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Everquest II  Hot PDF Print E-mail
Game Reviews MMOs
Written by ioo   
Sunday, 11 February 2007
Editor's rating
72.3
out of 100
User rating
66.5
out of 100
Genre: Fantasy
Developer: Sony Online Entertainment
Status: Released
Price: $24.99
Official Website: http://everquest2.station.sony.com/
Monthly Fee: $14.99
buy now By using the link to the left you support AbleGamers, Amazon gives us a 4% kickback when you buy from them

It has been 500 long years since The Shattering sent obliterating shockwaves of magical forces across the moon of Luclin and its remnants rained down upon the vulnerable world of Norrath. This promptly resulted in The Rending, which cataclysmically ripped apart whole continents and birthed a mammoth tidal wave, causing all but two great cities, Queynos to the West and Freeport to the East, to descend the briny depths. Now, like polar opposites, Qeuynos finds itself ruled by the benevolent Queen Antonia Bayle and Freeport by the decidedly malevolent undead Shadowknight, Lucan D’Lere. Many believe that the mysterious evil which first devastated life on Norrath will soon return to finish it. If that time comes, will you be ready to defend what once could not be defended?

EverQuest II, like the original EverQuest, is a MMOG focusing heavily on questing and killing creatures for loot and experience points and offering such MMORPG standards as guilds. However, EverQuest II improves substantially on the original. Trade skills are now a much more engaging character archetype. Also, an optional “locked encounters” feature has been added which prevents kill stealing and power leveling. Sound in EverQuest II wasn‘t overlooked either. Professional actors contributed 130 hours of dialogue and a great deal of original music was composed for EverQuest II. “Live Updates” to EverQuest II have instituted such major changes as additional servers and closed arenas for mutual PvP and dueling.

EverQuest II is set 500 years after Everquest. Norrath is still the game world, but the planes have closed and the gods have disappeared. Qeynos (’good‘) and Freeport (’evil‘), the two remaining cities after the The Shattering, are considerably larger than they were in the original EverQuest MMO, making traveling long distances a daunting prospect. Luckily, trained griffons are available to ferry players over the Shattered Lands, or a horse or flying carpet can be purchased outright, carrying with it a certain degree of prestige. Taking the place of teleportation spells from the original EverQuest MMORPG are “Mariner’s Bells” scattered throughout Norrath.

Editor review : Great Looking, and Not Bad for the Disabled
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Overall rating
72.3
Easy on the Right Hand
63
Easy on the Left Hand
84
Chat Interface Flexibility
87
Key Mapping Flexibility
98
Easy on Mouse Hand
53
Flexable Sound Controls
91
Visual Controls
70
Alternative Input Support
57
Tracking Needs
50
Font Control
70
Been Playing EQ2 of late, change of pace really as I am mostly wasting time while waiting (albeit with some concerns) for DDO.

EQ2 is not too bad intensity wise overall, their are some places where you need to jump just right...including walking across planks, etc. But I find you can normally use work arounds, such as stacking another plank from a different location on the end etc. Combat is not too bad, hotkeys and skill clicking as the norm, but has a decent queue system so plenty of time to select your next attack while the other is being done. Sound is a big indicator of combat, but so is the stance of the character so it gives a decent visual clue that one has gotten mob aggro.

I find combat to be a bit too clunky for me, the auto attack system tends to automatically reposition you, not too different from combat problems I have found in AC 2. When you need to run away/break from combat you sometimes end up running in a very different direction than you anticipated. Probably my biggest complaint and it is fairly minor.

Content is great, lots of back story...even if not a former EQ1 player (I am not), A lot of different types..legends and lore, items for your home (the housing in EQ2 is just wonderful...my favorite part by far). Guilds and craft socities also gain levels, so their are tasks and quests that you can do to advance these as well as personal character growth. Higher level guilds get access to some great things in game...including flying carpets for mounts...woohooo.

The crafting system must be noted as well, as it currently stands it is an indepth, complicated, and involved process. One cannot go afk easily and just let the crafting process go, it requires active attention during the process. The variety of items and classes is substantial and for the hardcore crafter it is well loved. On the down side, it is not that friendly to the casual crafter. It is time consuming and involved, often you feel like you are grinding out a few levels to hit certain levels for items. This varies of course depending on craft class. There is talk of further tweaking the system though, they recently increased craft xp gains.

All in All EQ 2 is a fun game, rather enjoyable. People looking for a casual, long term, enjoyable game might want to check it out. I tend to be of a power leveler sort and don't stop to smell the roses, took me one month of play to hit lvl 45...in that repsect, like WoW I may soon face an end game boredom issue. But for folks who have a life (can I borrow it sometime?) This is not a bad game at all.
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User reviews

Average user rating from: 1 user(s)

Overall rating
67
Easy on the Right Hand
60
Easy on the Left Hand
80
Chat Interface Flexibility
70
Key Mapping Flexibility
100
Easy on Mouse Hand
60
Flexable Sound Controls
70
Visual Controls
60
Alternative Input Support
40
Tracking Needs
55
Font Control
70
 

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

ioo
Great Game, could be better, Wednesday, 14 February 2007

Written by ioo   -  View all my reviews  - #1 Reviewer

Overall rating
66.5
Easy on the Right Hand
60
Easy on the Left Hand
80
Chat Interface Flexibility
70
Key Mapping Flexibility
100
Easy on Mouse Hand
60
Flexable Sound Controls
70
Visual Controls
60
Alternative Input Support
40
Tracking Needs
55
Font Control
70
I am not going to go into the game as a whole, I like it, I also have a rig that can run it, so...

I find the game easy to play for the most part. The only real challange is that some function like TRADE and INSPECT on found as you right-click on a player, and if that player moves before you get a chance to get to the menu item you want, it vanishes and you have to chase the person around, or hope they are still for a few moments.

The New TAB system in the chat boxes let you move text to another tab outright, or just turn it off, great for those with sight issues and want to only have things like "tells" showing.

Crafting can be a CLICK-fest, but if you set it up right, you can use the keyboard as well.

Over all, not a bad game, great gameplay and mostly friendly to disabled gamers.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 19 November 2007 )
 
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