-everyone looks the same since everyone is wearing the same equipment
-no helmets in the game?
-bad and uninteresting loot system, quest items aren't worth getting
-equipment options in general is bland. little variety in what there is to use.Interface:
-non customizable (ie resizable windows / movable etc)
-hard to read, can't change text colors
-group window doesn't show important information and updates very slowly
-no group seeking option
-no pet controls
-missing several standard "/" slash commands like /who
Combat / Play:
-simple and boring (hit 2 buttons over and over)
-no specific group roles, groups chaotic
-no group loot sharing options
-horrid monster / pet AI
-no damage tactics, ie slashing damage or piercing damage. (ie its very dumbed down)
Characters:
-no depth, extremely dumbed down
-little ability to customize, everyone is the same
-no stats or race bonuses / all have same health and vigor
-diablo style skill tree forcing cookie cutter characters
-everyone is equally good at fighter/archer/mage
-very poorly balanced skills, most pick the few same skills that actually work.
-poor equipment balance, people fight naked since armor is basically useless and you can attack faster w/o it
-few specific numbers, you just don't know what's really happening with buffs or abilities.
-comes with a rabid pack of fanbois that swear its the best game ever because they just can't come to grips with reality.
and the list goes on and on. I highly recommend playing solitaire over AC2, it has more content and difficulty than AC2 will ever achieve. This game just shows that game companies are clueless about what players really want, and continue to uphold the idea that a game can be finished 6 months after release.
Rating: 
Summary: AC2 Does not live up to high expectations :(
Review: ...I have actually PLAYED this game in late Beta - and I will not be purchasing this game when it launches (unfortunately) very soon.
In reality, this game should be called Dark Age of Asheron's-Quest, as it have taken many features from Skill based games such as Dark Age of Camelot & Everquest... and most of their bad features as well.
Issues in Brief:
1) Terrible character creation modification ability and game GUI. Worst of any current MMORPG.
2) UNBALANCED SKILLS. Where have you heard this before? (AO/DAoC/etc). Most character class paths have severe trouble, others may be too effective... NERFS WILL COME.
3) BAD Chat/Grouping features. You will laugh or cry when you see it.
4) INSANELY bad & tedious Crafting system. Why can no game get this even partial right? Crafting requires large numbers of rare (extremely rare) dropped items. Impossible for a casual crafter.
5) Leveling treadmill post-20/30th is worse even than DAoC's or Everquests. Plan on spending at least a week to make each level (if the vitae penalty even will let you hunt).
6) Lack of a "wow" factor. Very pretty graphics... and nothing to do other than kill critters, repeatedly, over and over again.
7) Lack of low level/mid level NPC character interaction assistance. There are NO NPC's folks, so if you want to know where you need to hunt you'll have to check your favorite game message board - no one is going to tell you or help you.
8) No "Uber Loot" - this was the only good thing about the original AC. Now all of your items are "level appropriate" or much worse if you can't craft or loot anything suitable (like me). I have never seen a SINGLE MAGIC ITEM in this game!
9) Everyone looks the same - same armor, same weapons... really boring.
10) KvK, PvP, RvR - another fancy word for other players are going to be trying to kill you too. In order to hunt the highest level creatures and maybe find that rare magic loot you will have to go into zones where you will get 'ganked' by someone who enjoys making your day miserable. There is no excuse for shoving player vs player combat down our throat - even DAoC makes RvR combat "optional".
Sorry this was so long, but this is just a short list of the games most glaring faults. In a recent poll on the AC2 Vault Board over 35% of Beta players voted that they would NOT buy or play this game after launch. I predict that this game will need significant updating after launch to even become remotely enjoyable. The reason I did give a rating of '2' is that Turbine will be providing monthly content to this game - but I doubt they can graft a "soul" onto it.
It's a shame - I've been waiting for this game eagerly for about 2 years now :(
Rating: 
Summary: AC2 - A Review.
Review: I am a freelance writer and I write reviews and articles on the online game industry - mainly massive multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPG's). Now I have written reviews and articles on such games as AC, EQ, DAoC, Lineage II and many other MMORPG's. I have been playing and writing about these games since I played my first one (MMORPG that is) on AOL, way back, before the big three were even being considered. Therefore, I think I have some ideal what I am talking about and I will not say anything that is not the truth. This is my opinion - nothing less - nothing more on the game of Asheron's Call 2.
