Last year, 2004, was a busy one for the Everquest universe. Early on you had the release of Champions of Norrath, which was a breath of fresh air for the hack-and-slash RPG. There was also Gates of Discord which received a rather lukewarm reception on the PC. Of course no one can forget about the release of Everquest II, which had to fight with World of Warcraft for potential buyers. It was a busy year indeed and 2005 looks to continue that trend.

Thus we come to Return to Arms, the sequel to last year’s Champions of Norrath. Developer Snowblind Studios has added some new characters, spells, and abilities, but is that enough to make Arms different enough from its predecessor? Sadly, while the game does carry on the traditional hack-and-slash gameplay of Norrath, it doesn’t do nearly enough. Everything from its missions and gameplay make Return to Arms seem like little more than an expansion pack.