Content is King in Camelot

DAOC: Shrouded Isles
Gameplay
graphics
audio
value
fun
Genre
Reviewed On
PC
Available For
PC
Difficulty
Intermediate
Publisher(s)
Developer(s)

You asked for it and now you have it – more content for Dark Age of Camelot. I do not know how many articles I have read that listed the biggest drawback of Dark Age of Camelot as the lack of content and then go on to base this on a comparison to a game that has been on the market nearly four years with four expansions under its belt! So, hopefully Shrouded Isles may quiet these critics for awhile.

What do you get?

Shrouded Isles brings an upgraded graphics engine, with the down side being you need a relatively high powered video card to see many of the graphical effects. But more on this later in review.

There is also three new continents – one for each Realm and multiple new zones to explore and fight in. Three are new races too, again with one per realm. There are also six new classes with two per new race (I played as an Animist in the Realm of Hibernia.)

I was fortunate enough to be able to play in the later stages of the Beta testing, so I have been able to play around with the new continent of HyBrasil in Hibernia. Unfortunately I was not able to level the little plant dude to where I wanted to before the server was wiped for final release. But I was able to get a feel for the new engine and environment.

Bottom line – if you are currently playing Dark Age of Camelot you will be ecstatic about this expansion. If you have a character that has been unplayed for awhile (due to any number of reasons) – then it’s time to dust them off and see what the new world has to offer you. If you have never played Dark Age of Camelot then this may be the perfect excuse to try it out.

What I noticed with my barely acceptable GEForce 2 MX video card was a much smoother game (sigh guess I will be upgrading to that GEForce 4 sooner than planned.) Turning controls are what they should be – touch the key and turn a little – press harder turn more.

Overall it’s a much improved look and feel to the game. Many folk talked of how the original Dark Age of Camelot looked ‘cartoonish.’ While I never really saw what they were talking about with the original game, I did notice a definite improvement in overall game environment with this expansion. Not having the latest video card, I was not able to verify some of the new elements – reflective surfaces – realistic water movement with wakes and such – shadows – etc. But based on what I did see, I will probably leave this on my hard drive and dabble with it if for no other reason than wanting to see this new stuff after I upgrade my video card!

I would love to have had enough time to dabble with the other new races and classes but I was completely satisfied with my experiences with my baby Animist. Perhaps I can wrench some time from the other games I currently am playing to try these out now that the expansion has been officially released.

The rest was classic Dark Age of Camelot. Good quests, a fun environment and great players. It is well deserving of the continued rating of 4 1/2 GiN Gems.

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