Rating: 
Summary: A Real MMORPG
Review: I Played the Beta and let me tell you this is a real MMORPG. The gameplay was great. the use of skills made the fighting aspect of this game interesting and fun. The graphics were beautiful. This is the only MMORPG i have ever played that had a real story line that worked. It is combines roleplaying with PVP perfectly. It is definately a game to buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Has potential but ...
Review: unfortunately the most important part of the game, content, is missing. The graphics are stunning, even on low settings; the combat interface is similar to that of Asheron's Call, but the skill system is in dire need of revamping. The game is slated for major skill balancing and bug fix updates right at release, and although there will be monthly updates of content much like in Asheron's Call, if the updates are anything like the end of beta "event" then they will be woefully unexciting. Another major flaw of this game in my opinion is the PK system, there is no payoff for it, since no one loses anything on death, the only gain you get as a PK is a "rating" which, in beta anyway, was for nothing more than showing off. The only that I really liked about this game during the beta was cliff diving. And that's not a very compelling reason to pay for the game and a monthly fee on top of that.
Rating: 
Summary: Take negative reviews with a grain of salt...
Review: Folks reading these reviews should be aware that there was a concerted effort by a gamer on one of the public AC2 forums to try and destroy AC2's rating here. This is undeserved and reflects the maturity level of the reviewers, not necessarily honest opinions about the game.I've played AC1 since beta, and beta tested AC2. Most of these folks complaining about lack of content don't even remember the release of AC1 and the sparse amount of content that existed at that stage. Over the years, through /monthly/ updates Turbine has done a fantastic job of bringing new content to the players, and it's content players want- they have a great record of listening to their fans, and improving the game accordingly. Hence, you should expect no less in AC2. The first update is scheduled for shortly after release, and if you head over to the official site, you'll see that they have a lot of neat things planned. Most of the positive reviewers have said what I would about the game. The game engine has a ton of potential, and the graphics are stunning. The skill system is diablo-esque. Will I long for the excitement of combat AC1 style? Maybe, but I have more options than I did there. The fauna is novel and unique. Turbine has introduced a Kingdom vs. Kingdom element, and I believe that they placing a fair amount of emphasis on the world that player communities will create. If you're not into KvK, there are plans for a non-conflict server. In fact, they've got server types for all preferences in the works. Normal (limited KvK), free-for-all (full pvp), non-conflict, KvK, and role-playing. They've also introduced a quest-points system and are improving crafting, so there's something for everyone. In my opinion, this game has a lot of potential, and knowing Turbine's great track record with AC1, I'll definately be there!
Rating: 
Summary: Quite a dissapointment
Review: Turbine has created a great graphical engine (VERY impressive graphics on my Radeon 9700 Pro), but failed to make a game. After playing beta for 3 weeks, I'm not going to buy it because of its generally slow and boring gameplay.
Rating:
Summary: AC2 Will be a great game
Review: Hi Everyone, AC1 Beta, AC1, AC2 Beta, and future AC2 retail player here and in my opinion this game is going to be great!!! People have a tendency to forget that AC1 was in a similar state when it released and Turbine delivered on every promise they made to make the game great. The AC series is not like the other MMORPG's out there because they can update there game when ever they wish without an expansion pack!!! For example, every major issue people have with the UI is going to be address in the first monthly patch which will be Dec. 6th 2002. In addtion to fixing bugs and player issues they give you tons of new content each month. For people looking to play AC1 with better graphics this is not the game for you though. AC2 is a completely different in the area of game play but in my opinion the game play is much better. Graphics and Sound in this game are exceptional but are not my main reasons to play. My main reasons for loving this game are Combat Style, Crafting, Better Allegiance system, Content, Social environment, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: They should have revamped AC
Review: I beta tested this game for about a week. I think they should have just put all the nice graphics on the original AC. The game play is tiresome and simplistic. you get to do alot of repetitive stuff... woo hoo!
