Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest is the upcoming third-person action RPG from Sony Online Entertainment and developer Snowblind Studios. The game is set in the rich world created for SOE's popular massively multiplayer online RPG EverQuest for the PC and last year's EverQuest Online Adventures for the PlayStation 2. You'll play as a hero tapped to defend the realm from the machinations of Innoruuk, the local hate god who's bent out of shape after being denied his chance at shaping the world like the rest of the gods in the pantheon. Rather than quietly stew at the snubbing, Innoruuk stirs up a heap of trouble for Norrath, which you'll have to stop in order to restore order. Champions of Norrath was originally slated to ship this year, but the release date has moved to next year to ensure the game comes together well. While we got a taste of what to expect in our previous looks, the latest version we tried gave us a more-complete sampling of what this promising game will offer.

The story, which will unfold via a combination of cutscenes and conversations with characters, follows your efforts to get an unholy alliance of orcs and goblins to simmer down. As you progress, you'll come to understand just why the unlikely factions have joined forces, and you'll discover more than a few unpleasant surprises sent your way by Innoruuk. The heroic tale will be broken up into five main acts that will span 50 hazardous levels.

You'll be able to tackle the game in one of three modes: single-player, multiplayer, and online. The single-player game sends you off to single-handedly save Norrath. The multiplayer mode will support up to four players on one PlayStation 2 via the underused multitap for group slaying. The online mode, which is one of the most promising elements of Champions of Norrath, will let you play with up to four friends over broadband or dial-up connections using a PlayStation 2 Network Adapter.

The basic structure and mechanics of Champions of Norrath are similar to those of Snowblind's previous game, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. You'll work your way through levels, defeating enemies and interacting with non-playable characters. You'll find several different hub areas based on various locations in Norrath. Within each hub, you can venture to different locales. Each locale will have dungeons where you can defeat an assortment of nasty creatures and collect items. Along the way, you'll have the opportunity to engage in side quests, battle boss characters, and level up. The catch to all this is that the dungeons will be randomly generated from approximately 40 different types of graphic sets.

Snowblind has tweaked the Baldur's Gate formula to make room for five playable races this time out. You'll be able to play as a barbarian warrior, a wood-elf ranger, a high-elf cleric, an erudite wizard, or a dark-elf shadow knight. The various classes have their own unique attributes that will cause them to play differently. The barbarian warrior has high strength and stamina and can swing a massive weapon around and inflict generous amounts of damage on enemies. The erudite wizard has high intelligence and can earn enough mana to cast a variety of different spells. Other character classes will have slightly more-balanced attributes, such as the shadow knight or the cleric, which have reasonable melee attack skills that are complemented by magic skills. Each race will feature male and female models, and you'll be able to customize your character's skin, hair style, and hair color.

The gameplay mechanics in Champions of Norrath are similar to those used in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, although there have been some tweaks inspired by Blizzard's Diablo games. As in Baldur's Gate, you'll earn experience for killing enemies and eventually start to level up your character. As your character goes up in level, he or she will earn skill points that you can then spend on an attribute or special ability of your choosing.