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Ouch. Microsoft hits a new gaming low.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: November 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Since everyone seems to be concerned about what experts they are on gaming, I will first list the online games I play/played.

1. Ultima Online (current account is 4 years old)
2. Asherons Call #1 (played from launch - for 2 years)
3. Dark Age of Camelot (played 6 months)
4. Anarchy Online (played 4 months)
5. Everquest (1 year)

Ok now my opinion. Play any of the above games instead.

AC2 is a big step forward in graphics. Think Morrowind type of graphics. However, the game play is about as fun as watching grass grow. I played it all this weekend and I probably wont go back in. I for sure wont play after the free month is up.

How they went from Asherons Call to this New version is beyond me. They have "dumbed" the game down considerably. There are way less combat options and way less content.

The arguments stated about content being added as time goes by is stupid. They would have to completely re-invent this game to make it any better. The content they speak of adding is not like a big Everquest pack. Asherons Call developers add small changes each month. New monster or a small storyline or like that. Not a big re-do. Don't let the fan boys misslead you.

Buy the game at your own risk. One problem I haven't mentioned is that AC is generally known as Cheaters Paradise. If you plan to play an online game and don't want to be surrounded by cheaters/hackers and foul mouthed kids.. AC has a very bad rep for not doing anything about this situation. It's why I quit playing AC. I actually enjoyed that game the most of the ones I played. I just couldn't stand the rampant cheating and the stupid kids standing around making sexual remarks.

I already took notice this weekend that many of the scum from AC have moved to AC2. Kill Stealing, griefing, taunting. It's all started there already. Not really a big mystery since there really isn't anything else to do in the game.

ac2 beta testers review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: October 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

AC2 has become a stable and fun game to play. Once you get into the game and really look at it you find out it has more depth to combat from level 1-15 is one style of game from 15-25 is another ETC. ETC.. Each level spaceing opens up a new area to play in and new skills that you can use, and depending on how you equip yourself and utilize your skills will make the game easy or hard, but either way you can never make a mistake since you are allowed to untrain skills that dont fit your play style.

Needs balancing, but mindblowing graphics.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: October 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The great thing about this game is its continuous story line, and constant updates so the game is ever changing. Game players can alter the future of the story and even the patches. The game is fairly stable, has amazing graphics, but lacks in areas such as certain aspects of game play and content.

AC2: Game to be added later...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 16
Date: November 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I also beta tested AC2, and personally I found it lacking in every other department besides graphics. Its easy to see where the most time was spent and where the corners were cut.

Gameplay is overly simplistic and very repetative, difference between characters is non-existant, as a human archer will have the exact same abilities as a tumerok archer who has the exact same abilities as a lugian archer. The skill system itself is very weak, and the game lacks a stat sytem completely.

The world itself is pretty, but lacks a lot of things, the cities consist of boxes with textures at this point. There are NO npc's, no shops to go through and check out possible weapons or armor you may have later. You recieve quests from bottles or from talking statues.

Conclusion: All in all the game plays and feels like an graphics engine demo then a real game, you're probably better off waiting 6 months to a year for them to add the things missing from the game, but by that time there will probably be something more interesting anyway.

Mindless Mindnumbing XP Treadmill

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 13
Date: November 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Just got done with the BETA. It's all been said already, but here is my 2 pyreals worth. If you enjoy nearly 0 content, lousy quests and mindless killing of mobs over and over and over and over ad nauseum - this is the game for you.

Sign up and be a lab rat (in more ways than one - the first few months of retail might as well be called BETA 3)! Yes, that's right folks, you too can join the ranks of those dedicated enough to kill hundreds of thousands of mobs to get a few levels. This is not as much of an exageration as you may think.

Don't be fooled by what you might have read about how great crafting is. Visit a few message boards where BETA testers post. Whoever designed this system should be fired. Who is Turbine hiring over there to do game design? College students?

Let's not forget the so-called revolutionary vault quests. Get real! There are basically two types of vaults. One with a a few tunnels at the entrance where you get the key, portal down to the boss and kill him (total time in vault - 5 minutes). Then there is the style with a few platforms you jump down from, you get the key and then portal down to the boss and kill him (total time in vault - 5 minutes). The designer of this "magnificent" creation should be whipped with a rod. What are they thinking?

The worst thing, I think, is that Turbine REFUSED to even reply to BETA tester's concerns throughout the BETA. Barely a peep from them! They have _just_ hired a PR person to smooth things out. One week left in BETA and we finally here from Turbine? Too little, too late.

I could go on and on. This deserves 1 star for the GREAT graphics. Too bad there is not much else to be positive about.

Turbine: Powered By Microsoft World Domination

Frustrating

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: February 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

AC2 has potential, but it has been in production long enough that a lot of issues still plaguing it should have been fixed but are not.

The developers seem to be concentrating on balance and content issues more than core game problems which is a mistake in my opinion.

There is still rampant lag even with only 600 people on a server at peak, tons of client problems and at least one memory leak, several texture loading problems, GUI issues with repeating chat, warping characters and creatures, server timeouts that leave you stuck, unable to move or perform any action but log out, anti-cheating code that hits legit players and groups (for example telling you "You receive no exp, that monster couldn't even reach you!" after it had been pounding on you the whole fight) more than "cheaters", etc etc etc.

I've played beta versions of games with fewer client/server problems than this, and it leads to a very frustrating playing experience which is very shallow to begin with.

While they struggle with class balance, the core problems go unaddressed leading to nothing but 4 classes grinding exp because there's litereally nothing else to do and the other classes are undesireable to groups who's only purpose is grinding exp.

