Last year Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance started a huge trend in console Action-RPGs. Now every developer seems to be clamoring to release an Action-RPG on the next generation consoles. Within the next six months console owners will be playing through Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, and Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest. Thus far it seems as though Champions of Norrath will offer the most to eager gamers.

Releasing exclusively for the PlayStation 2, Champions of Norrath combines the popular Action-RPG elements of the original Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance with the online experience of Sony Online Entertainment. Snowblind Studios, the developer of Dark Alliance has signed on to develop Champions of Norrath. The result is Dark Alliance with an EverQuest license, online gameplay, and the most customizable Action-RPG available on consoles to date.

Champions of Norrath takes place 100 years before the events of EverQuest on the PC. This means that you won't have to be familiar with the PC game to have fun with Champions of Norrath. The game opens up as your character is recruited by the Wood Elves of Kelethin to stop an attacking horde of Goblins. The adventure will take players from Faydwer to Norrath as they battle the ultimate evil. Players will be able to select a Barbarian Warrior, Dark Elf Shadow Knight, High Elf Cleric, Erudite Wizard, or Wood Elf Ranger as either a male of female. From here it will be possible to customize your character's look in a variety of ways. Decide on you character's skin tone, hair style and color, facial hair, and even tattoos.

Since up to four players can participate in a cooperative adventure, it may take some time to get the game started with all of the customization. Fear not, you can ditch you friends and play the game online with up to three other players who have a PlayStation 2 Network Adapter. You can save your character to memory card and take him or her over to a friend's house to play in their game. Make sure you save your progress when you reach a save point because Champions of Norrath is packed with over 100 hours of gameplay per character. You'll journey through 50 levels, across 16 adventure zones, five acts, and 20 quests, not including side quests.

Throughout the various quests players will come across thousands of items and magical artifacts to customize their characters with. It's even possible to create unique items by combining magical artifacts with various weapons and armor. There are five different armor locations for each character; chest, head, arms, legs, and feet. Every character will also have more than 13 skills or spells available to them, depending on which class is selected. Each skill or spell can be leveled up 20 times for increased damage, or a completely different use. Add to that the fact that dungeons are randomly generated and you will have a different gaming experience every time you play. Make sure you customize your weapons carefully because battles can consist of 30 to 40 enemies on screen at once. There could be some serious trouble going into a battle with 40 enemies and a bad weapon.

Action-RPGs in the past always let players port their experienced character into a new game and have fun going through the same levels again, only with a powered up character. Champions of Norrath takes this concept to the next level with its randomly generated levels, but there is a limit. Players will only be able to play through the game three times with the same character. This is to ensure you won't be able to breeze through the game in no time flat with a maxed out level 50 character. It's a new game every time you play, so be sure to experiment with the various character classes.

Hitting store shelves on February 2, 2004, Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest looks to offer the most customization and replay value of almost any Action or standard RPG available for consoles. Even the likes of Final Fantasy could be challenged by the appeal of Champions of Norrath. It's unfortunate that it was delayed from a holiday release, but delays generally mean that the game will be better when it releases. Randomly generated levels, combinable weapons, an deep storyline with side quests, and four player online or split screen play make Champions of Norrath a must have for any PlayStation 2 owner.