A look back at Everquest Online Adventures

EQOA is a breath of fresh air in the stale and overcrowded MMORPG genre. There are literally dozens of similar games available for the PC, and the monolithic FFXI for the PS2, but nothing comes close to this masterpiece.

Rather than make the mistake of FFXI and try (unsuccessfully) to build a clone of a PC MMORPG, EQOA developed an entirely different engine and interface for the PS2. The result is outstanding- a game that combines the elegant simplicity of the console with all the dynamic content and social interaction of the MMORPG shared world. It's faster paced, easier to learn, and more impressive than any other MMORPG I've seen.

Above all else, though, this game is _dirt cheap_! I was able to get started for under $20, including all of the hardware I needed. There is no better gateway drug to draw you into the MMORPG addiction.

How to do it that cheap? It's easy to find this game new for a measly 10 bucks, and you don't need expensive add-ons. The PS2 works fine with any usb keyboard- or even one of those $7 adapters that let you use your older model, so there's no need to spend $30 on a "real" PS2 keyboard. The developers for EQOA were able to provide dynamic, updated content _without_ the need for a hard drive, so no money there. Chances are the only thing you'll need is a PS2 network adaptor, and these days you can get one for about 25 bucks. Believe it or not though, I didn't need one! The game works great on my old Linksys usb adaptor- it only took me about 45 seconds to get it set up, no PS2 adaptor required at all for me.

Best of all, the monthly subscription is $10 or less, depending on your plan. So you won't need to resort to prostitution to feed your addiction...

And you WILL be addicted. Of course, you'll be able to quite any time you want. Honest. I know I could... Right.


Source / Author / Credit: Freeport