This is just a review of the Shrouded Isles expansion pack - I have already reviewed the original Dark Age of Camelot in it's own section.

Shrouded Isles was the first paid expansion for Dark Age of Camelot, and it is actually suprisingly good.

It raises the system requirements a bit compared to the original game - you now need a 1.4Ghz machine with a 64Mb graphics card (they say 32, but trust me, you need the 64!) it helps if it's a GeForce 4 or equivalent ATI too, otherwise you don't benefit from all the new effects.

The new graphics have generated some lag in full-on PVP too, but you can turn the detail down and the spell effects completely off to combat that.

That said, the game looks prettier in the Shrouded Isle format to the original game.

Looks aren't everything though, expansions need to offer content, and on this front I was pleasantly suprised.

==========New Classes============

Each realm gets one new race and two new classes to choose from. The classes follow similar templates - one caster class and one strange magic / physical class for each realm.

Albion gained the Necromancers - incredibly powerful for PVE, and quickly the character of choice for rushing to level 50 so that you can get your /level 20 characters.

They also got the Reavers - strange, dark paladin type characters that while fun to play couldn't quite find their place in groups.

Hibernia got the Valewalkers (mysterious cloth-wearing people carrying scythes) and the Animists - lag causing grove creators who became the bane of PVP for a while.

Midgards two classes were the Bonedancers - skeleton servant summoners who can hit things too, and the Savages - specialists of unarmed combat, with self-buffs that drain their health instead of mana.

All of these new classes are fun to play, and worthwile additions to the game, even if some of them are slightly bugged.

Necromancers, for instance, can never get a group in a dungeon because the pathing on their pets is apalling, and guarenteed to get any group they joined killed.

===========New Areas=============

The Shrouded Isles introduced several new areas in a separate zone, along with several new high level dungeons.

Thankfully, there is new content for the lower level players as well as those close to or at level 50.

One welcome addition was that of special areas with crafting merchants. In the past high level crafters had to journey into the PVP Frontier areas to buy materials - now they have the option of going into the Shrouded Isle too.

There are many quests associated with the Shrouded Isle, and some of them are quite engaging to do. Loot is better (although the random loot generator can make some useless items at times) and the money earning potential can be pretty good too.

==============Dungeons=============

For the highest level characters there are several new dungeons - some do-able solo, some requiring huge groups and good organisation.

The rewards for completing these dungeons were, at the time of release, well worth the effort.

Since the release of yet another expansion pack (Trials of Atlantis) some of the rewards have been de-valued. Others still stand as being very, very valuable however.

============Conclusion===============

If you are new to Dark Age of Camelot, I would recommend picking up both the original game AND this expansion pack.

If you are a returning player and were high level when you left, then I think you may need this and Trials of Atlantis if PVP is your goal.

This pack gives options and content for players of all levels, and was a welcome addition to the game.