Champions: Return to Arms : Games : Web Wombat

So I was quite looking forward to going on the same sort of whacked-out medieval digital journey with the new addition Return to Arms, or as I like to refer to it, "Return to the Couch".

What reeled me in and hooked me like a frenzied fish on a line with the original Champions of Norrath game was... well, lots of things.

The medieval genre, the authenticity of the massive variety of weapons and armour, the buy and sell "arms dealer" element, the collect-a-thon nature of the game, the glistening caves and other environmental details, which are all meshed together nicely to make one very strong hack-n-smash, spell casting RPG.

Yep, it was a damn fine dungeon crawler.

(For those who have no idea what this game is about - think Diablo...still nothing?...think Gauntlet nothing?...stop thinking and go back to waiting at that imaginary bus stop.)

So, with all these good things already in place from the first edition I was curious to see whether Snowblind would re-invent the wheel or just slap some low profile, chrome numbers on the previous game. I think it's safe to say that Snowblind's CR2A is of the latter "low profile" category, where the focus of the game is still on the combat and the collecting of items.

Apart from the yellow stuff that leaks from the oversized ladybugs, there is still no blood in this game. It still has a childlike quality to it and, to be honest, I was hoping Snowblind would have ditched the 12+ age group thing and gone for the R-rated brutality that the medieval genre is all about. That's not to say it's not a very addictive, well formulated game, just that it's aimed at a wider audience.

Anyhow, CR2A has brought a couple of new character races to the menu, the Berzerker and the Shaman. The Bezerker takes the appearance of your choice of cat man (half man, half tiger-lion-panther) whilst the Shaman is a sea creature.

There are several races to choose from, with both a male and female version of each, all of which have different strengths, weaknesses and fighting methods. The new breed Berzerker is one of the strongest characters as he has both a good long range attack and dual weapon capabilities. The Shaman character, meanwhile, utilises area-effect poison spells that target large groups of enemies.

"I shan't tarry when I cleft thee a new one!"

The Shaman also has a "Giant Spell" which doubles his own height and width. Needless to say, he can do some serious damage to foes at double his original size. Look out -- giant sea creature coming through!

One of my favourite aspects of the game which has been left untouched is the long range attack with the bow and arrow. The arrows, when on target, penetrate and are left sticking half out the torso area as the enemy continues to fight.

The cool thing is, when fighting a boss for instance, you can have up to 150 arrows lodged front, back and side of the beast, and in some cases this gives a "tutu" like appearance to the boss, like a dancing (and mutated) ballerina dressed in an arrow skirt.

Sadly, the wonderful detail provided for the arrow hits does not apply for other long ranged weapons such as throwing axes, knives, or flying stars.

Adding wheltstones, crystals and other magical elements to swords and bows and armour pieces increases critical hit and health regeneration, giving the game an added element of complexity and fun, and not dissimilar to the elements of Diablo 2. Adding fire to arrows is a fun little method for those Sunday barbecued cave troll dishes. Mmm delish (you are required to eat the troll in CR2A).

A big part of this game's appeal can be linked to the collectibles - the armour, the weapons and all the magical little bits and pieces you'll pick up. Each character has their own range of weapons and armour, which are specifically built for them, and this adds longevity, as to find it all you'll have to play the game a few times through.

Once you have clocked the game with your warrior, who is now equipped head to toe in the finest, most brutal and destructive weaponry and armour money can by, you can then grab the dark elf shadow warrior and start playing "dress ups" with that bad a$$ as well! It's party time all over again, dark elf style.

You can also import your character from the Realms of Everquest version too, which is a cool feature.

Early on in the game you get the choice to work for good or evil, a choice which I was glad to make. I chose evil. And what a good choice it was too! Working for evil, you get to chat on a regular basis with a really hot and raunchy, ample bossomed exotic sorts. They'll grant you access to the supply shop and even feed you information on your next task in the game, which basically revolves around collecting the shards of the recently fallen god Innoruuk, who was defeated in the original game.

As far as game structure goes, working for the "Good" side differs considerably from Evil. For Example, Evil will have you working for a massive dark knight who is, in stark contrast, the first boss that you fight when working for the good.

"I beseech thee, oh colossal scorpion of hatred,
so that I may slake my thirst for true dominion!"

Important to the online aspect of CR2A, Snowblind has ironed out a few creases that haunted the original game's online action. Serverside saves to stop cheating and a friends and lobby list has also been added.

Another thing I like about CR2A compared to the previous game are the creature designs. There are a lot more this time around and they are much more diverse in race and construct. From '70s looking robots (cannot-compute!!!) to some cleverly animated swimming devils, the longsword fodder is more satisfying to, err, fod.

The bosses are very cool and more abundant too, so if it's tough-as-nails brute fests that you're after, you'll certainly warm to CR2A. At first glance each boss looks far too menacing for a humble being such as yourself to whack out.

But a quick teleportation spell to the supply shop to stock up on some health potions and a bakers dozen worth of exploding potions will stack the odds back in your favour and have that big sucker on his knees praying for forgiveness. Show no mercy!

Multiplayer action is good fun as up to 4 players can hammer away at once on the one PS2 system, and without the need for a split screen. This is where the hardcore strategising comes in to play, plus you can swap around health positions, mana vials and other magical items. Sharing is caring, right?

That said, one issue with the multiplayer game is that it starts to get a little stop/start when a player wants to don a new helmet or see how pricey a recently collected axe is, as this pauses the game for all players. But all in all, the multiplayer game mode is a real winner, and something I'll be playing with Will and Martin on a regular basis.

Champions: Return to Arms is an involved game that has been built on the winning formula of other popular action-RPG games, like Diablo 2, and it's rock solid enjoyment, more than worth of the "Return to the Couch" nickname. And longevity is guaranteed too, as you can upgrade your character/s up to level 80, and there's varying difficulty levels from the outset as well.

If you're into RPGs and don't mind the medieval genre, get stuck into this digital feast and start racking up the mountains of gold to be spent on crystal swords of ice and flying stars of poison.

Game: Champions: Return to Arms
System: PS2
Players: 1-4
Online: Yes
Developer: Snowblind Studios
Distributor: Ubisoft

Rating: 75%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

Champions: Return to Arms is on the shelves now.

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