EverQuest: The Scars of Velious

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Once the EverQuest: The Scars of Velious expansion pack has you in its icy grasp, you will likely be wishing for a long winter, just so you can stay indoors and play without feeling guilty about not spending time away from your PC. The new snowbound continent gives veterans of the game an enormous new area to explore and exploit, comprising 16 distinct and challenging zones.

It wouldn't be an EverQuest game if the new world wasn't populated with an array of dangerous beasts, and Velious has more than its fair share. The new enormous creatures like Storm Giants and Ice Dragons will have novices scurrying for their lives, and are powerful enough to truly challenge a team of seasoned adventurers. In fact, beginners should definitely spend a lot of time with the original game (including The Ruins of Kunark) before even thinking about entering the unforgiving land of Velious. This world was obviously designed to give powerful high-level characters a serious challenge.

Some long-awaited technology improvements prove that Verant Interactive is devoted to improving the game. Graphics have been cleaned up and are more detailed than those found in previous instalments. The interface has been updated to run at all resolutions, meaning no more jarring resolution switches when doing things such as buying equipment. On the gameplay side, there are many in-game factions players can align themselves with, and the inevitable rivalries adds an extra level of depth to the fun. There are also plenty of quests to solve; and the best part of EverQuest--its devoted online community--only gets better with time. EverQuest subscribers will definitely want to pick up this expansion. --T. Byrl Baker