Download and installation was relatively hassle free. If a little slow (though that may be my connection issues more than anything).
Once in, it’s very much your good old EQ2 but with far fewer choices as to race, profession etc. You can only start as a neutral character, in the competely free to play version, and are restricted to a subset of profs.
Gameplay is, understandably, exactly the same as EQII. Missions in the new Halas area have a nice ‘icy snowbound, we all hate orcs’ feel and my barbarian had a high old time levelling from 0-8 in a fairly short period of time.
Characterisation for the NPCs is well done, the froglok kid you run into early on is a nice touch.
In short, if you have an old EQII itch but don’t want to re-up or the kids are wanting to play but you are too mean to buy them an account, this is a great way in. If you can pay, I’d pay and just get into the vanilla EQII game, with all the options, all the quests and an established community.
That having been said, I’ll be going back to EQIIX from time to time, it’s… fun.
Travels With A Troll Slayer 