Asherons Call: AC Review in Computer Games Magazine

The Buzz: Late in 1999 Asheron's Call was the first major MMO to break out of the Dwarvian, Elvian, Wizardian mold into a quirkier world of high-but-not-sci-fi. While it's land of Dereth didn't become quite the household word that it's compatriots' Norrath and Britannia did, the game nonetheless has enjoyed a very passionate, if not overwhelmingly huge, following. 

Since it's release, and during it's expansion Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty and its sequel Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings , Turbine has continued to believe in its long-term viability and to support its solid community. At the end of 2003, the developer acquired the rights to the titles from the initial publisher Microsoft and, like solid indie developer Irrational Games, has decided to self-publish.

While it's unlikely that Turbine will acquire the right to its other titles in development-- Dungeons & Dragons Online and Middle Earth Online --it has decided to enhance its latest acquisition with the expansions, one for the original Asheron's Call and another for its sequel. These releases have surprised a lot of folks, as the burgeoning MMO genre appears to be exploding new properties in every direction.

Asheron's Call 2: Legions will be the first expansion for the sequel, and its story centers around the mysterious Empyreans. No one ever knows how the heck this happens, but this is one of those rather implausible ( EverQuest-ian) situations in which a new continent somehow pops out of nowhere. Knorr is a massive continent ostensibly composed completely of powdered Hollandaise sauce. It adds more than 30% to the size of the game world, and allows you to have a playable Empyrean character for the first time. With 300 new skills and abilities, 3 prestige classes, a new hero system, and alternate advancement model--as well as the usual addition of dungeons, monsters, and quests--it appears as though this expansion will be a "meaty" one, well worth waiting for.

"There is stuff that we were able to do with Legions that make us really competitive with everything else out there," says lead designer Kevin Lamert. "What we had to do was to become a 'serive' for players--tech support, customer server, subscription model-- we really have to be sure that they're getting their $12.95 worth."

But why re-vamp the older game? Throne of Destiny for the original Asheron's Call is being guided by the industry veteran Jessica Mulligan, whose team Lambert describes as "rabid about the game." It's a matter of community it seems. Very real communities have developed making it tough to "move on" from these older games, so giving it new life seemed to be the best solution. Most notably, there is a major graphics update and a completely new interface. You can now play the Viamontians, a there'll be a full complement of weapons and armor at you disposal. The level cap is being raised from 126 to 275, which will give the most long-time player new goals to shoot for. Augmentation Gems will enhance abilities and hundreds of special rare items will be added, in seven tiers of levels, ranging from interesting and useful tools to very powerful weapons and armor.

Perhaps the most fun thing they showed us, though, was the inclusion of the Drudge, an iconic monster from AC2 , as a playable character. Anyone who pre-orders Legions will be able to play this creature from the get-go, although it will be unlockable for all players will a level requirement of approximately 60. This little guy looks like a combination of Lord of the Rings' Gollum, and Harry Potter's Dobby, with a tongue-in-cheek skill-set including things like "Tasty Centipede," and "Wriggling Morsel." He also has his "rabid friend," a fluffy bunny companion that kicks a lot of ass. With no full armor, he'll have something like a "thick skin" skill to compensate, not to mention the bunny's killer Feet of Fury attack.

Perhaps the most telling claim to the series' lasting popularity, though, is that is has been the first game that has been moderately successful in adding regular episodic content--something players have said they wanted since they days of MUDs. And if you give them what they want, well, they'll say, "Hey! That's not what we wanted." Such is an MMO community fan base. So often, though, they just don't leave--which is what Turbine is banking on in keeping the world of Dereth alive.