Everquest II: The Fallen Dynasty
Score: 85% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment Developer: Sony Online Entertainment Media: Download/1 Players: 1000\'s Genre: MMORPG
Graphics & Sound: The Fallen Dynasty is EverQuest II’s third adventure pack and is an interesting departure from other content in the game, at least aesthetically. One of the most notable aspects of The Fallen Dynasty is that a significant portion of the adventure pack’s art was created by Sony Online Entertainment’s development studio in Taiwan, SOGA. They were also the ones responsible for the more Eastern flavored player models introduced to the game several months ago. The nature of EverQuest II’s art has always been one of the game’s biggest points of contention. I tend to side with those that consider the game’s art, though technically impressive, to be lacking in any sort of fun style. The Fallen Dynasty has a major Asian/Eastern theme and for those that find that sort of thing appealing, you’ll find yourself feeling at home right away. The game’s audio follows suit, with the pack’s various areas utilizing beautifully crafted music.
Gameplay: As The Fallen Dynasty is an adventure pack, and not a proper expansion, new content is limited, though what is there is very enjoyable. Featuring two attractive outdoor zones, two major dungeons, one instanced and one not instanced, as well as a smattering of smaller instanced content, there’s enough content here to keep top level players busy for several weeks. If you haven’t yet hit the level cap of 70, there are plenty of new creatures to level up on. Players familiar with the game’s lore might find some of the background story interesting, especially if you are familiar with the original EverQuest expansion Planes of Power. I don’t want to give away too much, I’ll just say a city called Tanaan and a former God of Knowledge are involved. The game also features two factions that originated in the original game, the Pirates of Gunthak and the Order of the Whistling Fist.
Difficulty: While the game’s general content leans toward the easy side and I could sneak around the non-instanced dungeon completely unhindered, I’m told the adventure packs raids are real killers. I myself retired from raiding some weeks ago, so while I can no longer give you first hand accounts of the nature of the raids, I’m told they are heavily scripted affairs akin to the Djinn Master raid event, still heralded as the most difficult raid in the game.
Game Mechanics: One new general monster model was added with The Fallen Dynasty, a new type of snake woman akin to those seen in Desert of Flames, but far more attractive. Raiders will also happen upon the turtle dragon, but we’ll speak no more of him here. Several new types of weapon looks have also been added, each with a cool Eastern look. Unlike Splitpaw Saga, unless you’re in a hardcore raiding guild and desperately need the new content to stave away abject boredom, The Fallen Dynasty isn’t an absolute MUST buy, but if you enjoy the setting and themes of the adventure pack, go for it.
-Alucard, GameVortex Communications AKA Stephen Triche
Minimum System Requirements: Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP, Pentium III 1Ghz or greater, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9 compatible video card. Pixel shader and vertex shader compatible hardware with 64MB of texture memory, DirectSound compatible audio hardware, 56k Internet Connection   Test System: Windows XP Professional, Pentium IV 2.8 Ghz, 1GB (1.5 GB) RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro with 256MB of texture memory, Sound Blaster Audigy 2, DSL connection
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