Dark Age Of Camelot: Dark Age of Camelot: Catacombs Tour

In early December, Mythic released Dark Age of Camelot: Catacombs, the latest expansion for Mythic's widely popular MMORPG: Dark Age of Camelot. I was recently able to take a virtual tour of the Catacombs expansion, and was quite impressed. The new expansion offers advances in three major aspects of the Camelot world: graphics, characters, and zones.

The first thing I noticed when logging into the game was the new look DAOC has acquired. As is a problem with many long-lasting MMORPGs, the graphics of the original game quickly become dated. Catacombs definitely took care of this problem. While not of equal quality to brand new releases like EQ2 and World of Warcraft, the graphical upgrade makes the DAOC world comparable to most new games on the market. Any fan of post-Catacombs DAOC will instantly notice, and in my opinion fall in love with, the new graphics, which included an overhaul of all character models. Along with a shining up the graphics, players are now able to customize their characters' facial features, with more customization options to come in the next few months. Players with existing characters also have the option to customize their features, but this is a one-time deal, so they should be warned not to play around with the customizing feature on their beloved level 50 main. Finally, as an added touch of realism, small critters, like bats, mice, birds, and spiders, now litter the game in the background. These creatures do not attack, or even acknowledge your presence, but they do add a touch of reality to the world of DAOC.

In addition to the new graphics, the sound system has been completely revamped. Every sound effect in the game was updated, and many new sounds were added. Archers now hear their bow-strings stretch, and then release with a "whoosh." Swords slash through the air and clash and clang against other swords and shields. The added sound effects really add a great deal to the realism of huge battles, and really drew me into my skirmishes a even more than they used to. Also, many new ambient sounds can be heard in the game, including echoing sounds in caves (of which there are many in Catacombs).

Now, onto the new races. There are five new races included in Catacombs. For Midgard, there are the Warlock, and the Valkyrie. Hibernia adds the Vampiir and the Banshee to its ranks. Finally, Albion, which only acquires one more race because it already has more races than the other realms, gets the Heretic. For specific information of what each of these new races add to the game, just go to www.camelotherald.com.

Along with these new races come some new baddies as well. Each realm now has some underground foes it must deal with in order to solve the mysteries locked deep down in the catacombs. The Albion must deal with the Inconnu, Midgard with the possessed Kobold, and the Hibernians with the Shar.

The biggest part of Catacombs is definitely the new zones. The expansion comes with 400 new quests, most of which take place in one of 30 new zones (10 per realm). These new zones are located underground, but in no way does that detract from their variety. Each zone has its own unique look which kept me touring around for hours after my official tour was over. I had a blast just looking at all of the new stuff included in this expansion. Each realm has monster-infested underground areas, as well as friendly cities where players can swap in their Arulite (loot acquired in the Catacombs, kind of like seals found in Darkness Falls) for actually usable armor and weapons. I say actually usable because most of the things bought with Darkness Falls seals were put to best use by salvaging them, but the armor and equipment acquired in Catacombs was designed to be best used as is, which is a really big reward for fighting in the Catacombs.

So, with this huge push to have players fight in the underground areas, won't there be a huge over-camping issue as found in Darkness Falls and other very popular dungeons? Mythic apparently thought of this issue, because the inclusion of instanced dungeons takes direct care of this problem. Instanced dungeons are special dungeons that are created once the player enters the dungeon area. Only the player and members of the player's group may enter this specific dungeon, making a sort of private dungeon for only the player or the player's group. This completely takes care of camping issues since no other players are allowed to fight in the particular dungeon. Also, players of any level can enter any instanced dungeon, because the monsters inside the dungeon are created to suit the level of the character, or characters, that enter. In other words, a group of players can now enter a dungeon, and feasibly kill every monster included in that dungeon. This, however, is not really the easiest thing in the world, and the players would have to work very well together to do this, which creates a good, challenging dungeon at any player's disposal.

Mythic did not just add one kind of instanced dungeon. There are actually two: Dungeon Task dungeons, and Adventure instances. Dungeon Task dungeons are created by getting a task from an NPC, much like kill-tasks that exist in classic Camelot, and then completing that task in an instanced dungeon built for that task. These tasks can usually be done in less than an hour, and are quite rewarding, making them perfect for the casual gamer. The Adventure instances are much longer versions of Dungeon Task dungeons, and take the form of long quests that occur in a private instanced dungeon. These are prefect for a group of players who have some time on their hands, and want some awesome rewards without the hassle of annoying camped quest spots.

Dark Age of Camelot: Catacombs has much to offer both to the casual DAOC player, and to the extreme DAOC veteran. There are plenty of new areas to keep any DAOC fan busy, and the graphical improvements vastly increase the game-play experience. Catacombs is a great expansion that will serve to either re-spark interest in DAOC, or further draw current fans into the Camelot world.