Dark Age of Camelot News & Events & Guides

MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) are becoming more and more popular these days and with the advent of broadband meaning lag should become a thing of the past, this trend looks certain to continue. One of the most popular MMORPGs amongst European gamers in recent months has been Mythic Entertainment's Dark Age of Camelot. Of course the game has been out a while now and recently the first expansion pack, Shrouded Isles was released. We've been sent the Collector pack to review which includes both DAOC Platinum and the Shrouded Isles expansion. Let's take a look at both of these in turn.

As you can probably guess from it's name the game has a Medieval/Mythological flavour to it. The game includes 3 realms for you to exist in and with whom to side with. These realms are known as Albion (Arthurian influenced), Hybernia (Celtic influenced) and Midgard (kind of Nordic influenced). One of the main attractions with the game is the rivalry that exists between the realms. All from your realm are friends whilst all from the other realms are enemies. The game offers PvP (Player vs Player) in a team based style, which of course gives the game it's unique edge.

There are several differences in DAOC Platinum from other MMORPGs such as no experience loss when you're killed in a PvP battle or not being able to loot a defeated human enemy. There are certain areas of a realm that are safe havens and should an enemy player attempt to enter one of these areas he/she will be attacked by an NPC guard (who by the way are ruthlessly difficult to defeat). It's not necessary to take part in PvP battles though, as there are many quests that can be undertaken, which are actually not that bad, or you can take on AI enemies within your own realm.

What realm you choose to play in will determine the available classes that are open to you. There are five races available to each realm and each of these races will have a handful of classes available to them. On reaching the fifth level your character will be able to join a guild if you so wish which will benefit your training in your chosen class. I felt the structure of DAoC was good, in regards to character creation and development and it didn't throw too much at you in an attempt to confuse you.