Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
Age of Conon is a combat-central fantasy themed MMORPG set in the ancient time known as the Hyborian Age (from the long running Conan the Barbarian series), a mix of ancient European civilizations, taking cues from the Roman Empire, the culture of the Mongolian
Travel in Age of Conan is never dull.
hordes, and ancient middle eastern mysticism. Age of Conan is subscription based, but it is well worth it, featuring cutting edge DirectX 10 graphics.
Age of Conan’s gameworld is lush and vibrant, owing this to the use of the Cheetah engine, with advanced shadowing and lighting, SpeedTree which provides a rich high quality of foliage rarely seen in MMORPG games, and Umbra which allows the world to be drawn to large distances, which really immerses you in the gameplay. The game contains three main countries namely: Cimmeria, an arctic land filled with mountains, snow and ice, Aquilonia which is comprised of rolling green hills, open plains and temperate forests as well as the large bustling city Tarantia, and Stygia which is for the most part, vast deserts and dunes, and thriving cities. There’s also the island of Tortage which is mainly tropical. The music and voice acting in Age of Conan ispraiseworthy, with more than 40 voice actors contributing to the game, you never feel as if your speaking to the same NPC over and over again (unlike The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion).
Character customization in Age of Conan is incredibly detailed and open to creativity, your able to choose your facial features, tattoos and a plethora of other details. You first pick your homeland, and
Hyborian is one of the most immersive gameworlds around.
after that your able to choose one of 12 classes (which come under the main four: Rouge, Priest, Soldier and Mage) although not every class is available to each race, with only the Khitan able to choose from each main class, however you’ll find a class that suits your playing style regardless of your choice of homeland.
Unlike many of its counterparts, Age of Conan features minimal grind. Age of Conan is centered around combat, and consequently the combat in Age of Conan is the very best that an MMO game has to offer. Combat in Age of Conan (both PvP and PvE) is based on directional attacks, you can attack from the top or bottom diagonally in either direction, or go for an overhead attack to your enemies skull. The combat is also based on combinations of attacks, difficult combinations cause far greater damage at a much faster rate. The
Combat is Age of Conan's strongest feature.
combat is immersive, brutal and mature, and is one of Age of Conan’s highest achievements. The quests are extremely well written and always interesting, despite being based on regular objectives (gather this, kill this, rescue this), and this can be attributed to the well written story, and real effort put into the plot by the writers.
Overall, Age of Conan is a well polished, immersive and one of the most satisfying MMORPG’s to be played, the combat shines as an example to other MMO games, and will keep you coming back for more, a rare trait among games of this genre.
