibly enjoyable one. The subtle differences between it and other games of the genre make Champions of Norrath more satisfying and enjoyable than those games that came before it. So hurry up and finish Dark Alliance 2, because after playing this, you probably won’t be looking back.
