It's been a long time since Turbine’s Asheron’s Call franchise got started. Building on the success of the original Asheron’s Call, their second game in the series, Asheron’s Call 2: Fallen Kings, was a wonderful game for its time. Trying to draw new players into the world of Asheron’s Call, Turbine has released a new expansion pack for the game - Asheron’s Call 2: Legions. Combined with the updated graphics recently brought to Asheron’s Call 2, Legions adds two new playable races and some entertaining content. It might not be enough to bring in long-term players though - Asheron’s Call 2 is beginning to show its age in a few places.

This expansion pack has a few good features tucked inside. The two new races add a great deal of flexibility and enjoyment to the AC2 universe. Unfortunately the control interface itself is beginning to show its age. When Asheron’s Call 2 was first released by Turbine its interface was a leap forward in ease and control. The system is not painful to use or clunky, it just isn’t as streamlined as more recent games, although anyone who has played another of the role-playing online games will feel right at home with the control system.

The addition of two new playable races and their classes is a breath of fresh air. Each of the races, the rascally Drudge and the powerful Empyrean, have their own strengths that will fit in well with the other heroic races. The Drudges focus on being hardy and versatile. They are limited to a single skill tree, but it is extremely large and has a number of useful abilities. Players can gain access to heals, mana restoratives, powerful self-buff spells, and vicious attacks. The Drudge also have a lot of humor involved. The animations for spell casting, involving a lot of arm waving and dancing, or the standing-around-and-waiting animations will get a laugh out of fans.

The Empyrean are the primary addition to the player races. Unlocked immediately with the purchase of the Legions expansion pack, this race of mystics has many tricks up their sleeves. The skill trees available for warriors, mages, and missile specialists of the Empyrean race have a lot of self-buffs included. Players can increase their maximum hit points and mana pool, increase their attack speed, and more. In addition they have a wide variety of skills to use. This variety comes with a small price, however. The Empyrean classes, especially their mage class, require a lot of attention to detail to get the hang of. Their abilities are very useful … if the right conditions are met.

Following in the footsteps of the EverQuest series, the developers at Turbine have added new texture files to bring more depth and detail to the Asheron’s Call universe. The textures add more detail and immersiveness. The higher-quality graphics come at a bit of a cost. Older computers will have a harder time as they struggle to render everything. I noticed a few hiccups as I wandered through the more graphically complicated areas near Arwic. It was a little annoying, but I went with the high-quality graphics install when my machine didn’t meet all of the minimum requirements.

Legions is being packaged with the original Asheron’s Call 2 game, allowing new players to pick up both games easily and conveniently. New players can jump right into the world and get started exploring and enjoying the game. There are also tutorials for players to go through when they first enter the world. These tutorials will get new players up to speed very quickly, allowing them to get the hang of the game and get out into the wide world to explore for themselves.

Looking back, Turbine has had a few rough patches with Asheron’s Call 2. A lot of players have moved on for the promise of brighter futures in other games. As a result the community in Asheron’s Call 2 is relatively small and closely knit. The players are also extremely knowledgeable about the game. New players will have a lot of “older siblings” they can ask for help. Just be prepared to spend some time looking for people to answer your questions. A lot of the existing players have high-level characters as their main avatars.

In the end Asheron’s Call 2: Legions is an expansion pack that builds on the existing game. Players who are already enjoying the game will also enjoy the expanded content and new races. New players might not be drawn to the expansion on its own. By adding the original game into the pack, new players will be able to enjoy the best of both worlds without buying two separate games. The interface and gameplay are showing their age a little, but Asheron’s Call 2 still has more-than-enough content to keep its players happy. If you are looking for a new game to play, AC2: Legions might not be the best buy for you. If you are looking for a game that has a serious, skilled community to play with then Asheron’s Call 2: Legions might be right up your alley.

Tips:
As soon as you can start working in groups. It will cut back your down time. The high-end content is also aimed at groups. Learning what role your avatar fills in a group early is priceless.

Gameplay: 6.7
The gameplay in Asheron’s Call 2: Legions is basically the same as it was for Asheron’s Call 2. There have not been a lot of upgrades to the system. As a result, what was once a shining example of a good system has aged as the years go on. AC2 Legions is about average for the genre, but the interface is a bit clunky is places, especially when compared to the recent heavy hitters like World of Warcraft and EverQuest II.

Graphics: 7.0
Even with the high-quality graphics turned on the expansion is just about average. There are some good points to the graphics, and there are some bad points. Requiring a 3.0GHz processor to run the game at high-quality graphics is a bit higher than many casual gamers have.

Sound: 7.0
The sounds for Asheron’s Call 2: Legions are about what I expect from an MMO these days. The background music is delightful, the combat sounds are fairly good. Listening to the sound effects you can get a good idea of what’s going on around you without having to look at the screen. 

Difficulty: Medium/High

Concept: 7.0
Adding two new races and some new content is going to excite the fans of Asheron’s Call 2. New players won’t find very much to draw them that was not in the original game. Asheron’s Call 2 was innovative and unique when it was released. Legions is just more of the Asheron’s Call 2 world and some better graphics.

Multiplayer: 7.0
The server and population count for Asheron’s Call 2 have dropped over the years since it was released. The community is closely knit and very knowledgeable about their game. Unfortunately the long-term players tend to be very high level and some of them don’t have a lot of time to “waste” talking to new players.

Overall: 7.0
Asheron’s Call 2: Legions is a decent expansion pack for an older game. The game itself is a bit dated, with muted graphics and a slightly clunky interface. The addition of new races and content will make existing players happy, but new players should do some reading on the fan sites to decide if they want to buy into the world of Asheron’s Call 2.