Asheron's Call 2 (with free Strategy Guide)

The graphics are the best in any online-rpg, no doubt (until now).... but one of the major bugs in the game comes with this annoying sticky points where your character keeps being stuck here or there just to climb a small slope (quite ridiculous).

The sound is superb and i never get tired of the music, kinda adds to the athmosphere of chaos and desolation.

Regarding game mechanics, you no longer have to worry about putting points on strenght, agility and so on. In a very logical way, this is handled automaticaly behind the curtain... instead you train your skills..... and... contrary to some sayings, SKILLS MAKE A DIFFERENCE, i can easy pull of 300damage with an unpredictable hit at level 15. User interface is the best i ever saw since Dungeon Siege.

You can choose 3 races and each race has the opportunity to train on different professions, Defender, Berserker, Ranger and so on. Since each person decides what skills are the most useful to them, you can have quite different characters roaming in the world.

Battles are usually fast and more realistic-looking than in EQ or DAOC, gore is present here in a scaleable amount (custom wise).

As a final note.... there are no vendor NPCs around... but quite frankly.... you dont need them... remember DAOC vendor items become useless after level 40 and up? Well... AC2 just does that from the start.... start crafting (its fun and easier) and start playing the hidden merchant in your warrior soul.

Overall.. if you can forget somehow the "sticky" points on the huge and beautiful landscape.. and if you want to really have FUN while levelling up.... while at the same time participate in a evolving fresh-world.... i must admit.... AC2 is the way to go.

Not so, with this one. The learning curve is very smooth, from the moment you step into the game you are given quests to accomplish which teach you the basics of the game.

Your charchter also advances very quickly, giving plenty of encouragement to continue. The graphics are also state of the art, creating a very realistic and beutiful game world to explore.

Although at first it may seem strange not to have any shop keepers to buy and sell goods, however this system really works well. It encourages player interaction, however equally you are able to make your own weapons which are actually worth using. The skill system is great and clearly tells you how long before you advance to the next level.

The only negative I can find, is the player movement which is a little stiff, and sometimes you are unable to walk over a ridge for aparently no reason. The skills may also become a little limited at higher levels, however all i can say is that I am looking forward progressing my character to find out.

Overall this is a great entry game for those who want to go multiplayer, and I am sure veterans of the genre will have just as much fun.

Enjoy

This game is what is known as an MMPORG ( massively multiplayer online roleplaying game ).

Over Time As you play this game you Will be Training And developing a unique "character".. 1 Of 5 that you can make and store on an online server...

There are american and european servers.. about 5 in america and 3 in europe for faster connections to this online universe.. Your character will live on the world/server that you create him on..

The World That you character can roam about in is absolutley HUGE!!!! You just wont be able to fathom here from my explanation, exactly how huge the world your character will reside in really really is....

The lands that you will roam are populated too!! Oh yes warriors.. Your quest for ultimate power, rule, experience, or virtuosness will not be a journey that you will have to make alone.. Each server is populated by hundreds upon hundreds of other players.. All wanting to do the same quests and hunts and wanting to talk about the same stuff as you.. There are nice people and nasty people honourable poeple and vagabonds!!

Yes friends.. the worlds are populated by other REAL LIFE players all paying a small monthly fee for the stoarage space on the servers that your 5 characters will live on.. You can hunt with them.. You can chat with them.. You can even try to kill them!!!! Its great!!

There are towns citys.. nasty dungeons.. Huge huge monsters just WAITING to tear out your lungs out.. The list go's on and on.. There is now alot of diversity in the game.. In AC2 when your player kills a creature or completes a quest you will gain what is called experience points ( those rolplayers out there will understand what I mean here ).. This XP as it is known is stored by your character and when certain totals have been reached you go up levels accordingly..

AC2 as I said before, continues in its huge trend here in the levelling system, with many, many, many, diffrent types of quests, monsters to kill and dangerous missions to undertake.. all of which gain you varying amounts of xp...

Some things are or should I say can if you want them to be solo-able.. While other things have to be done with other players..

Unless of course, you wanna end up a small pile of red mush on the floor of some creepy ruins.. Or splattered across the moss strewn walls of some dungeon deep in the swamps..

There are many terrain types that populate the world including forest's mountain's island chains.. Continents, desert, swamp, glaciars, sea's (yes u can swim) and grassy plains with citys and forts.. You can sometimes also spot the ruins of some ancient structure ( lots of things represent diffrent famous structures of the ongoing ac1 genre..