While most MMORPGers are blindly awaiting the release of The Burning Crusade (the upcoming expansion for World of Warcraft, for the whole two of you who didn't know that already), Sony Online Entertainment has just launched the third expansion pack, titled Echoes of Faydwer, for its supremely under appreciated MMORPG EverQuest II to seemingly little to no mainstream fanfare. And that is incredibly sad, because SOE have produced a flawless expansion pack of epic proportions that deserves so much more credit and respect than it has so far accumulated… at least until now that is!

Echoes of Faydwer's most enticing element is without question the resurrection of the enchanted continent of Faydwer, which long-time EverQuest addicts will fondly remember from the original game and enjoy exploring once more, with a smile stretching from ear to ear the entire time. During the 500-plus years of cataclysm and darkness that devastated the world of Norrath between EverQuest and EverQuest II, the lands of Faydwer have endured, though much has changed. From the deep forests of the Greater Faydark to the rocky gorges of the Butcherblock Mountains, the orc-infested realm of Crushbone Keep, the clockwork lands of the Steamfont Mountains and the gothic halls of Castle Mistmoor, Echoes of Faydwer brings back unforgettable classic zones (along with a variety of all-new ones, for over twenty in total) with a theme of familiarity to their previous forms while presenting them with completely new terrain to discover and epic creatures to slay.

This familiar realm is also made anew thanks to EQII's robust graphics engine, which renders the lands of Faydwer to jaw-dropping effect. EQII is already the most visually rich and technically impressive MMORPG on the market, and even though the engine hasn't been tuned to fix some of its steep performance requirements (it's a system hog, no doubt) the style that the new zones infuse into the existing game world is nothing short of remarkable. In case you were wondering, the audio hasn't changed much either, but the full NPC voiceover work (though still somewhat hit or miss), orchestral high-fantasy musical score, adaptive environmental ambiance and satisfying battle sounds remain an ear-filling delight.

Accompanying the return of the Faydwer continent is the new winged, fairy-like character race known as the Fae, who begin their adventure in the Greater Faydark nursery before reaching the new arboreal starting city of Kelethin (which original EQ fans will certainly recall). Playing as a fairy may sound lame, but the Fae have proved to be a popular and surprisingly cool race amongst the game's community, mainly because of their flashy wings (which come in a wide assortment in the character creation system) and inherent safe fall ability to glide from high places without sustaining a lick of damage. To the chagrin of players with an evil streak, the Fae are currently only capable of being created as good classes and can't complete the betrayal quest to switch to the dark side of Freeport like the other good races can, but ultimately this doesn't matter, because SOE already has plans to address this in an upcoming patch.

Whereas almost every other MMORPG expansion pack to date has strictly catered to high-level players, Echoes of Faydwer, in probably its most appreciated feat, introduces all-new content for players level 1 through 70 to partake in, treating both newbies and veterans alike for a change. Among this broad range of debut content are over 350 Heritage, Signature, Collection, Tome and City Writ quests and new equipment sets, Player-versus-Player titles and rewards, an expanded inventory to include a cloak and additional earring slot, tradeskill adornments that add bonus traits to equipment, profession hats, two secondary tradeskills in tinkering and transmuting, an increased Guild level cap from 50 to 60 and more. The staggering feature count doesn't end there either; in fact it only gets better. My two favorite additions to the EQII universe are the expanded achievement trees and the brand new belief system. Starting with the achievements first, Echoes of Faydwer has deepened the general class achievement system founded in the Kingdom of Sky expansion released earlier this year by adding on a sub-class achievement tree to follow and further customize a player's spells and abilities. With the inclusion of a second skill tree, the starting achievement level has also been lowered 10 from the original requirement of level 20, thus providing players with a greater sense of reward earlier on in their adventures.

Beginning around level 20, you can now select a deity to worship and then embark on a series of quests that tie into the new belief system. There are eight deities to choose from in all - three good, three evil and two neutral - and based upon your chosen deity you are sent on an epic quest line that grants you new items, powers and abilities every step of the way. Upon completing the first deity quest you're rewarded with an altar to place in your home. After setting up an altar you can then pray and sacrifice valuable items and treasure to gain favor with your deity. Depending on how much favor you've built up and how many quests you've completed in the quest line, special Blessing and Miracle powers can be acquired that will significantly aid you in your travels. The deity quest lines are a bit shorter than I would've liked, consisting of around only five quests apiece at present, however it's a thoughtful addition that steeps itself in the game's rich story lore and enriches the character progression and customization system even more.

To top everything off, the launch of Echoes of Faydwer was also greeted by Game Update #29, which brought along a mass of subtle but effective tweaks, noticeably including a revamped front-end menu and cleaner character creation interface, among many other touches.

With so many changes and new features brought along by this latest expansion, along with its all-inclusive player focus, the virtual world of EverQuest II has become more robust and adventure-filled than any other MMORPG I've ever played (yeah, I said it WoW fanboys, what are you gonna do about it?) And what's more, the boxed retail version now includes the base EQII game with all three expansion packs for the price of one, so if you're interested in converting from another game then this is the optimal time and place to get started. I honestly can't dish out enough praise to the SOE dev team for how far above and beyond they went with this one; Echoes of Faydwer is the epitome of what a classic expansion should be and is easily among 2006's best releases.

Reviewed by Matt Litten for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).