If you have been waiting with great anticipation for AC2 to be a game that would a big improvement of what is all ready on the market - be prepared for some disappointment. We are asked by Amazon to rank this game on a scale of 1 to 5 for its fun factor. I give it a one. Here is why. This game is not fun. It is at best a FPS placed in a world of swords and sorcery and is in no way, shape, or form, an MMORPG. In fact, it is one of the saddest attempts at an MMORPG I have yet come across. You can literally stand in one spot and gain levels, kill mobs, and craft without ever having to move.
Character creation is a snap. No character attributes are given for players to tweak. Just pick your race (three to choose from -Human, Lugian and Tumerok), gender, tweak your character's looks (hair, face, height, cloths colors, etc, etc, (very limited as it is in beta right now)) and enter the game. You then proceed to level and learn new skills via a skill tree system. A skill tree that is very similar to the one you find in Diablo 2 only less balanced and linear. You can game some experience to raise your level the skills you choose via quest or by joining a monarchy, however, a very large (in many players cases who decide to play the game) portion will come from one thing - killing mobs. Most AI for mobs is poorly executed and many mobs will even aggro on players even though the mob is all ready engaged with another player or players. Some mobs aggro distance is so great that you don't even have to be close to them for them to zero in on you and start attacking.
Player skill trees are not balanced yet, and many skills that are available to players are either not working right or need a hefty smack with a nerf bat. Pets in game are good to have at times, but you better have a good sense of humor and have a lot of patience, because the pets available for players in AC2 are some of the stupidest creatures to ever grace an MMORPG.
The so called, unique to each player or group, vault dungeon quest that players can go on are not unique and they are more-or-less a wait in line to kill the boss mob (creature) at the end of the dungeon. Your reward for completing the vault dungeon quest - experience points and a slide show. In fact many of the quest you go on are unimaginative, repetitive and lack any kind of real reason for a player to even participate in them - other than too gain "Quest Points". Some quest are given by large Tiki Head type monoliths that ask players to go slay a certain number of mobs. Others are given to players through the consumption of elixirs to do something very similar. Even at the higher levels in the game the quest are dull and simple, and not worth the effort to do.
The game will have elements of PvP and KvK (player vs. player and kingdom vs. kingdom) of which players will be able to participate. From my experience with the PvP (KvK is only just now really being tested so I can't say how well this will actually work) if you want to rule-the-roost, sorta speak, play an Archer/Enchanter. You will have range and power that cannot be beat.
This game is not all hack-and-slash though. Players can opt to be crafters - though you will learn that in order to craft you will have to go and kill mobs. Though the GUI used for crafting (tedious and repetitive) is lacking in many areas, however, it is well worth a player's time to learn to craft their own weapons, armor and such. Player crafted weapons and armor are more powerful (in most cases), for your level, than the ones you can loot from mobs you have killed.
The game, as it is in beta right now, and the one that is going to be released soon, has a very poorly designed GUI. Chat system and inventory control are the worse I have encountered in any game of this type ever. The graphics are good (if you have a system capable of running it in high detail), however the animations are sub-par for characters and there are many unexplained objects that float - whole city buildings, creatures, tree's, even parts of the ocean that surround the islands that players play on.
Now given that the game is not out of beta yet, this opinion of mine is not worth much, however, the games basic mechanics are in place and the developers have said that what beta tester's see now is pretty much what will be shipped. Turbine has a proven record of accomplishment with AC and its monthly updates, and AC has turned into a decent game. However, there are many things that will be in the initial release of AC2 that will need some major rework before their newest game (IMHO) will even be half as fun to play as their current game on the market is.
Rating: 
Summary: Current beta tester
Review: I've been testing it for a little over 2 months now.
In good conscious I can't rate it over 3 stars right now, but it is beta. Right now it has several severe flaws, chat, fellowship looting, balance issues & XP flow to name a few. But I have faith Turbine will fix allot of the issues it has, their live team has done wonders with AC1 & I expect them to do even better with AC2. Right now it is very content lite, but it is beta & Turbine has been really good about adding new content monthly with AC1 which will follow into AC2. :p
While I can't give it more then 3 stars now, a couple months after release I'm sure I could give it 4-4 ½ stars in good conscious. :D
Rating:
Summary: Nothing New
Review: As a Beta Tester of the game I got a sneak peak at the play and feel of the game before retail. (Not much content - they're saving that for the paying customers)
How would I describe the game? Simple.
If you're new to the MMORPG Genre of games this will be an excellent "first" game for you to get your feet wet. Everything about the game is simple and straightforward in an easy to understand format. If you're an experienced MMORPG gamer looking for a new home you may want to look elsewhere for your entertainment.
