EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark Review

1UP brings us an enthusiastic review of Sony Online’s EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark, giving the expansion pack an overall score of 9.0/10.

The Sarnak, the fabulous, tall, dragonlike humanoids who were nearly driven to extinction by the Iksar in EQ1, return as the new playable race, but the story of their war with the Spiroc (whom old EQers will remember from the Plane of Sky) seems forced and fabricated. It’s not clear how the game’s overall Iksar threat affects these new-age Sarnak: “Why am I hitting that bird?” The high-level content, however, beautifully relates just what’s up with those zany Iksar. Oh, and the Sarnak newbie area is as great looking as all the others, and the new city of Gorowyn is intuitively laid out and much easier to navigate than Boston, Rome, or Seattle.

The year of development shaped Rise of Kunark into an admirable expansion. Even though PVP content is largely ignored and midrange characters will level elsewhere, it’s apparent that SOE’s finally hatched an add-on that puts a shine on the entire game.