Funcom's latest MMORPG, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be shipping to stores in a matter of days, and it's an enormous project with a long list of features. Naturally, there are quests, there is a storyline, there are levels, there are instances, and there are adventures for groups of players. But Age of Conan is also putting a unique combat system, city building, and siege warfare on the table. Can one title pull all this off and make it fun? It's hard to say until some big guilds start reaching the end game, but here are my thoughts on the introductory levels of Age of Conan.
Graphics and Interface
If you prefer a gritty, realistically-proportioned world to the cartoonish appearance some MMORPGs have adopted, then the look of Age of Conan is likely to appeal to you. As an adult-rated game, there is a considerable amount of blood and gore intertwined with a storyline that isn't afraid to tackle mature themes. Some areas are remarkably detailed, and the combat animations are superb. I've yet to come across a freakishly anime-inspired race, a cat person, or an elf with ridiculously long ears, which is a switch.
Age of Conan supports DX10 and there are visual extras for people with high-end PCs. It's a demanding game graphically, but it seems to run well on slower systems with a few settings turned down, and of course, more optimizing is being done. The last patch (early May) was a huge improvement in performance, stability, and load times, so if you had problems during the open beta, there's a good chance they have already been addressed.
There are some impressive environments to be explored, although they feel rather closed-in and restrictive for the first 20 levels in Tortage City. The engine allows you to jump and fall, but you've more or less got to stick to the beaten path for the early part of the game.
The controls are quite typical of games of this kind with WASD movement and a bevy of shortcut bars which are mapped to the number keys by default. Conventions we've come to expect, like mouselook with the left mouse button, and move forward by holding down both mouse buttons, are all there, so the controls will come easily to those with previous MMORPG experience.
Character Creation
AoC features 3 playable races, which are Cimmerian, Aquilonian and Stygian. There are then essentially 12 classes to choose from, divided into 4 categories. It's clear enough what your role will be, whether you want to melee, heal, cast, or fight with a bow. If you decide to customize your appearance, you'll discover an abundance of sliders that allow you to adjust all your most visible details.
Combat
The combat in Age of Conan is a significant departure from the norm for RPGs. In melee engagements, for example, you choose the direction of each and every swing. Combinations, as the name implies, require you to perform a series of moves in a certain order. As a Ranger, I was able to target by selection when I was zoomed out to 3rd person, or use crosshairs when zoomed in. It's not as FPS-like as it may sound, however, because your attacks are still triggered via the shortcut bars and the outcome still relies on random numbers.
There are also various defensive devices at play in AoC that are quite unique. You and your enemies have "shields" which represent where you're focusing your defences while in combat. These are displayed as grey arches floating around your opponent, giving you an indication of where their weak spots are. You can adjust your own shields on the fly, although it's doubtful anyone will actually have time for this in the heat of battle.
Another interesting combat feature is that you can double tap a movement key for a brief special effect, such as a chance to stun with the forward key, or a chance to dodge with the backward key. Sound like a lot of button-mashing? Well, if you prefer the keyboard to the mouse, it can get twitchy, but you have to stay on top of things to pull off combinations, and they don't always execute instantly.
