This game is extremely redundant. Aside from the two new player classes, the player characters are all the same. Exactly the same. No elaboration from the previous game whatsoever. I suppose this makes it easier to import your characters from Champions of Norrath, but it would have been nice to see some kind of elaboration in this department. Furthermore, many of the "bad guys" you fight are the same as in the previous game. Many of the characters you met in Champions of Norrath return. For example, Babik Nurn makes an appearance. Many of the locales are the same. You will again visit the gothic vampire castle, as well as the Pit of Ill Omen. Some of the quests are even familiar. Once again, the mermaid has lost her conch shell and would like you to find it for her. After you do this, you again are granted the ability to breathe underwater so you can fight some undead pirate skeletons. What does all of this add up to? The feeling that you just paid a bunch of money to play the Champions of Norrath all over again.
In addition, as with Champions of Norrath, the game seems to have several bugs. I've had the game freeze on me, and the screen seems to bounce around every time you're looking through your character's inventory. These are some minor technicalities that one might think would have been worked out after the several complaints that arose regarding the original game, however, that doesn't seem to be the case.
However, this isn't to say that the game is all bad. As I stated previously, I'm one to enjoy a decent hack-and-slash game, so I pushed onward and completed it in it's entirety. Any fan of the Dungeons and Dragons type RPG should find some decent entertainment value in Return to Arms, regardless of the aforementioned pitfalls. In addition, as with Champions of Norrath and both Baldur's Gate games, the graphics are incredible. I have yet to see video games as visually stunning as the stuff Snowblind puts out. It feels as though your characters are walking around in a diorama rather than on your television screen.
I've never tried the online play, in this or in any other game for that matter, so I can't comment on that. However, the rest of the game makes for hours of good fun if you don't mind a little bit of repetition. It's still worth buying, just don't expect anything too terribly ground-breaking.
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If you've played any of the Baldur's Gate series (I've beaten them all) or the previous installment of the EverQuest game for PS2, then you're now familiar with Snowblind Studios' game engine. So familiar, in fact, that you probably can't tell you're playing a different game.We had already beaten Champions of Norrath and, hungry to use all the neat new powers and weapons we gained in the first game, purchased its sequel, Call to Arms. This time I played Quintus, a cleric, while my wife played Ilmare, an archer. We were back at it again, hacking and slashing our way to fame and fortune. But it all seemed so familiar...
That's because this is the same friggin' game! I'm not talking "inspired by the original Champions of Norrath." I don't mean, "it looks similar." I mean: the maps are the same, the dialogue is the same, the NPCs are the same. Yes, the same mermaid wants you to find her conch. And she grants the same ability to breathe underwater. Where you once again get to fight underwater pirates.
All these boards have been cleverly reshuffled to be "planes." So instead of any actual cohesive plot, it's all about traveling planes...the Plane of Islands. The Plane of Violence. The Plane of Why Did I Buy This Game Again?
Don't get me wrong; playing through Call to Arms gave us a reason to use our higher-level characters from the first game. The problem is that any dungeon hack worth his sword is a thorough sweep-and-loot kind of adventurer, which means he can pick a level clean. We get all the exp and cash and we don't stop until it's so cleaned out you can eat your iron rations off of the floor.
What that means is that our characters leveled. A lot. By the time we fought the idiot who I suppose qualifies as the "Avatar of Fear," we wasted him with little effort. The various minions up to that point fell just as easily.
And that's the problem with Call to Arms. Yes, it's got two new races (lizard people and tiger people). Sure, it has some new spells and powers. And there are a few new monsters. But fundamentally, this is the same game repackaged with the vain hope that you either didn't play the first game or won't notice that the repetition.
In a market chock full of online games, the Champions of Norrath line ends up competing with itself.
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I just wanted to address a few of the mistaken claims made by other reviewers. There ARE changes in the character classes from the first champions game I imported an old wizard of mine and there were new abilities for him in the skill tree. There IS a slight glitch that makes the inventory screen pulse a little but I haven't even found it to be a minor irritation, much less a problem. MUCH of the content for this game was carried over from the first many of the environments are identical or slight variations on the first game's and many of the monsters are the same though there are quite a few new additions as well. For me this isn't a problem as Champions of Norrath and the Baldur's Gate games are some of my favorites on the PS2 and I can enjoy repeatedly what they offer.One of the new additions to this game is that you can choose to go a "good" or an "evil" route (so far I've only done the good so I don't know how much difference in content there is between the 2). There are also medallion rounds where, if you overcome a challenge (some of which are quite difficult) you gain access to a extra level. Most of the extra levels are like the main game but some offer other options. One, for instance, allows you to bet on combatants in an arena.
Overall, I would have to say that I've very much enjoyed this game though it's true that it's heavily derivative of the first Champions.
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Champions: Returns To Arms had the advantage of the success of the first game Champions of Norrath using a hugely improved gameplay and mechanism of Baulder's Gate. However, Returns to Arms itself is a very disappointing instalment for the series...if there is going to be another one.Basic gameplay wise it is very similar to the first game. However, the twick and twist that was put into the sequel completely removed a lot of the fun factors offered by the original title. You can import your old characters from the first one into the new one, but then the abilities you earned from the first one was toned down. For example you will find the same skill now takes up more mana and if it is a summon e.g. the Hammer of Wrath for the Cleric class, it stays around much shorter than before. There are new skills to be learnt but then since they require higher level to unlock, it is a test of patience if you start a new character for the game.
The portal map approach didn't really do much good to the game apart from making some very taxing "side quests" available for players. But some of them are so difficult that you will just find them more like a frustration than fun. Even random enemies in the main story e.g. archers in the last dungeon could kill you with two hits. If this is the way that Snowblind thinks could prolong the game it is a bad move. Also the worst nightware is the inclusion of stealth unnecessarily inside the game. Especially all enemies in the stealth level is one hit kill on you disregard your level. Stealth works in action rpgs like Zelda and Beyond Good and Evil because it goes natural with the game, but in Champions, it looks awkward and at the same time frustrating. Just think if someone just like hack'n slash why would they want to play a very difficult stealth level in the middle of the game?
The game also has some very difficult bosses that can cause you to throw your controller, so get a sturdy controller before start playing it. Prices for stuff are as steep as they used to be and most of the time you can only get budget items from enemies, even in the courageous and champion modes. Also the fact that you can't repeat the same level again and again like the last game, and you can't import characters into a game once you started it made the whole gameplay very inflexible and annoying. For example you are in the middle of an adventure a friend came over and want to join. That could not be done unless you start a new game. This lack of flexibility compared with the first one is a HUGE put off factor for the fans of the series.
In all fans of the first game will still play this game but it certainly does discourage people to get the third one if there is any at all. The first Champions game got every aspect right but the sequel just ruined everything. But one thing is consistent between both games you could not believe how many bugs are there in the game. Certainly more serious QC is needed for Snowblind in the future. Or maybe QCs there are all snow blinded?
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