Rating:
Summary: An RPG abomination
Review: I participated in the Beta for AC2 for a couple months, and all I can say is that Microsoft has managed to suck all the life, spirit, and heart out of something that had some promise, if only the problems were fixed -- namely, Asheron's Call (the original). Everything about this game screams "made for X-Box", starting with the UI or the pitiful excuse for one. The colors are garish and painful on the eyes. Three races, three classes, and no consequences for making a bad character design decision. No trade skills worth using. No differentiation in battle strategies. The characters don't even make a pretense at looking realistic -- it's as if they stepped straight out of some Anime cartoon. Chat is clumsy (I guess they knew most console gamers don't use keyboards, so there's not going to be much communication in this world). Combat requires no more intelligence than "initiate, wait for chances to use special attacks, hope your vigor doesn't run out before the creature is dead". In other words, AC2 has made the full transition to being a "twitch" game -- no actual brains required, just a quick set of fingers and thumbs on the game controller. The geography and game play is such that any experience you had with Dereth (the world in which AC and AC2 takes place) is useless in this new version. The world is much smaller than in AC1. They didn't even bother to attempt to fix some of the problems from AC1 -- like dealing actively with griefing players and in-game harassment. In other words, if I was a parent, I wouldn't let my child anywhere near this game, because they've very peculiar ideas as to what constitutes adequate supervision and customer support. A couple years ago, AC had a dedicated team of online volunteers -- all of whom were dumped unceremoniously under fear of lawsuit against MS for back pay under US labor laws (never happened, so the move did nothing more than throw the players to the wolves). I could go on and on... but the plain fact of the matter is, they blew it. The game is garbage and it left my computer for good about a month ago. I certainly would not waste my time on the retail version.
Rating:
Summary: AC2 Beta to Retail
Review: I played Ac2 beta form about august 02 until e.o.b. (end of Beta), and i have to say that despite dealing with glitches and constant updates -which should both be expected during a beta test- the game is amazing. Alot of people will have nothing but bad things to say about lag, but I rarely had diffulty. Sure I had to turn some of the fancy textures down, but tall grass in this type of setting creates its own problems. My computer is also not a super computer. I have a modest 866mhz coppermine processor with a geforce3 ti 500 video card a 7200 rpm Maxtor hard drive, and 384 MB pc 133 sdram. These are not amazing stat by any computer standard, yet I had very little difficulty with lag problems unles I was in an area that was very highly populated area, and believe me there can be plenty of other reasons to stay away from highly populated areas.
So, I say to everyone who has not played AC1 -I never did- and who has thought about playing AC2, I you like RPG's this game rules! Sure it has a few problems, but all games do, and I the thing that all of thes negative reports are not telling you is that you will find versatility, graphics, and practical solutions to most of your old RPG disappointments that may have stemmed from other RPG games which were seriously lacking. I also strongly suspect that updates to the retail version will come fairly quickly and most of AC2's problems will be solved. Thank you for letting me speak,
Tony (AC2 Fan)
Rating:
Summary: AC2 Beta to Retail
Review: I played Ac2 beta from about august 02 until e.o.b. (end of Beta), and i have to say that despite dealing with glitches and constant updates -which should both be expected during a beta test- the game is amazing. Alot of people will have nothing but bad things to say about lag, but I rarely had diffulty. Sure I had to turn some of the fancy textures down, but tall grass in this type of setting creates its own problems. My computer is also not a super computer. I have a modest 866mhz coppermine processor with a geforce3 ti 500 video card a 7200 rpm Maxtor hard drive, and 384 MB pc 133 sdram. These are not amazing stats by any computer standard, yet I had very little difficulty with lag problems unless I was in an area that was very highly populated area, and believe me there can be plenty of other reasons to stay away from highly populated areas.
So, I say to everyone who has not played AC1 -I never did- and who has thought about playing AC2, if you like RPG's this game rules! Sure it has a few problems, but all games do, and the thing that all of thes negative reports are not telling you is that you will find versatility, graphics, and practical solutions to most of your old RPG disappointments that may have stemmed from other RPG games which were seriously lacking. I also strongly suspect that updates to the retail version will come fairly quickly and most of AC2's problems will be solved in a timely manner. Thank you for letting me speak,
Tony (AC2 Fan)
Rating:
Summary: I played through the entire beta process
Review: Personally I found this game to very cool. The only problems I really had when playing the beta were the character wipes which hurt the fun aspect. The thing is though there were a plethera of things not added in the beta due to it being just that, a BETA. The expect the final version to be a great online game. Yes, there are no NPC's (this means no computer generated people to buy and sell from). I found no issues with this since I could basically make any item I really needed with no problems. Also bonuses are added to all weapons when crafted appropriartly. Forges also help to increase your crafting abilities. I'd say if you want a pretty strong game which should be great fun with pretty nice players involved in-game then buy it. Its a great game. I plan on waiting just a bit to buy it though since most on-line games need some tweaking at the start. Also my computer is to weak. Need an upgrade. Buy the game its pretty and damn cool dungeons are very cool looking.
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