Fast forward to the present and gamers are being presented in early 2004 with a Dark Alliance follow-up from a different developer, while Snowblind Studios has moved into Sony Online Entertainment's camp, producing Champions of Norrath, a game in very similar style to its previous effort. Though Snowblind has made several important gameplay steps since the original Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath is plagued with problems that prevent it from classic status.

If there's one area Snowblind never has a problem with, it's visuals. For such a small team of designers, the technical merits of Champions of Norrath are incredibly impressive. The character models, spell effects and the like are all well done, but the environments combined with Snowblind's lighting engine are what really steal the show. Taken as single elements, they're commendable, but it's when the textures, modeling and lighting work together that Champions of Norrath' graphics take on a life of their own. Some of the indoor cave environments are absolutely staggering in the detail; several areas had me scratching my head in amazement. On the flip side of the coin, the transition to a generic, uninspired EverQuest art style is unfortunate; Snowblind manages to nail all of the technical aspects of visual design for Champions of Norrath, while the atheistic side woefully suffers.

There are a few issues with the frame rate, though it never interfered with gameplay. What did interfere, however, was an annoying case of "resolution dropping," where the visuals drown in a pixilated mess before the engine kicks back into gear. This is a technical oddity the first round of PlayStation 2 releases ran into, but there is no excuse for it to happen nowadays.

Even though Champions of Norrath takes place in the EverQuest universe, I never felt like it did. I'll admit having never stepped foot in the MMORPG EverQuest world for long, but I have enough familiarity with the series, that, besides the inclusion of the hot looking, skimpy dressed wizard chick featured on the cover of most EverQuest releases, it really didn't feel like an "EverQuest game." Obviously, this could be blamed on the lack of originality featured in the EverQuest universe to begin with, but that's an argument for another time. As it stands, from start to finish, Champions of Norrath's environments and creatures, fantastic looking as they may look on the technical side, are dreadfully boring to look at. Thankfully, the gameplay mostly make up for the originality misgivings.

Gamers fall into camps of love and hate in regards to hack 'n slash action RPGs. Some love building a character and running them through the game multiple times on higher and higher difficulties in hopes of an enemy dropping a more powerful weapon or scrap of armor. The rest usually find themselves tapping the attack button over and over, irritatingly wondering where all the fun is to be found. Champions of Norrath is hardly different, and in certain respects, does it worse than other games in the genre. Notably, compared to Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo II, Champions of Norrath has trouble competing. It's difficult to pinpoint what design elements of Diablo II help equate it to digital crack, but it's common to find players citing a sense of progress every time they play.

Champions of Norrath, unfortunately, lacks this distinguishing trait. You'll ravage through whole dungeons without finding a single worthwhile piece of equipment and more of then than not, you can buy better equipment from the stores than from the droppings of enemies. During the instances that Yellow or Blue-branded equipment does drop, chances are it's not worth using. There is little incentive to upgrade weapons or equipment throughout the entire game; few unique characteristics are assigned to each weapon, and the ones that do exist are not worth bothering with. Who cares if you can cause 20% Poison Damage when all it takes is two attacks to kill off any enemy in the game?

Much of Champions of Norrath would have been a much more harrowing experience had the AI not been such a wreck. Considering the amount of enemies gamers are expected to take on simultaneously, it is to be expected that the creature AI is nothing special most of the time. However, this doesn't excuse the stupidity of the game's boss characters. Over half of the bosses can be defeated through exploitation of path finding skills – or, really, the lack thereof. Virtually every boss can be lured in front of a rock or pillar and will continue to walk straight into it, swinging its arms wildly in a vain attempt to blindly hit the player. Meanwhile, you can sit back, strike when he's recovering or, if you're really cheap, cast spells while the boss stands hopelessly stuck.

So far, I've managed to convey this review without mentioning online multiplayer, the most hap hazard aspect of Snowblind's tour through EverQuest. It's really troubling to decide on where to begin, honestly. None of the basics for fundamental online gaming are present. For starters, there are no lobbies or options to communicate with players prior to a game starting, forcing all arrangements to happen before Champions of Norrath is even booted up. Even worse, players can't join a game in progress and leaving one results in the rest of the players dropping out, resulting in an intense fear of 'net connections hiccupping and one character accidentally disappearing. Games end up becoming less about working as a team and more about if there's a save point nearby before something goes wrong.

This is not the new Phantasy Star Online. In addition to what's already been mentioned, there are mountain of other troubles keeping the game from becoming the online experience many people are picking up the game in hopes of. If you're interested in hearing more about the complications of Champions of Norrath's 'net play, check the rant from former Gaming Intelligence Agency editor Andrew Vestal, as his hatred runs deep. Maybe next time Snowblind and Sony Online Entertainment can make sure their online plans are mapped out and tested before shoving an incomplete product out to the masses. Internet reports of Snowblind employees criticizing Sony Online Entertainment for the reason the online aspects of Champions of Norrath came out as they poor are no excuse. Champions of Norrath has been billed as an online hack 'n slash for a long while now, and the dozens of irrational pitfalls do nothing but rip apart the most hyped aspect of the release.

It's hard to say if there is more right than wrong in Champions of Norrath. There's no doubt that plenty of fun is to be had; it's simply that much of it is hindered by poor design choices. The foundation for an addictive hack 'n slash game are is and online multiplayer, while usually frustrating, can be a great experience under the right conditions. Unfortunately, seeing as how Diablo II, the epitome of the genre, is still very much alive in the gaming community and available at budget price levels, there leaves little reason, besides the drive to play something new, to dive into this EverQuest-laden world.