Age of Conan Review - Advanced Game Play Forges New Ground

The actual game play was a mixed blessing. It was far more interactive than any game I've played before it, and actual skill when performing standard attacks and defenses is very important, versus blind moves and random button pressing. Your true power comes in putting these moves together into combos, with endless customization depending on the target is you are fighting. It's a little tricky getting used to, but well worth the effort when finished.

In the beginning I wondered if I would ever get the hang of it, and now I can't stop optimizing my moves and combos, getting better each and every time. Thanks to a very nice user interface, and customizable controls, the learning process was only a few hours, versus a few days typically. All in all, even a novice gamer can get to level 20 in about two to three weeks. Level 40 sees the advent of crafting, and it's said there is a level cap at 80.

As to the rest of the game, the character creation area puts forth numerous options, using three different races (the Aquilonians, Cimmerians, and Stygians) and twelve sub-classes, all chosen in the beginning before game play begins. The only real control the player has is over gender and race, along with 20 or so sliders to customize things like size and weight. You can spend a lot of time customizing the look of your character, especially body and facial construction. It took me about six hours to get what I felt was an online representation of myself, but truthfully it looked about 90 percent of the way there after only about 30 minutes.

This game is quite true to the Conan story as there are no pixies, dragons or any other ridiculous creatures. The game starts off with the new player as a slave, recently washed ashore from a crashed ship in a city is called Tortage, which of course is filled with vast danger, as it is run by a madman and high priestess. What's interesting here is for the first 20 levels you work mostly with others, in the form of a live-running tutorial. I really like this tutorial aspect, as it was fun and exciting, as well as entertaining and extremely helpful for post level 20 exploring.

The combat system is quite unique, apparently using a brand new game engine. The "Real Combat" engine is a multi-point melee system, allowing characters to swing their weapons to specific locations, in real time, on each opponent. Not only do you choose the type of attack, you choose the way and angle of attack. Smart skills show attacks away from shield hands, toward open body areas and heads.

Also, there are now both physical damage detection and finally, collision detection, allowing you to use armored players against non-armored players. The general pace of combat is quite speedy; there is no auto attack click box, and players choose from left, right and overhead attacks, hoping to land combos for additional damage. Another interesting departure from other games: Age of Conan does not allow you to attack an opponent behind you, as you must be facing the target directly.

Next: New Concepts of Combat Extend Game Play >>
 

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