With an expansion already in the works, Funcom has committed a lot of time to their rough-start MMO, Age of Conan. We decided that a revisit to the Kingdoms of Hyboria was due.

Stigmas are very common in the MMORPG industry, especially if you've been playing in this field for as long as I have. For example, World of Warcraft has commonly been associated with being "too easy" in the eyes of some MMOers, while Final Fantasy XI has that (somewhat deserved) stigma of being a bit complicated and a bit slow (and a lot of frustration!) in the eyes of other gamers. Of all of these prevailing stigmas that have been floating around for quite some time, however, Funcom and their enduring-despite-the-odds MMO, Age of Conan may have gotten the shortest stick of them all, having been stuck with one stigma that has virtually defined their game in the eyes of gamers and journalists alike (guilty!); that of having one of the worst MMO launches in a long, long time.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with gaming stigmas, especially ones like AoC's, is that companies tend to run into giant brick walls when they try to work their way out of the muck that they've found themselves in. Here at ZAM, we chatted with Craig Morrison, Producer and Director of Age of Conan about the problematic launch of the game, and we've already done some heavy coverage on just what went wrong, but, on the alternative side, I think a lot of the general populace doesn't realize just how dedicated Funcom is to their ailing MMORPG, and just how far this game has grown beyond its inhibiting stereotype. We here at ZAM decided that, with their newest "Rise of the Godslayer" expansion announced and in development, now would be a perfect time to check out Age of Conan and find out what everyone's missing out on. Read on for Part I of II of our revisit to the Hyborian Kingdoms!

Upon rolling onto the beach of Tortage (the gem of the Baracha Isles, I'm told!) after my slave ship was destroyed in a storm, one thing that immediately stood out in my eyes was how gorgeous this game is. While everyone acknowledged that upon launch, at that time the beauty of the game was marred quite heavily by the frequent crashes and memory-devouring graphical problems. This time around, however, my older gaming laptop could run it quite smoothly, and the environment was definitely an impressive one. Players can start off as one of three factions, the Aquilonians, the Stygians and the Cimmerians, with specific character classes bound to each race. I myself started off as a Cimmerian Bear Shaman (who doesn't appreciate hitting things with giant hammers?) and was immediately struck with amnesia to start the story off-convenient!

Players begin the game on the beaches of Tortage, but they must immediately make their way inland towards the city of the same name. Interestingly, I had specifically chosen a PvP server to see if the claims that I would be spawn camped for eternity were true, but I quickly discovered that new players are few and far between. I probably met fewer than thirty people, total, in my journeys through Tortage, and none of them had any sneaky ganking intentions. I suppose this is, in a way, a blessing in disguise, as all of the low level guides I consulted specifically went out of their way to warn me that I would be spawn camped by everyone, but with such a low number of newcomers to the game, I suppose lack of prey goes quite far in deterring potential predators.

Moving on from the deserted nature of the server, one thing that really set Age of Conan apart from other MMORPGs has to be its unique combo-based combat system. Players are able to attack in three different directions (I believe this expands to five total) and they can "shield" themselves in the various different directions as well. In this way, if a player is heavily defending blows to his head, he may "divert" his defences from his left side to his head so that these overhand blows don't hurt too much. Of course, his opponent can easily switch tactics and start whacking him in the side, but since all PvE opponents employ this selective shielding as well, it adds a great deal of depth combat outside of spamming 1-2 all day. In addition to this, almost all special abilities that can be performed by the player must be executed in combo format, by executing the special ability, and then attacking in the way indicated by the directional arrows. Think of it like combat DDR with special attacks as rewards for hitting the right timing, and you'll understand.

After quickly being introduced to the combat system (and basically whacking my way through pirates and apes to Tortage), the game quickly immersed me in a massive variety of different quests, as well as giving me the option to engage in a solo "instanced" night-time Tortage, where I had to journey alone to complete my "destiny quests." In this way, the team gives new players the opportunity to learn the story of their characters while progressing through the game, while veteran players may opt to quest in the daytime with a buddy or two, power levelling themselves through the plethora of different "non-storyline" quests available.

I have to say here, however, that a lot of these quests were really quite enjoyable to do, even the ones that had nothing to do with the storyline - while the objectives were not original in the slightest bit (get 30 crocodile skins…), it's easy to see the Tortage that reviewers and players alike fell in love with at the launch of Age of Conan. Everything is fully voiced, the environment is lush and gorgeous, and while the scripting is not completely enthralling, it certainly does a good job of keeping everything in character.

I mentioned here that "reviewers and players alike" fell in love with Tortage, and this is really the truth - even during the game's buggy launch! Age of Conan didn't manage to garner its impressive accolades (a Metacritic score of 80/100!) by bribing everyone who reviewed it - it really was, and still is, a great game for the first 20 levels. What was unfortunate, however, was the fact that after level 20, the lush environment turned to swamp, and the nice voice acting quickly gave way to text paragraphs, demanding grind, grind and more grind. In reality, it is this swampland that I'm here to check out, because it was these subsequent 60 levels (to hit the level cap) that sank this Titanic and has kept a great number of interested players from checking out what looks to be (for now!) a gorgeously immersive game with a very enjoyable combat system backing it up. Tune in next time, then, as we go above and beyond that dreaded level 20, and we check out what lies beyond this beautiful city of Tortage.

Christopher "Pwyff" Tom
Editor
ZAM.com