For those of you unfamiliar with the online gaming community, a quick lesson in the genre. One of the first types of game to be played online was a role-playing game in a shared environment where players would create characters according to a set of rules and then play out scenarios. With technological advances, this grew from text-based games to simple graphics, and finally on to the rich and detailed worlds of the class of Everquest.
The world of Everquest has created one of the most successful online Role Playing Games (RPG) ever. Within months of its launch in 1999, its servers were heavily populated and groaning under the strain. The launch of an expansion pack called the Ruins of Kunark added to the popularity of this imaginary world.
The original game was refined and improved with the launch of the Ruins of Kunark and the Scars of Velious expansion packs, but it was the Shadows of Luclin pack that brought it up to the standard of the day for graphic detail. The New Dawn pack is a box set of the original game with expansion packs, including Shadows of Luclin.
The Planes of Power is an all-new expansion pack that is bundled with New Dawn. Now, and so that you know what you get when you buy one of these boxes, here is what you can do with it:
Everquest does not veer too far from the norm for RPGs in terms of its gaming system. Characters are created from various races and classes. Certain races have particular leanings that make them better at being one class than another, for example, forget becoming a wizard if you are a dwarf and so on. With your character created you set forth in search of adventure and companionship. Everquest is an online only game; there is no play possible without an Internet connection. However, with so many players around the world, the team work and companionship that results means that the game has a dynamic beyond that of many which provide AI enemies only.
The basic organisation of the game then is to complete tasks or adventures, which earn money and experience. You gain ability in your chosen disciplines and powers through using them. As you earn money you can buy better weapons, armour, spells or objects that allow you to venture further.
The various continents and areas of the world in Everquest, called Norrath, provide huge scope for adventure. Animals, both familiar and fantastic, evil races, ruined castles, forgotten cities and secretive sects all provide a compelling environment to adventure in.
The Ruins of Kunark introduces a new playable race called the Iksar who once had a vast world wide empire, though now isolated they have reintroduced themselves to the world by kidnapping an Elven princess. The quest opens up their lands and the race. A vast icy continent is introduced in the Scars of Velious, complete with dragon homes and new races of dwarves. Again, a few fixes and improvements, but no major changes.
The Shadows of Luclin is a major technology upgrade that heavily revises graphics and worldly details. Much criticised for requiring a huge horsepower and graphic upgrade, this pack introduced a moon populated with a cat people race and the Beastlord class.
The Planes of Power is perhaps the greatest shake up in game play for Everquest. It creates a Plane of Knowledge accessible by players of all levels, where they can hone skills like trade, spell casting and combat. However, as with all of the other expansion packs, much of the play requires players to be of a threshold level to be able to play there. For example, the Ruins pack requires levels of 30+, whereas much of the Planes of Power will see levels of 40+ hard pressed as the original level limit was 50, raised by Ruins to 60 and then by Planes of Power to 65.
Overall, the Planes pack is aimed at those players who have been around so long that they are in the higher levels. It provides a sort of end-game challenge, as many of the planes accessed contain gods of the realm who can be challenged and defeated.
If you are new to the game, the New Dawn pack is by far the best option. Indeed many players have had mixed reactions to the Planes pack, as it introduces easy teleportation to all levels and removes the more traditional forms of travel and their inherent experience gained. If you are an inveterate Everquest player, then the Planes may be just the sort of new vista that the game requires. Both packs are standalone in that they contain all you need to play; however, without the advantage of broadband Internet access, neither might experience the success seen in the US. Despite being a bit painful at times when played over 56k dial-up, this game is certainly engrossing. With a rich, detailed and well populated world, this is escapism at its finest.
New Dawn
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Rating: 90%Requirements: Internet connection and an account on the Everquest Servers. Pentium II 400, 256Mbyte Ram, 16Mbyte graphics card, sound card, 4x CD ROM, DirectX 8.1, 28.8k Internet connection, keyboard and mouse.Price: EUR49.99
Planes of Power
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Rating: 85%Requirements: Internet connection and an account on the Everquest Servers. MINIMUM: Pentium II 400, 256Mbyte Ram, 16Mbyte graphics card, sound card, 4x CD ROM, DirectX 8.1, 28.8k Internet connection, keyboard and mouse. RECOMMENDED: Pentium III 500, 32Mbyte graphics card, 16x CD ROM, 56k Internet connection.
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