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With a fabulous graphics engine, deep character development and excellent additions to come in the months ahead, AC2 sets a new standard.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) are quickly becoming a huge deal in the PC games market, and why not? Players get a game that seemingly has no end, and game companies get to collect monthly payments from their game’s obsessive fans.

Asheron’s Call 2 takes place in the fictional world of Dereth. The story goes that the world was destroyed and taken over by mutants and fierce creatures, forcing the other races of the land underground. Years have passed, and now the Humans, Lugians, and Tumeroks emerge to rebuild their world and fend off the remaining freakish inhabitants.

The game begins with a spectacular in-depth tutorial that should prove priceless for newcomers to this type of game, and I recommend taking as much time as necessary with this, allowing yourself to soak up all the information you are given.

The first thing you will notice upon playing AC2 are the graphics, which are absolutely amazing. The game world is highly detailed, filled with crumbling villages, collapsed castles, grassy fields, and the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets I’ve ever seen in the virtual world.

Character models are of superior quality, with lots of options available to create them. As you battle the many creatures of Dereth, your on screen persona will even show signs of damage as he is hit.

Aside from the music constantly playing in the background, sound is used sparingly in AC2. Battle sounds are there, and even the occasional ambient noise (crickets, birds) but for the most part things are very quiet.

The gameplay of AC2 is full for the most part, and has plenty to offer players, but only if you have the patience to build up your character to a sufficient level.

Expect to spend hours upon hours slaughtering inferior creatures to gain experience points and levels, looting those corpses for valuables, and organizing your inventory. The gameplay does become fairly monotonous in this stage of the game, but sticking with it can be very rewarding.

Once your character is strong enough to venture to every corner of Dereth, you will find quests galore. Some simple in nature, while some are enormous, taking several hours of continuous play to complete.

Also scattered throughout the large game world are vaults, begging to be explored. After you defeat the boss monster of a vault, you are rewarded with a cinematic that furthers the story. Disappointingly, these consist solely of still images and a voice over.

A cool new feature in AC 2 is the ability to convert your inventory items into gold right on the spot. There’s no longer a need to make the endless trek to find a merchant to sell your goods to, so that you can pick up more useful items.

However, there is also a downside to this. You don’t have to worry about picking and choosing the items you take, because you can pick them all up, and convert those that you have no use for into gold. It takes a huge strategic element out of the game, and while it’s a minor complaint, it’s a complaint nonetheless.

The crafting system allows you to take some of the items you’ve collected, and create more powerful and advanced weapons, armor, etc - but the system has its flaws.

First of all, finding all the right ingredients for crafting a particular item could take hours, and then the item you make is only marginally better, and often the same, as one you probably already have. The more you practice crafting, the better you will become, but as I’ve said before, patience is key in this game.

The social system in AC2 is simple, and joining up with others can be a tremendous help in some quests. There are allegiances and fellowships. An allegiance is a semi-permanent pact between players, while fellowships last only for a single quest. However, you can also remain a lone adventurer if you would prefer not to engage other individuals.

In fact, it is probably much easier to keep to yourself than joining up with others, as the game world is rather empty. You can sometimes traverse the land for long stretches of time without seeing a single other player. Even when you spot a fellow adventurer, they are usually content to simply dash right past you, continuing on their merry way.

Adding to the world’s emptiness is a lack of any real place for players to gather. Sure, there are towns and villages, but they remain bare. NPC’s would have been a great help in filling in these bare spots. As of right now, there is really nothing to do but develop your character, and familiarize yourself with Dereth.

I’m sure the developers will be adding heaps of content in the months to come, but I feel that more should have been pumped into the initial release.

Even with these drawbacks, Asheron’s Call 2 is a fantastic title and a new standard for MMORPG’s. With a fabulous graphics engine, smooth play, deep character development, and what I’m sure will be excellent additions to come in the months ahead, AC2 is more than worth the price of admission.

Reviewed by Michael Bordelon, PC Gameworld.