Everquest 2, sadly, offered nothing revolutionary to the expert MMORPG player. Basically, the game review can be devided into cons and pros, and I will very briefly define each category with provided examples.
Pros: Gorgeous graphics. Above average music. Excellent controls. Lots and lots to do - it is, after all, "ever-quest". The world is huge and has a degree of respectability, wherein it is absolutely possible to "very cautiously" explore the world for exploration experience points - but at the same time realizing that crossing your boundaries will definitely end in your demise. The "RPG" aspect is not bad - much of what you do is directly affected by the amount of what it is you are doing (for example, the more you swim, the better your swimming skill gets). Crafting is elaborate and not too hard to get involved in. You can choose to just be a master crafter, and people will keep coming back to you, offering materials, gold, etc. for your services in a very loyal and respectable way. These are some of the pros.
Cons: A fair share of rude people populating the world. People are very territorial - be it a "guild thing" or "camping thing" or "harvesting thing". The game GMs frequently become "the game police" to the fullest extent of the word - and it does get ugly. With the introduction of PvP servers, players such as myself became immediately swept away in the PvP rat-race, which made PvE aspect of the game (at least for me) absolete. As a consequence, PvP became very boring (team work is hard work, if you know what I mean - and finding a good team is a difficult task in itself). Also, starting new characters seems like "been there, done that". MAJOR problem is - the game is a resource hog. With 4 GB RAM you will be able to get a feel for what it should look and play like - not to mention a beefy video card that roasts your PC's tower case inside out. Needless to say, it is doubtful that there is a rig out there that can actually produce game performance on all max settings (I refused to shell out several thousands for a PC just to play a video game). A mainstream gamer will be able to get to see half of the effects the game has to offer, sadly.
And, of course - this game is extremely time consuming! The original addictivness of Everquest is still there. If you have a job and family and you are unable to stop playing when you need to - you may as well either get divorced or erase the game from your HD.
Bottomline: Gorgeous, in-depth, evolving MMORPG that requires a monthly fee, expensive PC, and lots of patience and free time to play. PvP is exciting, but gets old due to similarity in case scenarios (you hunt down lowbies, lowbie gets upset, logs on his main, comes back to own you, either in groups or individually, etc.). Not to mix the genres, but games like Battlefield and Planetside offer as much excitement for a lot less personal time investment.
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