CHAMPIONS of NORRATH
R E V I E W
“Champions of Norrath, thank you for answering my call in what may be our darkest hour. The unthinkable has happened. Orcs and goblins, once mortal enemies, have now become allies and have attacked our beloved home in Faydwer. Even as we speak, they move through Faydark forest unopposed. They have pillaged our home, Kelethin, and put our loved ones to the sword. Their tracks leave scars upon the land that may never be healed. Yet, my friends, I fear that this is only the beginning. If Faydark falls, then so falls Faydwer and then these beasts will have all of Norrath by the throat. This is not a battle we are fighting, it is a war, and it is one we must win. Many brave fighters have fallen and many more are dying in the forests below. To win this war, I need more than soldiers with a will to fight. I need heroes! Men and women of strength, and bravery, who can turn aside this tide of hate that threaten our kingdom and all of Norrath. Who amongst you will take up the sword, the staff, the hammer, and drive this scourge from our land? If there be any who would lay down their life for the glory of Faydwer, for the defense of Norrath, then speak now!” – Leithkorias
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| Champions of Norrath cover art |
This is the intro to Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest. After Leithkorias makes this speech you may choose from 5 different species: Barbarian Warrior, Wood Elf Ranger, High Elf Cleric, Erudite Wizard, or Dark Elf Shadownight, either male or female, with their own special abilities to fit your needs. After that you can customize your characters looks, with variations of skin, hair and so forth. After this you appoint 20 extra points to the attribute(s) of your choosing from: Strength (how much damage each blow from you character deals during melee. Also increases how much your character can carry), Intelligence (increases the amount of mana your character can hold and how fast your characters mana regenerates [if you choose a Barbarian mana regeneration is negated]), Dexterity (makes your character more accurate in all attacks, and increases the amount of damage done by ranged weapons), and Stamina (increases the amount of health you character has and how fast your character regenerates health). After distributing your points, you finally get to name your character. Then, your quest begins!
G A M E P L A Y--- This game is absolutely phenomenal! The graphics are more advanced than expected from a 2005 game. From character detail, to backgrounds, they are near-perfect. The only problem I saw was, from the 3 camera angles to choose from, neither show off the graphics as much as they could have. The character graphics when they’re talking is in the top 10 best that I have ever seen! When the character stops talking at the end of a sentence, their mouth doesn’t keep moving, and when they are talking, it actually looks like they are speaking the words! The voice acting is also fantastic! When they talk it does not sound like the actors are just reading a script for a few extra bucks, as it sadly seems in numerous games, it sounds like they are really passionate about what they are doing! The slashing/whacking/casting sounds are vibrant. It is sad to say that the music may be a downfall for some. It is all orchestra, which fits the game with its set time, however in some long stages, where the same song plays until you make it to another stage, it becomes repetitive and tiring. Luckily, there is only about one stage where this occurs. The enemies are basically the same everywhere in the matter of mages, rangers, and warriors. They are diverse in appearance though, ranging from normal goblins and orcs, to skeletons and vampires. There are hundreds of weapons and armor to pick up and/or buy and sell. The weapons can be 2- handed, for extra power, or one handed, so you can also carry a shield or another weapon if you have the dual wield skill. For armor you can equip a helmet, chest plate, gloves, leggings, and boots. You also can equip jewelry. At one time you may wear: a necklace, a pair of earrings, and 2 rings. The controls are pretty normal for a game of this style. Power ups are also tremendously diverse between characters.
O F F E N C I V E M A T E R I A L--- I am extremely delighted to announce there is no language in the game whatsoever, with the exception of the b****rd sword. This is never spoken in the game since it is the name of a weapon, and using this weapon is easily avoidable. If you are sensitive to magical references this game is almost definitely not for you, since magic is vastly used. Although if you choose the Barbarian Warrior you do not need to use any magic, but you will face shamans and such characters as that that almost only use magic. The rating of Blood and Gore may automatically be a shut-down for some people who are squeamish. However, in options there is a setting, which is defaultly off, where there is very minor blood and no gore. If you turn it on, when you kill goblins and enemies of that nature, blood splats out, and there’s a puddle of blood under them when they die. The only gore in the game is when you kill people and animals in lightly colored floored areas, such as when you’re on sand. The gore isn’t very detailed and almost always looks like a red rock. Later in the game you meet a mermaid, Kerriel, who is laying on a rock. She is not wearing anything on her upper body, but her hair covers her private areas. There is also a woman (not a mermaid) with the same upper body explanation, and is wearing what looks like underwear and a shawl on her lower body. Except for the women you play as, nearly all of them (which isn’t very many) are scantily dressed. Fortunately nothing is shown, with one exception to when you are in Vanarhost castle. Sylea (Vanarhost’s wife) is basically wearing only enough to cover herself, and is wearing a thong, but that isn’t too much of a problem since there isn’t much camera or graphical emphasis on it, so you can easily look over it. One enemy is a demon-like creature, which may offend some. One of the characters makes a slight reference to wine, but this shouldn’t offend most people, since it is not used in a consuming manner. Also the last boss, Innoruuk, is basically the devil. He is called the prince of hate. (Minor spoiler) Which when you defeat him in the end, is it a good-wins-over-evil kind of thing. (end minor spoiler) My main issue with the game (which may or may not be yours) is when you are in act 4 the first person you see in Khathuun, Gol Nazyn, is sort of a deceiver. After you find all of the ‘curiosity’ that he asks you to find for him (Spoiler Alert) he gives you a Shard of Hate in return, which brings misfortune on the beholder; but you do need this to win the game. (End Spoiler) Also when you find all of the ‘curiosity’ that he asks you to find, he proclaims “Praise Innoruuk!” which, in this world, would make him a Satan worshiper. The last thing I found is in the end, the cutscene before you start fighting Innoruuk, he tries to fill your head with deceitful lies that you are really his disciple, just like Satan tries to do with us. Just as it should be in our lives, your character does not give in and the battle begins. If you loose, you see one ending. If you win, you see a different one. (Be sure to save right before you fight him!)
S U M M A R R Y--- Overall, I give CoN an A- on the JMRS. I would recommend this game to ages 15+. At this age most Christians are strong in their beliefs, and will not be affected by the content of this game. If you watch the Harry Potter movies and see nothing wrong with them, then you probably won’t see anything wrong with this game. There are also many positive points such as the “good-over-evil” subject and so on. The game is also very long. Around 30 hours or so i would say. So if you’re looking for a good RPG that you can play offline by yourself, with friends only locally, or online with complete strangers then I recommend this game. It is one of the best I have seen in RPG gaming!
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