Champions: Return to Arms

Description

Champions: Return to Arms saw a significant departure from the linear progression of its predecessor by introducing a branching narrative that allowed players to choose between the paths of Good or Evil. The title is an attempt to reinvent the Champions of Norrath experience as a more replayable and content-dense action-RPG, adding new races and a non-linear mission structure. It remains a unique entry that moved the series away from the traditional “EverQuest” storytelling of the fifth generation toward a more flexible, choice-driven framework during the PlayStation 2’s generation.

The gameplay revolves around the Planes of Power and the quest to either destroy or collect the shards of Innoruuk, the Prince of Hate. This sequel introduced two new character classes: the Iksar Shaman and the Vah Shir Berserker, alongside the ability to import high-level characters from the first game. A key feature is the Medal Rounds mini-game challenges like treasure scrambles or wave-based survival, which unlock secret modes and rare items. The mission structure varies based on your chosen alignment; for example, playing as ‘Good’ might work to plug holes to prevent a flood, while an “Evil” player would actively break them to cause chaos, providing distinct tactical objectives within the same maps.

The development was focused on refining the Snowblind engine to eliminate the frame rate drops that plagued the first title, aiming for a consistent 60 frames per second. However, this engine utilised a highly unusual dynamic output mode that switched between field-mode (for speed) and frame-mode (for detail) mid-gameplay. This resulted in a “jitter” or vertical shake effect on certain hardware revisions, particularly the SCPH-50000 series, while older models like the SCPH-39001 handled the signal switching more gracefully. Developers also prioritised a major overhaul of the online component, introducing host migration and server-side character saves to combat the rampant item-duping and cheating that had compromised the previous game’s community.

When released Champions: Return to Arms received a generally positive reception, with many praising the depth of the new classes and the addictive nature of the medal rounds. Magazine lauded the technical polish and the ‘drop-dead gorgeous’ character models, though some noted that the hack-and-slash formula was beginning to feel stagnant compared to emerging sixth-generation RPGs. Reception was particularly strong in North America and Europe, where it was viewed as the definitive Diablo-style experience on consoles. While the story was often cited as being paper-thin, the game is retrospectively a high-water mark for the genre, remembered for its deep customisation and for being the final, most refined iteration of the Snowblind engine.