PlayStation 2

Champions: Return to Arms

As the original game is one of my favorites for the PS2, this one had a lot to live up too. And given the fact that my wife, who does not very often play games, also liked the title then perhaps doubly so. Champions: Return to Arms lives up to our expectations, so I can thank Snowblind and Sony not just for another great game, but for a great excuse to stay home together.

Champions: Return to Arms is an excellent example of an action RPG in the tradition of Gauntlet. It's not innovative which may be of concern to fans of the genre but newbies are well advised to get this game if they want to learn how to dungeon crawl with the best of them.

Fans may remember Champions of Norrath, an EverQuest-based hack-and-slash RPG from the makers of Baulder's Gate: Dark Alliance. Now, Snowblind Studios and Sony Online have upped the ante with Champions: Return to Arms, a sequel that's a classic case of more, more, more. Fans, no doubt, will be pleased.

Champions of Norrath is one of the most enjoyable games I have played in a long time, and while it is certainly not for everyone I think it is well worth checking for those who like a good adventure or are after a splendid action game. The game oozes quality in almost every area. If the online portion of the game was better organized making it easier to get a game going then this would have come close to my top five PS2 games ever, as it stands it is simply a very, very good game instead of being a classic. If you get this game (which is now probably quite cheap) try and get a few friends to buy it as well and you will have a game that will last you a very long time. Highly recommended.

Snowblind s'est surpassé pour nous proposer une suite digne du grand Champions of Norrath. Tous les ingrédients sont réunis pour faire de ce titre un excellent hack'n slash. L'aventure est longue pour peu que l'on veuille tout voir, le gameplay est impeccable et la convivialité est de mise avec le mode multijoueur online ou offline. On ne peut qu'espérer la venue d'un troisième épisode.

This is still basically the same game as Dark Alliance was, even with all the newly added content. Champions: Return to Arms is technically the better game, but not quite the jaw-dropper it was last year.

Last year Snowblind Studios and Sony Online Entertainment scored on the PS2 with the release of Champions of Norrath, an Everquest-based hack & slash RPG with free online action. It was met with both critical and commercial success, no doubt based upon the feverish popularity of the Everquest brand, despite being no MMORPG. A year later, the franchise returns with Champions: Return to Arms, a direct sequel to Norrath. Like the original, it’s a fine hack & slash RPG that’s both lengthy and challenging, and has vastly improved online play. A couple silly bugs hamper the game, but they do not ruin it. Like most hack & slash games, it can become repetitive, but if you’re a fan of this genre of role-playing, RTA is a no-brainer, and definitely one of the better action RPGs on a game console despite some of its notable flaws.

Fãs desse tipo de game provavelmente não vão se importar com essas falhas e mergulhar os dentes sedentos na aventura - o título certamente é um dos melhores no que faz. Mas os jogadores mais casuais que já testaram os outros games da produtora provavelmente vão querer voltar sua atenção para outro lugar.

The boss battles are epic, the game is longer than most, and it's certainly worth multiple play-throughs just to try out the other classes. It's not gnome rocket science, but it sure is fun.

It;s rate to see a sequel that does this little to shake up the gameplay formula of the original, but with that being said, anyone who enjoyed the first Champions title or either of the Dark Alliance games will find a lot to love here.

Yet, even with newly included character classes, new gameplay features and a cleaner online system, the fact still remains that Return To Arms is a title with relatively few advancements within the formula. Even hardcore hack and slash fans might be hard pressed to rationalize taking this title, possibly relegating this to the diehard Everquest fans. I’d definitely suggest this for players who’ve never picked up a Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance-based game or for gamers who didn’t get the first Champions, but everyone else might want to rent this title before enlisting.

Snowblind Studios made a big name for themselves when they released Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for the PS2. They broke new ground in action role-playing games on consoles with a fast playing game that had superb graphics and two-player cooperative gameplay. It was no surprise that Sony Online brought the developer in to perform the same magic for their Everquest fantasy setting. The result was a good action-RPG entitled Champions of Norrath that included online game options. Champions: Return to Arms is Snowblind's sequel to the original with some minor additions and improvements. It's not exactly groundbreaking but is worthy of its fine pedigree.

You might want to consider this one an expansion pack to Champions of Norrath but that’s not necessarily a bad thing considering all the good things Champions: Return to Arms has to offer gamers new and old. While the action might get repetitive, there are plenty of new features worth checking out if hack-and-slashing action still tickles your fancy. If you’re a continuing fan (like me) you can’t go wrong with this one.

