Champions: Return to Arms Reviews

Three fairly enthusiastic reviews for Champions: Return to Arms surfaced on the web over the past few days. The first is at Gaming Target with an overall score of 8.4/10:

There’s not a whole lot of hack & slash RPGs on consoles, but Champions: Return to Arms would be one of the better ones regardless. With online play and a lengthy solo campaign, there’s a lot to do for your $50, and despite the bugs and lack of innovative gameplay, it remains a fun adventure through Norrath. Snowblind has proven they’re capable of handling the PS2 hardware and are excellent developers of this particular genre of games, and it shows with every level you reach playing RTA. Fans of hack & slash games or the Everquest world in general will eat Return to Arms up, and thankfully have quite the solid video game to play until the next dungeon crawler reaches store shelves.

The second is at DreamStation.cc with an overall score of 8.5/10:

If you are looking for a hack and slash adventure with hundreds of hours of gameplay then Champions: Return to Arms is definitely worth a look. Searching for rare items will have you hooked on this game until your falling asleep with your controller in hand, it’s that addictive. Fans of Champions of Norrath will have plenty new to find here or with new characters, items, and levels there’s enough to warrant a purchase of this sequel. Hack, hack, hack, and slash, slash, slash, that’s the game in a nutshell, but it’s fun and very entertaining.

And the third is at The Entertainment Depot with an overall score of 7/10:

The truth is that I’m a sucker for these games. While it isn’t difficult for me to see why some would find them shallow and repetitive, the packrat in me loves collecting all the goods and sorting through them to help create a demigod, and my impatience allows me to appreciate the core RPG elements put into them so that I can get a hint of the experience without the serious time investment. While Champions: Returns to Arms has several problems that I found a hindrance (poor drops, lack of variety, and unbalanced levels), it is still inherently fun in the ‘smash & grab’ sense – although the grab is a bit weak here. The additional play modes and the option to play so many ways with friends is a definite plus. However, for my dollar, I would go back and purchase Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2, and only after playing the back catalogue of these titles (Champions of Norrath and the previous Baldur’s Gate titles) would I consider Return to Arms. On its own, it’s a fairly fun and addictive title, but it pales in comparison to its pedigree.