EverQuest: Hero's Call (Mobile)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.9 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Avery Score
• Reviewed on: 01/01/2004
• Updated on: 04/21/2004
• Released on: 07/02/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: EverQuest: Hero's Call (Mobile) Review

EverQuest hit the PC shelves on March 16, 1999. With the game's release, Sony Online Entertainment hoped to add three letters to the acronym RPG (role-playing game) by creating one of the first truly massively multiplayer online experiences--now called an MMORPG. Gamers gave EverQuest success beyond anyone's predictions by spawning an incredibly successful online community of gamers who role-played and interacted in new ways. In fact, there were even in-game (and real-life) marriages.

A sequel and several expansions later, EverQuest has finally made its debut on mobile. While the wireless version is not an MMORPG, it is a terrific, traditional role-playing experience that spans dozens of hours of gameplay.

Before you begin EverQuest: A Hero's Call, you get to name your character, as well as choose the character's class and specialty. You can choose to play with either a mage or a warrior. In either case, your specialty can be attack, mysticism, or defense. While this level of customization doesn't even begin to approach that of the game's PC counterpart, in which you can change your character's clothing and appearance, it sets a new benchmark for the mobile RPG by adding depth to the game before the adventure even starts.

You start the game, humbly, with a rusty knife and a torn shirt. You are scoffed at by the owner of the local tavern, who advises you to develop your skills in a nearby dungeon--Bitters Tomb--before attempting any real quests. So, equipped with some torn fabric and the ability to give your opponents tetanus, you make your foray into the first of 32 (!) dungeons. Inside, you are met by a host of enemies to kill and a wealth of chests to open. After clearing Bitters Tomb, you emerge a little better equipped and a little more experienced. As you amass experience points, your character statistics (which consist of five attributes) slowly increase.

Continue reading