Champions of Norrath

Champions of Norrath is an action RPG set in the world of EverQuest that, instead of a sprawling MMO, offered a dense dungeon crawler for one to four players. The player chooses from several classes and races, works through a series of dungeons, castles, and caves full of monsters, collects loot, and improves their character in the spirit of classic action RPGs à la Diablo, but with an emphasis on a cooperative experience on a single screen and fast, straightforward combat without unnecessary text detours.

On Xbox, the game benefited from a steady thirty frames per second and a clear isometric camera that could handle even chaotic battles with dozens of enemies and flashy spells at once without the player getting lost in the melee. Cooperative play for up to four players on a single TV was one of the main draws — friends could split the roles of tank, healer, and damage dealer, share treasure, and progress together through the campaign and additional challenges and randomly generated dungeons with extra replayability that players appreciated when returning repeatedly for better loot. The music and dungeon sound effects created a dark, mysterious atmosphere that complemented the endless waves of enemies well and lent even the repeated plundering of the same corridors a certain tense mood.

Critics and players alike received the title very positively, especially for its adept transfer of the hack-and-slash RPG concept to a console at a time when the genre on PC was dominated by the Diablo series and a similar approach was rather the exception on consoles. Champions of Norrath became one of the proofs that action RPGs can also work as relaxed couch co-op fun, and it influenced later console dungeon crawlers that followed, including its own sequel. Even today it's playable as an undemanding, addictive time-waster, especially in the company of friends, when its simple rules and fast pace still work flawlessly and the game plays practically without needing to explain the controls to anyone.

Why play it: As an undemanding and addictive couch co-op time-waster, Champions of Norrath still works flawlessly today, thanks to simple rules and a fast pace that don't require explaining anything to anyone.