Character Creation: As complex as selecting your features. There are no "stats"
Character Development: As you level (Yes, AC2 maintains the age old "level-grind") you gain exp and skill points. These can be spent to purchase skills along the various skill tree's offered to each race. The skills are interesting but lack any real complexity in use.
Combat: Again, very straightforward. You target a monster and hit the attack key. You can then hit an occasional skill (or combination thereof) to do a bit of extra damage or "debuff' the mob. Occasionally the mob will flash yellow and you can use a special skill to hit it for a lot of damage. No hit locations or weaknesses to certain types of attacks to worry about.
Crafting: The craft system is also very simple. Each item you loot has "Traits" with a certain quality. Each crafting recipe requires Traits of a certain quality. Put the items in the "recipe" box and hit "Craft". No need to find a forge or use a tool - you can do it all right out in the field. Certain workshops and tools to provide some bonus, but not enough to really notice.
Loot: The items in AC2 have very little variation. Weapons of the same level range all have the same available range of damage and delay - from sword, to drum, to axe, to dagger. Rarely you will find one with a special "ability" but it will typically be weaker than the weapon you are already using. AC2 also sticks to the age-old tradition of animals dropping items they could in no way be carrying. Instead of running back to town to sell your items to vendors or other players AC2 allows you to "Transmute" your items wherever you are. Together with no supply needs (no food requirements, no spell components, no ammo), a lack of NPC's, no banks and no location requirements on crafting there is little or no reason for people to gather in towns.
Spell/Magic System: There is none. There are skill tree's called "magic" but that's all they really are - other skills. Each spell is just a different skill in the "magic" tree - no components to gather and it uses the same "Vigor" as melee and missile skills.
Graphics: The first saving Grace of AC2 is the graphics - they are phenomenal. Naturally you'll need a fairly substantial system to see them.
Content: Something Turbine has always done fairly well is on-going monthly content - they plan to continue that tradition in AC2 perhaps even letting us see the events that shape the world instead of reading about them after the patch. Time will tell.
A.I.: Monster AI in AC2 is actually some of the more advanced I've seen so far in MMORPG's - monsters will call for help, hide from missile attacks, cut and run, and a variety of other sometimes unpredictable responses.
Quests: So far as we've been shown in Beta the Quests in AC2 are the same as quests in any other game - only given by statues and randomly found potions instead of by NPC's. They all still amount too much the same: Kill mob X [and Loot item Y [and take it to location Z]]. The much-lauded Vault Quests are just a series of arbitrary dungeons you can sprint through for a little bit of AC Lore and some XP. Sadly even the slide show with the lore is a bit disappointing; as the art in it doesn't even match up to the concept art used to design the game... much less what they are capable of with their brand new engine and outstanding graphics.
I give Turbine one star for their Monthly Content, one star for the Graphics, and one star for creating a game basic enough to pull in new gamers to the genre. Sadly, they fail to break any new ground and even lose some ground many 1st Gen games had firmly established. Instead of a 2nd Gen game I feel AC2 is perhaps 3/4 Gen.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs balancing, but mindblowing graphics.
Review: The great thing about this game is its continuous story line, and constant updates so the game is ever changing. Game players can alter the future of the story and even the patches. The game is fairly stable, has amazing graphics, but lacks in areas such as certain aspects of game play and content.
Rating:
Summary: It is still only in Beta!!
Review: Ok, I have purchased many items from Amazon and never bothered to make a review until now. The sheer number of people here making reviews have absolutely no clue what a Beta test is all about. The main reasons for a Beta are to ensure servers are properly load tested and fully network optimized, to ensure all core game mechanics work, to ensure skills are properly balanced, to ensure Quests function properly and to get some feedback on limited content.
Only a fool would think that AC2, as it exists currently in Beta, is the product that will go Live in the coming months. All content is not available in Beta so as not to give the farm away prior to going Live. We are only seeing limited amounts of what is to come.
As an AC1 Beta tester and long time player, I certainly see differences. AC2 is taking a much different approach than its predecessor. While I agree it has been dumbed down as far as character development goes, there is still enough here to entertain. The world is indeed dead, they made a huge point in mentioning that, the idea is for us to rebuild it. Seems some people missed that point. Never before has an MMORPG started with such a clean palette and invited its playerbase to make of the world as they will. Novel concept if you are able to wrap your mind around it.
Anyway, listen to the doom and gloom crowd at your own risk. While certainly a different experience, this game promises to bring some novel twists to the Fantasy MMORP Genre. It would be a shame to miss out solely on the review of a product still in development. You gotta ask yourself why, if these people hate the game so much, are they here reviewing a game they just pre-ordered? Hmm, curious isn't it?
