Dark Age Of Camelot: Gen Con Indy 2004: Taking a Peek - Dark Age of Camelot : Catacombs

When words are inadequate, a screenshot is worth at least a thousand words. And eyeballing the difference in Mythic Entertainment's DAoC Catacombs gave me an eyeful. Mythic has spent considerable time and effort updating their MMO...the change is massive!

Some of the major content differences involve new content for levels 1 all the way through 50, plus the fact that you will be able to stay in Catacombs almost the entire game if you choose. Add three new cities and areas for players to explore: the Kobold Undercity, Crypts, and a Labyrinth and you've already said a mouthful. But that's as far as it went, information-wise, due to the simple fact that it's still in development.

But hey, we aren't finished by a long shot. Graphically, the updates are amazing. A multitude of new features include new character models, new textures and a complete facelift of creature art and old areas. Reality impinges in the game with what the devs call "ambient light," which gives a realistic change of lighting depending upon the area and the type of light sources at play...which, in turn, gives a unique rustic look to the entire design of the area. Talking about realistic, the rumors about the legendary Epic Armor are true - it looks very real and has undergone quite a few new detailing and enhancements.

One of the new cities, the Kobold Undercity, is a huge cavern with shops built right into the walls. It comes complete with new creatures, one being called the Possessed Kobolds, all of which are continually animated with a couple of different animations...and check this out - their jaws move.

Not only did I get to see a demo of the graphics but the Mythic Entertainment folks were kind enough to show me a comparison between the original and the new character models and creatures. As far as characters are concerned, they now tap their feet, blink and have enormous graphical improvements. They are extremely realistic-looking and drastic improvements on the originals. For creatures, I was able to compare the differences between ants, cants, river spritelings, trees, and frost giants. Again, the visual upgrading was remarkable.

These massive graphical improvements in Dark Age of Camelot : Catacombs are definitely going to help make the game better overall. Be expecting to see this expansion Winter 2004.

See screenshots of catacombs here at our hubs site!