Title : Why choose Wow?

The big question on everyone's mind is why choose World of Warcraft over the many MMORPG titles that are still to hit the market? First we need to take a brief look at some of the more eagerly anticipated MMORPG titles to put things in perspective.

StarWars Galaxies –

SWG is being touted as the next big thing and the obvious pull is the game universe itself. It's been every gamer's dream to play their favourite characters/race from the StarWars universe and the game world itself is rich and vibrant with a long history which dates back through the movies and many books that have been written since. This has to be the top contender for the most popular competitive up and coming MMORPG with 8 playable races at your disposal and a large variety of character skills.

Everquest 2 –

This is definitely up there with SWG due the shear amount of gamers that have glued themselves into Everquest, or EverCrack if you prefer, over the past four years.

With EQ2 now on the horizon the inquisitive nature of EQ players will surely pull them back into the world they have left to move onto something else. The game is once again set in a future Norath so many locations will be familiar to players of the first games.

At the recent EQ Fan Faire event we talked to a few players who were not sure if they would play EQ2 because it would mean having to start new characters again, a common problem for sequels.

After taking a look at the game at a recent press event I'll admit I was a little disappointed in the game's visuals. The gameplay demo was pretty jerky and I certainly would not have shown this to the press.

Asheron's call 2 –

Yet another sequel but perhaps without the same pulling power of EQ2. Again this is a game that players of the original Asheron's Call will be checking out and it does look visually very stunning, expanding on an already popular game concept and world which was first unveiled back in 1999. The game is set 500 years after the original title and features three playable races skilled in either melee, magic or ranged combat.

Earth & Beyond –

This game has already been released but with a storyline that's set to run for 5 years, it will overlap with the release of WoW. Earth & Beyond is the first persistent world space MMORPG so it has an edge over the other titles if space exploration and trading is your cup of tea. The game is also very well put together and ideal for newcomers to the MMORPG genre. Perhaps this is something players new to the genre should try before WoW to give them a taste of an MMORPG.

Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles –

You can't deny the popularity of DAoC, it has a massive user base and with this new expansion, Shrouded Isles, it will have players of the original coming back in their droves, but how long the expansion can keep people hooked remains to be seen.

The game expands on the original with new character classes, new races, and three new continents to explore. As well as new quests, weapons armour etc the game also features a new graphic engine that will help entice old and new players.