Sony Online's EverQuest may have been the headlining success story for online RPGs in the US, but the success of NCsoft's Lineage reached a completely different level in Asia, where the game reportedly has millions of regular players. While many players who are used to the 3D graphics of EverQuest and Dark Age of Camelot may very well wonder at Lineage's success, especially considering that game's dated 2D graphics, NCsoft has used that success to establish an enviable position in the industry. The publisher is carrying several games, including the online superhero game City of Heroes, and it also has a major sequel to Lineage coming. It doesn't take more than a second look at the screenshots to see that Lineage II is a big graphical step up from the original game, but the developers hope that the sequel's deeper gameplay will make it a hit on US shores.

　　The first things you may notice about Lineage II are its crisp graphics and its anime-inspired character design. Lineage II has been in development for two years at NCsoft's studio in Korea. The game's development is almost in the final stretch, but the NCsoft Austin studio--founded in 2001 by Ultima's creator, Richard Garriott, and the designers of Ultima Online--has been working to localize and test the English version of the game and shape the core design to better suit US tastes. There are a few more months before the US beta, but we recently had a chance to see the latest version of the game.

　　At the core of the game's crisp visuals is none other than Epic's Unreal technology. As you'd expect, NCsoft has created its own networking code for the persistent-world game, but the very high level of detail in the characters and the environments is due in good part to Epic's graphics engine. Compared with the characters in other online RPGs, Lineage II's characters have a very distinct anime look. In fact, carrying giant, ornate swords, the stylized characters wouldn't look out of place in a Final Fantasy game. One of NCsoft's major goals for the sequel has been improved character customization, and as is standard in 3D online RPGs, you can choose from several basic physical attributes when creating an avatar and further define the look of your character with a large variety of visually distinct weapons and armor. Different types of armor actually change the contours of your character's body, so a suit of plate mail, for example, can look particularly imposing with its fashionable extra protection for the shoulders.

　　Unlike the original game, Lineage II will feature plenty of character customization, with a variety of different looks and a robust skill system.

　　Starting a new character is designed to be as easy as possible. You won't have to worry about making a mistake in the initial setup, because the number of choices you have to make up front has been pruned to a minimum. Once you decide on the character's gender, race, physical attributes, and name, you're almost done. The only class decision to make is whether you want your character to be primarily a fighter or a magic user. All the more-detailed skill and class choices come later. As soon as newly created characters arrive in the world, they're equipped with either a weapon and two pieces of basic armor (distinct segments for the upper and lower body) or two spells (one for attacking and one for healing), depending on the first basic class choice. Then it's on to hunting easy creatures in and around the starting point. The mouse-driven interface seems quite simple, and movement in the game is accomplished by clicking on the ground in a third-person perspective, rather than with the standard first-person shooter controls, as is common in many other games of this kind. However, it is worth noting that interface features and other specific gameplay details are not necessarily representative of the final game.

Storm the Gates

　　Initial level progression in Lineage II should be fairly swift, and each level earns you skill points that you can spend on spells or special abilities. Very soon, you'll be able to choose a specialized profession, and there are many more to choose from than in Lineage, where there were just a few basic templates. Some of the new classes include the rogue, the treasure hunter, and the paladin, to name just a few. Each character's abilities are also determined by core attribute statistics, but for simplicity's sake and to keep players from feeling trapped by early attribute choices, these statistics are not improved as characters increase in level, but are instead simply determined by the choice of race and class. Level progression isn't a linear affair, and the world is a dangerous enough place that you won't want to wander around carelessly. Death will result in the loss of a certain percentage of experience points, which will depend on your level. Also, in the current design, once you reach level five there's also the chance that you'll lose an item when you die.

　　Players can commission powerful flying mounts. The game has five races gleaned from fantasy conventions--humans, elves, dark elves, orcs, and dwarves--but NCsoft isn't revealing the orcs or dwarves just yet. Each race has its own home city, which is a good place to rest and reequip between adventures and can also be the source of specific quests. The elves live in a Rivendale-like city infused with a soft light and built around a mother tree that can be seen from very far off in the distance. The mother tree will not only serve as one of the world's landmarks that are visible to adventurers from afar, but it will also heal nearby elven characters and give them quests. Near the tree we spotted some ents, which are walking trees that elves can talk to. The dark elf home is a much different place, set in a huge cave. Its notable landmark is an immense statue whose torch-bearing hand barely reaches out of a seemingly bottomless pit--players can look down from the grating that covers it and marvel at the scale and detail. The human town has the look of a medieval city and has a large cathedral at its heart.

　　While the world has its share of vast landscapes populated by monsters to hunt, the game will also have some very distinctive-looking quest locations. One that we saw was the scaffolds area, which was decorated with all sorts of medieval torture instruments. Another was the queen ant lair, which a group of experienced players might reach in a quest to kill the formidable queen--provided they can cut through the surrounding armies of noble ants. The queen ant isn't the only boss monster in the game, however. We also got a glimpse of the mahum chief, the toughest of a primitive-looking doglike humanoid race.

　　Just like in the first game, player politics and castle sieges will play a central role in Lineage II. It's not just the character building but also the social dynamic that hooks many people on online RPGs, and Lineage was particularly notable for building a political system into the core of the game. The sequel builds on the blood-pledge system that binds clans of players and encourages them to work toward larger goals, like controlling castles. Castle sieges will involve dramatic battles between player armies that number in the dozens. Coordination and strategy are naturally important, as ranged defenders fire down from the ramparts and melee fighters either make a stand in front of the walls or wait inside the keep for the door to be broken down. Attackers must break down the main door, which is susceptible to melee attacks, and storm the castle in order to reap the benefits of owning it. It's not certain at this point if the developers will include special siege weapons to help out, but players will be able to get dragon mounts that have a very strong melee attack.

　　NCsoft struck gold with the first Lineage and is hoping that the sequel will do even better by maintaining the simplicity and social elements that gave the first game its broad audience in Asia while adding features that will make it competitive with the current generation of 3D online RPGs. We'll have more on the game as the US version gets closer to its release, which is scheduled for late this year.