Right from the start in the tree kingdom of Kelethin, you are plunged into hack’n’slash heaven. The graphics are some of the best on the PS2, and there is plenty of variation in the gameplay.
It's a sweeping, exquisitely crafted, hopelessly addictive adventure that ignites a wondrous spirit of gaming past...A magnificent action-RPG and a terrifically fun video game. [Feb 2004, p.44]
The PS2 had some really amazing titles and this was one of them. Not only was this a great RPG but the combat was satisfying enough to keep you wandering through dungeons for hours on end. Best experienced with a pal.
It's the prettiest, the deepest, the biggest, and thanks to online play and randomly-generated levels, the most replayable action RPG available today. [Mar 2004, p.24]
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.
Throw in three difficulty levels and multiplayer support (with either a Multitap or a Network Adaptor) and you've got a lengthy and highly replayable adventure. [Mar 2004, p.86]
Best Action-RPG on PS2. Better lerning curve than most games. I have beaten it twice alone and once with a friend on the excellent couch coop mode, and still can't get enough. Better than Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance! It's a great role play hack & slash fun: A satisfying game mechanic, nice weapons, beautiful landscapes, creepy monsters, tight atmosphere. The things that work best are the very various landscapes and the atmosphere: Not only dungeons, dark lands, forest, cemetery, vampire castle but also untypical RPG landscapes like dessert, beach island, lava fields. These are really impressive and in the dark vampire castle I often shudder, at the island beaches I relax and so on. That and the well made skill and weapons system guarantee a long term motivation. The weapons are cool, but there could be a little more "wow, I found a great weapon"-experiences. What I miss most, is that there are very few people to talk to: There are about 10 characters who are always part of the story and you cannot interact with them. Feels a bit lonely in the single player mode. Really great is the multiplayer mode: Up to 4 friends in front of 1 screen! Great! The thing that makes it better than Dark Alliance is the much nicer bow and arrow shooting (the arrow flys realisticly quick compared to the slow flying DA arrow), the better system of magical jewellery and the more choosable characters. Only that you could talk to more characters was nicer in DA.
Not bad, but not excellent. The plain story, simple roleplay system, not many items, and weapons. But this is Everquest and the music is absolutely beautiful.
This was the game that made me realize how saturated the hack-n-slash genre was at the time. With Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 being released just a few weeks before, this felt more like a hack-n-slash fix that took advantage of the popularity of the genre. With that said, it's still pretty good. A few bugs, but none that ruined the game for me.
I did feel the game lacked a well thought out narrative, because to be honest it felt pretty generic and really did not leave much of an impression. Visually it impressive and gameplay is as fun as any other hack-n-slash game.
Overall:
Champions of Norrath isn't the best game of it's genre, in fact it's pretty standard and rather generic. But it is allot of fun and (aside from the bugs) a technical marvel (of the time.)
Не понимаю восторженных оценок. Очень однообразная игра состоящая из сплошной рутины. Прокачка скучная, мало влияющая на геймплей, сюжет развивается медленно, лут в 99.9% случаев бесполезный. Блеклый наследник Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.
SummaryCreate your own champions, each with unique powers, appearances and skills in this Action RPG. Experience an epic adventure filled with powerful action and ominous intrigue. Battle vicious monsters where your mastery of weaponry and spells is the only thing between you and the supremacy of evil. Champions of Norrath allows gamers to crea...