Age of Conan Launch Impressions - Good News, Bad News

Posted by Chris Jensen | May. 19, 2008 07:03AM PST | 7841 views | 0 comments

FILED UNDER: News, Opinion. Games.

I was one of the lucky folks who managed to get my pre-order code approved before supplies ran out, a feat that entitled me to join Age of Conan a few days early before it officially launches on May 20^th. I come to you now from the land of Hyboria with a report of my impressions, which covers the good and the bad of Funcom's latest MMO.

 

Make Some Room on Your Hard Drive

First things first. Age of Conan (AoC) requires a lot of room on your HD, so plan on having about 30-gigs of free space. Yes, 30-gigs.

 

Upgrade Your System

If you're planning on running AoC based on the minimum system requirements, then I hope you don't mind 5 frames-per-second. My system is no powerhouse, falling somewhere in the middle, and it had a tough time running Conan at an acceptable pace. I spent hours tweaking and fiddling with in-game sliders in an effort to find a consistent frame-rate, finally throwing my hands in the air. Save upgrading my entire system, I opted to upgrade my graphics card, investing in an NVIDIA 8800 GT. Much success! A good video card is mandatory, so if you need to upgrade, start with a new card.

 

High-End Specs Rules Out World of Warcraft Dethroning

One of the reasons WoW has so many players is the game engine runs pretty well, even on ancient systems, ensuring the majority of prospective players will have a painless experience. Not so in Age of Conan. AoC is demanding, especially if you want the visuals to look half-decent, and this will close the door on gamers who can't afford a significant system upgrade. On the upside, if you have the muscle to run AoC with medium or high visuals, you're in for a visual feast. Simply put, AoC is the best-looking MMO I've seen...and I've seen them all.

 

How Did the Launch Go?

When Funcom launched their last MMO, Anarchy Online, the event was marred by one horrendous technical snafu after another, making it the worst launch in MMO history, a claim to fame that remains unchallenged. With that memory still in my mind, I had obvious trepidation as to how the AoC launch would transpire. I feared the worst, which was only natural.

The pre-release servers were scheduled to launch at a specific time on the 17^th of May, but a notification appeared on the launch window informing the eager masses of a minor delay while Funcom addressed some issues. This is when the eye-rolling began, memories of Anarchy Online bubbling up. You couldn't help but think, “Oh no, not this again.”

Funcom was good to their word. They launched the servers at the revised time and as amazing as it sounds, the servers held together. No queue's, no lagging-out and no frustration. The launch was more successful than I think anyone believed possible and Funcom deserves a slap on the back for delivering.

 

Character Creation

There is no shortage of character creation options, with three races and tons of classes on offer. As far as tailoring your character's look, you'll find a pretty robust system that allows you to fine-tune every aspect of your character's appearance by fiddling with a ton of sliders. If you've played Mass Effect on the Xbox 360 then you have a pretty good idea what to expect. Character creation is light-years beyond World of Warcraft, allowing players to really dive in and make the character they want, ensuring there won't be a ton of cookie-cutter characters running around that all look exactly the same.

 

Level Loading

One aspect of Age of Conan that may frustrate WoW players is level loading. In WoW, the world is seamless and only pauses to load for continent changes and instances. In AoC, the game needs to load new content every time you enter a building, which feels like a step back. Fortunately, these loading screens go pretty quick. I recommend you defrag your hard drive to minimize loading times. On another note, AoC offers you large exterior landscapes to run around in that don't quire any loading, so it manages to do what WoW did, albeit in a limited fashion. In the end, it's only a minor annoyance.

 

Is Age of Conan Trying to be World of Warcraft?

Yes and no. WoW has had an obvious influence on the design of Age of Conan. Quest-givers are noted by a yellow exclamation mark over their heads. Where have I seen that before? Quest logs are similar, as are skill trees and talents (known as Feats in AoC). The layout of the interface is pretty standard and doesn't offer much in the way of fresh ideas.

Where AoC really distances itself from WoW is the presentation of combat. Simply put, combat in AoC kicks ass. It's fast-paced, visceral, challenging and fun as hell. It's also unapologetically brutal, which is exactly what I want from a game based on the Conan license. Veteran WoW players will need to spend some time getting themselves acquainted with a new system, but your re-education will pay off. Perhaps the best aspect of combat in AoC is that I find myself watching the action more than watching the skill bar.

 

Rough Around the Edges

Age of Conan has a few rough spots, namely the interface and various windows that open to present you with information, from inventory to the quest log. None of the screens are particularly appealing to the eye and seem bare-boned, but hopefully Funcom will smooth out the interface visuals in the near future.

 

A Solid Foundation

The launch of a new MMO is make or break time. A craptastic launch can sink years worth of work with most players unwilling to extend a second chance. If you need proof then take a gander at Sony's last MMO, Vanguard, which was released long before it was ready and suffered a well-deserved death.

The great news for Funcom is that Age of Conan has a solid foundation for success. All of the elements are here for greatness and the game will only get better, richer and more rewarding as time goes on. While it's steep system requirements prevent it from ever conquering WoW, its excellent gameplay, brutal atmosphere and lush graphics make it the best MMO since World of WarCraft.

 

Final Ruling

Congratulations to Funcom and all involved for delivering on their promises. The team is constantly releasing new patches for the client, indicating a true commitment on their end to support this game as much as possible. I don't envy any company that has to compete with the WoW juggernaut, but Age of Conan proves there is more than enough room for both. Age of Conan is worth your time, worth your money, worth the subscription fee, and worth the inevitable system upgrade...and that's not something I can say for most MMOs. Good job, Funcom. Your five-years of development have not been in vein.

(Source: InfoAddict Original)

Tags funcom, rpg, world of warcraft, mmo, conan, age of conan