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Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is a fantasy-themed MMORPG game launched on 20th May 2008, developed by Funcom. It is set in the Hyborian age, a fantasy setting created by American author Robert E. Howard in 1932. Age of Conan itself takes place within the continent of the Hyborian kingdoms, a year after the events depicted in Howard’s sole Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon. Funcom has really done a great job in the settings and the environment of the game. You won’t feel strange as to why something is there. Everything is done naturally and blends into the environment very well.

As I am writing this review, I am only a Level 22 female Conqueror. Conqueror is a melee DPS class, has insanely high melee damage and ability to buff groupmates. When you start the game, you will feel that the game’s character creation is excellent. You can customize your character from head to toes easily. Customization has lots of choices to choose from as well. I am surprised by the character creation system because I never expect it to be done in so much detail.

I don’t know much about this game’s end-game experience since I am only level 22. I am writing based on my low-level to early mid-level gameplay experience and so far its been done very well, except that its really buggy and not very user-friendly. If you can take all that, then you will probably find AoC one of the most best MMORPG so far. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for roughly a month more. Don’t worry as Funcom has been fixing these issues very quickly and by now most of the bugs should be fixed and new features are being implemented in the upcoming patches.

Prior to the release date, I watched a couple of demos showing the game’s incredible graphics. It’s excellent, no doubt about it. However, you’re gonna need a rather high-end PC to make the game shine. Otherwise, the game’s basic requirement is still quite low, so don’t worry about it.

AoC features a really impressive feature, the “Real Combat” system, which is used for melee combat. It is based on six directions of attacking an opponent. Unlike most of the MMORPG in the market, no matter how you swing the weapon, only the selected opponent will be damaged, provided its not an Area of Effect(AoE) skill. In AOC, everytime you swing your weapon regardless of normal attacks or AoE skills, it causes damage if the opponents are in the radius, causing it to be much more dynamic and realistic. And of course, lots of blood spill out when damages are done!! Hooray!! Melee skills are all about combos, pressing several directions at successful sequence will trigger the combo, dealing more damage than normal attacks. Also, killing opponens with combos instead of normal attacks might show you the “Fatality” move, an insanely cool and brutal finishing move. The satisfaction of executing your opponent is high, although the percentage of it triggering it is quite low. I’ve only seen it a couple of times. The “Real Combat” system really impresses me and convinces me to choose a melee class rather than mages.

This game is rated M 17+ because of its brutality, nudity and language. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first MMORPG game that gets a Mature rating. Funcom want a game that’s more violent and brutal to match the Hyborian Age. The language is also rougher considering almost everything is settled by swords in such a tough world. I like the direction Funcom is going because I always think that ordinary MMORPG is way too cartoonish. How can you slay a person without any blood around it? Sometimes the language is even more polite than me speaking with my friends. This easily makes AoC the most brutally satisfying MMORPG so far.

Another feature worth mentioning is its questing system. The map display is excellent. Never have I felt lost not knowing where to go for the next step. I hope they can improve the interface, especially the Feats and Combos menu. Sometimes, I don’t understand what these feats or combos do. The explaination should contain more details. However, these are just small parts of the game and can be improved easily. As long as the core gameplay is nice, it is definitely worth playing.

This is definitely one of the best MMORPG game I’ve ever played so far. I prefer the approach this game takes instead of WoW. This is definitely my type of game and highly recommended to everyone.

Homepage | GameSpot | IGN | Wikipedia | GameRankings

Buy this game at PlayAsia:

• Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (DVD-ROM)
• Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Collector’s Edition (DVD-ROM)
• Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures 60-Day Time Card

by Travis

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