Download the free 15 day trial and buy the game for an additional 30 days free and hope WoW or Lineage 2 goes open beta before your 45 days are up. You will have experienced everything the game has to offer in that time.

Shop and Compare

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: June 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Now that Shadowbane has released and Star Wars Galaxies has lifted the NDA, it is very clear that most MMORPG players have had their expectations for "2nd generation" games raised to unrealistic levels.

Each of these games has their share of flaws. To get the latest, visit the Vault Network message boards or those of another game site. All of the major MMORPGs are represented there.

In the end, each game will appeal to a different class of players. Do yourself a favor: check the developer game sites and the message boards and then make a decision that suits your play style.

Slow Starter

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: March 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ok, first off, realize this... AC2 is ever-evolving. Even today (March, 2003) they are planning to release a massive patch that will change many of the game's fundamentals. But really... veterans of MMORPG... remember EQ when it first came out? And the Original AC? Oh boy... haven't they come a long way?

I'll admit to AC2's faults first:
- It feels very lonely at times. Yes, its true. There are no NPC Vendors. There are no citizens to interact with... but if you read the storyline of AC2... the reason becomes quite apparent. The world of AC2 was ravaged by a catastrophic clash of epic proportions leaving the residents and inhabitants caught in the crossfire. One of the participants of the war, a great wizard named Asheron, took responsibility over the people and created safe locations for them. For years, the people stayed in hiding while the war raged on. Then, they began sending scouts out from their magically protected havens to find out if it was safe to leave...

- Next issue with the game... steep requirements. You need a pretty hefty PC to fully enjoy the graphical capabilities of the game.

- Low Player Population... I put this here and I'll put it in Pluses as well. But while low player pop is a blessing it is also a curse. You will sometimes feel lonely in the world of AC2. Because of the sheer size of the game, you can venture away from the popular locations and not see a soul for hours.

Now that the negatives are out of the way... here's what you'll like about AC2.

-First off, yes it is beautiful... absolutely beautiful.
-It has an in-depth storyline. It is not entirely apparent at first but it is there... furthermore, the live team for AC2 add new storyline and content each month.
-It is seemingly endless. There are so many paths you can take. Ther are TONS of skills to get, each with its special strengths and weaknesses.
-I for one think the game is difficult. Sure, the first 15 or so levels are easy... but you also have to realize that the first 15 levels are 'noobie' levels and are really training you for the later levels. I thought the game would bore me to tears until I did the Old Cragstone Excavation site. I was playing a melee at the time and had very little difficulty taking mobs down... but when I entered this dungeon, I quickly learned the meaning of death and vitae... and I learned it often. I was over-powered and outgunned and I needed help badly. It was also my first Grouping experience (called Fellowship). I would say this is the first taste you get of the potential difficulty of AC2.
-AC2 is Not Overcrowded. Mentioned above as a negative but mentioned here as a positive. Imagine not having to camp a particular spawn for hours or fighting everyone else for rights to kill a certain mob. Imagine not having to walk into a city and lag out so bad that you have to look at the ground to move... Yes, it is good...
-You can raid a dungeon... by yourself if you'd like!!! I've done it. I've done it in simple dungeons, I've done it in vaults, I've done it alone and in groups... It is great to be able to run through a dungeon slaughtering your enemies without making a 'camp' and pulling to that camp. Trust me!
-Quests are throughout the fellowship. When I was in the Cragstone quest mentioned above, the other members of my fellowship were completing the same quest. Only one of us needed to finish it for the entire group to get the experience. Finally a real cause for grouping other than getting experience for the next level.
-In other MMORPG's, when you die, you are penalized by losing experience or losing items on your corpse. Losing stuff that you spent hours to get really [stinks.] In AC2, when you die, you get a vitae. This vitae penalty subtracts from 100%. The result is how well your character still fights. (5 points from 100 is 95%, so I fight at 95% of my total strength). You work off the vitae penalty by gaining more experience. The experience you gain adds to your total experience for your next level while working off your vitae penalty... :)
-Loot is random. Random mobs drop random loot in most cases. You may be doing a dungeon raid and come upon a key that will open the treasure chest at the end of the dungeon... or you might not.
-There are Vaults and Dungeons. Vaults are like dungeons except they can only be done once (getting the reward) and they are typically harder. Furthermore, they progress the overall storyline.
-Finally, Untraining skills. So you worked on your character and you find out you [erred] by putting points into skills that you don't need, use or like. AC2 gives you the ability to untrain a skill.

Overall, I love this game. The live AC2 team are constantly coming out with updates and patches for the game as well as the monthly storyline update. Its fun, its easy to get into, and its immersive.

Quite a dissapointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 10
Date: November 16, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Turbine has created a great graphical engine (VERY impressive graphics on my Radeon 9700 Pro), but failed to make a game. After playing beta for 3 weeks, I'm not going to buy it because of its generally slow and boring gameplay.

AC2 - Great game - I cant wait for it to come out!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: October 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I am a LONNNNG time Asheron's Call 1 player...

Strong Points of AC2:

* Crafting your own weapon / armor
* Several classes (Lugian, Human, Tumerok)
* CLosely matched LVL of player vs monsters - no more LVL 50 players killing a LVL 300 Tusker.
* Skill Point Sell Back - UN-Train skills you no longer want or need.
* Quest Logs - Keeps track of your quests and their status - and can watch a movie/storyline for furture reference.
* Cross Server Chatting - You on Thistledown can chat with a friend on Frostfell
* Intense Graphics - especially for GeForce 4 owners
* Amazing EAX support - supurb 3D sound
* The Monthly Patches - will MAKE this game!!

...Darth Bow

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