Lineage II

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, a legend was born. A long time ago being 2000 and a galaxy far far away being Korea. NCsoft released Lineage in mid-2000 and it instantly became a smash hit, generating more subscriptions then even Everquest. However, Lineage did not make a great impact when it finally made it to the U.S. in 2001. At the time, the graphics seemed dated to us spoiled Americans, and we were all too busy making Osama bin Laden jokes to notice a dated computer game.

Four years later and it’s time for round two. NCsoft takes big steps and makes big improvements with its new release of Lineage II. With a beautiful new graphics engine, and a unique PVP experience, Lineage II really has a lot to offer.

The first thing you will notice will be the graphics. They are actually quite good with high resolutions and texture sets available. With a 3.6Ghz P4 and a 6800 Ultra the game looks quite beautiful. The NPC and mobs are well modeled, and the environment and skyline are very pleasing to the eye. Foliage was decent but nothing to write home about. But do write home…your family misses you.

The next thing you will notice is the extremely limited character customization. When you create your adventurer you don’t have much to choose from. Two classes are available, a fighter class and a mystic class. Pretty much cut and dry, you either whack things with a sword or shoot them with fireballs. The physical aspects of your character are also very limited, with only a few different faces to choose from. I felt like a clone trooper when I went into town to sell my loot.

One thing Lineage II does well is teach you how to play the game. You enter the world next to a “Newbie Guide” who helps you learn the basics of movement, battle, and your inventory. You are sent on a few easy tasks to help you get a feel for the game’s mechanics, which is a big help to get you started. However, after I was done fulfilling the newbie guide’s requests, I was left with little information on what to do next. The game gave me nothing right at the beginning to keep me excited, and it soon became a chore to find a quest.

Movement in Lineage II is a little strange. I found it nearly impossible to maneuver my character using the WSAD configuration. The controls seemed choppy and a little unresponsive. However, I found the point and click method of movement very comfortable, and used that throughout the game. You can click miles away and you will automatically move to that spot, giving you ample time to get more Mt. Dew or pizza. Granted, if there is a tree or a wolf in your way, you will be stopped and depending on what stopped you, you can either be just sitting there, or eaten alive by a wolf while you are away rummaging for precious snacks.

The game really gets fun when you join a clan. As part of a clan you can participate in castle sieges. Since they are so popular, you have to make an appointment for the sieges, so getting into one takes some time, but it’s time well spent. The siege is a battle for control of five castles ala PlanetSide. However very much unlike PlanetSide, the battles are made up entirely of player made clans, rather than the pre chosen factions. The sieges are non-stop PVP action, and as much as I hate to admit it … it was really fun! If you’re not bloodthirsty like the rest of us, you can run to your nearest town to view the siege via viewing crystals, which allow you to watch the battle from a safe distance. Not time for your clan to fight yet? Pull up a chair and watch the fight. A great idea, and perfectly executed.

Another thing that is exciting about Lineage II is the dragons. Every fantasy game claims to have their own unique story line and plot. But in reality we really just wanna see those dragons and tell our friends the epic of how we defeated them. In Lineage II not only do you get to slay some crazy dragons, but you can ride them! You earn mounts in the game, and the determined players can get a dragon mount. Not only will they fly you about the world at breakneck speeds, but they will also help you fight should you need it. Who doesn’t want that?

Casual gamers might not find what they want with this title. It takes an incredible amount of time to make any sort of progress in the game. Compared to other games leveling seems slow but each new level seems important, bringing you new spells and abilities. The game is beautiful and very deep, but because of the devotion of time needed to succeed in this game, I only see Lineage II appealing to the hard-core gamers.