Age of Conan

*sigh* I hadn't intended this but it seems ->Wall of text crits you for XXXX damage...be warned.


First let me say, I have never really been a forum poster. I use them for information and to fix problems, but generally, people pretty well end up saying what I usually can't be bothered to type out myself. Take from that what you will.


Also let me say I have been playing PC games for 22 years, have pretty much played everything there is, at one time or another. MMO's I have put time into include; SWG, EQ2, WOW, LoTRO, COH/COV, Tabula Rasa, DDO, Guild Wars (not really an MMO but w/e), Lineage II..probably more but can't think now...

I'm not going to bother going through the whole wake up on a beach walkthrough thing, there's a million other posts about this. I'm just going to give a my thoughts about what I saw.


Even from the AOC launcher you begin to get a sense of quality about this game, something which has been sadly lacking in most MMOs for quite some time. Character generation is as good as people have said, though I hurried through it the first time just to get some actual ingame play to get a feel for everything.

Graphics
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What can I say, top notch, what everyone is saying is true. Someone wrote that low graphics settings look better than EQ2 on high, I concur. Shading, textures, lights and shadows all seem exactly as they should be. There's usually that brief, fleeting disappointment in a game when you load up and it doesn't look like all the screenshots you have poured over for months. This game looks exactly like you are expecting, and you will be pleased. End of story.


Sound
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Sound usually for me are something I miss if it's not there but otherwise I tend not to even really notice it much. But this game hits you with it immediately, from swinging your weapon to running on wooden planks, everything is top notch imo. After I logged off, I caught myself humming the music, something I don't think I have ever done in my life with a game.


Interface
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Everything you need is right there for you. The UI is clear, and uncluttered. The interface panels slide in and out easily, and you feel at ease with them immediately. Everything in your inventory is a true 3D object, something I was very fond of in SWG. The whole UI just smacks of quality, you can tell they took their time designing something on par with the visuals. A lot of mmos just don't do this anymore. Remember LoTRO? You could stand next to a lake and see the mirrored reflections, the waves lapping the shore. The grass swaying in the breeze, the clouds moving in the sky..then look down to your 1/8 inch toolbar, with pixelated buttons that look they were just drawn in microsoft paint. Im AoC, the UI is great.

Combat
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Maybe it's the luxury of having seen so many videos, and reading how the combat system works, but I found it perfectly designed and easy to use right off the bat. It's effortless yet dynamic and flexible all at the same time. Rotating attacks on the weak shielded area, using combos/fatalities (satisfying to watch), and being able to target mutiple mobs at once, all make this quite an entertaining and engaging combat system. Add to that, active blocking, your own set of shields and dodging, and you have imo, a great all around system. Easy to learn, hard to master as they say.

Performance
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This was where I was most worried, as I currently have what most gamers would probably consider a low end system


Acer Aspire AMDx2 4200 2.2 Ghz
Vista 32 bit
2 GIG RAM
8500GT 512 MB (yes it's a junk card for gaming)


With just slight tweaking (and keeping Pixel Shader 3.0), I was able to play on Medium settings, with 20-25fps, even in Tortage. One thing I lose quickly is draw distance. I would rather see my avatar and close surroundings in good detail, instead of being able to see 100 miles into the horizon. Everyone has their own tradeoffs though I guess. Even with shadows on, my fps is completely playable with these settings, until I can upgrade my pc. Kudos to the developers for having such nice graphics with playble fps, even on low end machines such as mine. If you have anything close to my hardware, you should be able to play the game ok with some tweaking.


Cons
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if you examine something long enough, I guess you can always find things you would like to improve. That being said, I can't really think of anything that would not be considered nitpicking.

-I would like to be able to have my paper doll and my attribute panels open at the same time

-The font they used in dialogue and quest text seems out of place to me, like it was just put in as a temp and never changed. I would have used a nicer, rounder looking font.

-The chat box could use a bit more polish, it's functional but that's about all


That's really all I can think of off the top of my head, and those are just my own personal gripes, and really not of any consequence.


Overall, if you are still undecided and have the cash, I would just take the plunge and get the game. Definitely one of the best MMO's I have seen for years, and although it's just starting out, I think they have a great foundation to build upon.

Great review for a great game...

Well written!

I agree! great early review!   :)

Well written mate, I agree with everything so thanks for taking the time and care.  You hit all the pros I thought of and the cons as well.  Cheers!

Very good personal review man! Thumbs up from me!

I wonder if i would get great post man , two thumbs up if i reviewed it after 2 hours and came to a conclusion i didn t like it?

Originally posted by Leucent

I wonder if i would get great post man , two thumbs up if i reviewed it after 2 hours and came to a conclusion i didn t like it?

You would from me if you 'reviewrd it' with valid points and not just a 'it sucks and that's my opinion'

Originally posted by DeaconX

Originally posted by Leucent

I wonder if i would get great post man , two thumbs up if i reviewed it after 2 hours and came to a conclusion i didn t like it?

You would from me if you 'reviewrd it' with valid points and not just a 'it sucks and that's my opinion'

Fair enough :) I m too lazy atm and i m making dinner too.

lol 2 hour. Come back review AoC when u are max lvl and played 2-3 week with max lvl.

New game always feels good but how is game long run? a lot rumors around that pvp is unbalance and lack of end game contest and bugs are major pain.