After reviewing so many Japanese action RPGs lately, Champions: Return to Arms is a nice change of pace. Champions is a hack n’ slash-style RPG, light on story but long on action. It comes out of the same game design traditions as ASCII dungeon crawlers like Rogue and Nethack, but splashes in the multiplayer appeal of the arcade classic Gauntlet. The way Champions updates this old formula is entirely satisfactory, if not exactly a stunning exercise in originality, and the result is a very fun party game. It can be played either on its own or as a sort of “expansion pack” to the previous Champions of Norrath game, letting you send your old characters on new quests for even more loot.

The improvements that Champions: Return to Arms makes over its predecessors are modest, and after four years of roughly the same game, the fundamental formula is starting to feel a little tired. That said, this is Snowblind's most accomplished game to date, and those who haven't yet burned out on this very specific brand of hack-and-slash action, or those who are just being introduced to it, will find a lot to like here.

Overall, Champions: Return to Arms is a fairly decent title. It is better than its predecessor, but it hurts itself by trying to employ too many platforming elements. If you loved the first game despite all its flaws, then you should love this sequel even more. If you’re curious, but wondering if I’m going to say, “caveat emptor,” then maybe you’re better off renting this title. Either way, happy questing!

Those who have played the other games like this could very well be scratching their heads at why they're playing the same game as before. The old thrills are still here and it's possible to get right back into it as before, but the same rush and level of addiction is harder to attain this time around. The feeling of near identical sameness is almost impossible to ignore and unless the online does hold strong enough with thousands of people on at once it will be a difficult game to recommend for experienced players.

When SOE and Snowblind created the first Champions of Norrath, they created the best game of Gauntlet never to bear that name. Part Gauntlet, part Diablo, Champions was a slick and digestible excursion into the world of Freeport; a simple, dungeon-crawling hack 'n slash with tons of item collecting and level-ups. The principle drawback to the original Champions was the wretched online interface that had so many problems (no lobby? What?) it was almost not worth playing over the ethernet.

Last year, Champions of Norrath was an early contender for Game of the Year, and its sequel is no different. I can't recommend this game enough; thanks be to God that GameStop still had a copy. Champions: Return to Arms is THE online title for PlayStation 2; but even if you don't have a network adaptor, you'll still love this game. Just make sure your ITunes playlist is queued up.

A worthy expansion to the Champions of Norrath series, but most certainly not one that should have cost $50. Several game ruining bugs are inherent in the system now and the graphics have yet to improve. Good, but not $50 worth of good.

Personally, I had fun with Return to Arms, despite its flaws... until the end. I won't spoil anything, but after 20 hours, one would expect more than the anticlimax at the end of the journey. As a fan of these types of games, I would ordinarily recommend Return to Arms without hesitation to fans of the genre; however, for the $50 price tag, I can't do that. The additions to the existing game that Champions of Norrath began don't justify paying full price, and the flaws in the game seal the deal. It's definitely worth a rental, if only for a weekend, to get your fill of "hack"tion, but you'll find that when it's over, you'll be glad you're taking it back to the rental store and not having it sit on your shelf collecting dust.

Last year's Champions of Norrath was a satisfying but flawed attempt to marry the slick hack-and-slash action of the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series with online functionality, courtesy of a switch to publisher Sony Online Entertainment and its EverQuest universe. For better or for worse, despite the name change, the game was functionally unchanged from its incarnation as Dark Alliance, as it sprung from the minds of the same developers and utilized much the same technology.

It's a perfectly functional RPG and all, it just doesn't offer anything in the way of variation. You begin the game by 'creating' a character. This boils down to selecting a pre-defined class/race combo, changing their appearance and naming them. Hardly in-depth, but it gets the job done. Soon after you're thrust into the game's first dungeon and, in a flash, any sense of fun is quelled by a tedious and uneventful ramble through a big brown cave. It seems to go on forever. The only way you can get through a level is by methodically attacking a group of enemies, retreating so your health regenerates, ploughing in again and doing it umpteen times until your brain tries to escape through your nose. It wouldn't be so bad if the combat was any good, but it's simply a case of battering one button over and over again until everything in the room is dead.

For the past couple of months I’ve had the privilege to test a lot of great games. Unfortunately there is a less fun part that comes along with this and it’s called: Champions: Return to Arms. This PS2 title has been lonely lately between my Xbox hits such as: Doom 3 and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. My gamestash has luckily been narrowed down to only two titles; Jade Empire for the Xbox and this piece of *self censorship*. Sometimes people have the tendency to give one more attention than the other, which is mostly not the others’ fault. I’m afraid to say but in Return to Arms it’s the other way around. My daily life is mediocre and boring as it is, I don’t need a game to remind me of that.