Everquest 2: The Shadow Odyssey

Ever-Crack at its finest

Posted 4 years ago By - Brian Edey

MMO’s, if you have heard any of the podcasts we have done over the last several months you probably will remember hearing me talk about how big I am into them and how many I play (way too many) so when I have the chance to try a new one or an expansion to an already classic MMORPG. Everquest 2 is my favorite current MMO and one I put dozens of hours per week into leveling several characters up across the world of Norrath and a new expansion, such as the fifth (5th) official one called The Shadow Odyssey, is always welcome for new zones to explore, new quests to complete and new raids to wipe in.

Everquest 2 The Shadow Odyssey is a very good expansion and almost a great expansion as most of the content is for the highest levels and if you are one of those players who prefers to solo the actual content might not be for you. But if you group, this new expansion is great, especially for the dungeon divers out there like me.


With every new expansion, Sony Online likes to give some free items which can be claimed for new or current characters and this expansion has by far the best free gift, a Dire Bear. This Dire Bear will follow you around from level 1 to 20 and grow with you, but at level 20 you can ride is and use it as a mount and for those who play the game know mounts are very expensive so this gift is beyond great.

TSO (The Shadow Odyssey) contains over 20 new zones, but most of these are instanced and these instances make for some great grouping content of some of the best classic Everquest zones such as Befallen and Guk. If you remember these two zones from the original Everquest then you know how incredible those zones were (actually they still are if you still play the original game) and the developers at Sony Online have given us that same old magic again. One of the new zones is an outdoor zone and another classic zone for Everquest 2, Innothule Swamp, which is a total treat to run through.


Everquest’s 2 Achievement Lists/Trees are now capped at 200 points which allow for even more customization of your character and its abilities. Along with the new AA points, you will also find a new armor set in the game called Void Armor in which you find a pattern as a drop on a monster, some void shards and you turn them in and spend some platinum and obtain some very amazing armor.

If you are a Everquest 2 role player or just a player who enjoys the rich and fascinating lore created for the Everquest games then you should pay special attention to the new story lines available. They are by far some of the best written for any MMORPG and shows that SOE is still the company who can create some of the deepest and most creative worlds for people to explore.

The name “Everquest” causes some gamers to dream of the classic days of when EQ1 was the top game on the market and for other games who did not start out with EQ, hearing Everquest seems to scare them because it is not as polished as current MMORPGs. This fear sometimes follows the EQ name and people believe that Everquest 2 is not as complete or as polished as it actually is. Everquest 2 is by far the most complete MMORPG on the market, with content for casual players, solo players, groupers, raiders and crafters. It is also one of the largest fantasy MMORPG out there and there is plenty of content for everyone and is easy for even brand new players to start with and never feel lost, but deep enough for the most hard core of us. If you have not tried EQ2 or played it in a couple of years, you will be surprised at the game and the experience across Norrath.


I have to say that the last 3 expansions (Echoes of Faydwer, Rise of Kunark and The Shadow Odyssey) make me very excited for what is coming to Everquest 2. Personally I would love to see a Velious expansion (based on the greatest Everquest 1 expansion – The Scars of Velious) with plenty of content for mid to high levels.

To cap off the review I will give Everquest 2: The Shadow Odyssey a final score of 8.8/10. The best High Fantasy MMORPG currently on the gaming market gets even better and it is one of the best expansions we have seen for a MMORPG in years.

January 26th 2009 :: Everquest 2: The Shadow Odyssey Editorial Review

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