Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Review

By Rob Fahey Published 20 June, 2008

Is King Conan worthy of your monthly tribute?

Ah, Conan. The uncouth barbarian who hailed from the lands of the north, adventured as a thief and a mercenary, ruled the waves as the pirate Amra and eventually took the throne of the powerful civilised nation of Aquilonia. Robert E Howard's tales may be as simple, rough-hewn and crass as their eponymous hero, but they are no less compelling for all that.

In crafting an extensive world full of swords, sorcery, barbarism, brutality, treachery and of course treasure, Howard created the perfect environment for a videogame. And isn't there some echo of Conan's own struggle in the story of Funcom's much-vaunted MMO? A rude and untamed underdog in itself, coming to the world not with silver-tongued talk of polish and perfection, but rather with bawdy pledges of decapitations, gushing sprays of blood, and plenty of bared, bouncing tits - a vulgar contender from the North, taking brave aim at the throne of a civilised land.

At least, that's the romantic view we suspect Howard would have preferred. We've been playing Age of Conan now for the entire length of its free trial period - if you bought the game on day one, you need to make a choice this week about whether you're going to carry on with a subscription. It's a good opportunity to sit back and work out whether Conan's broad, earthy approach to MMO gaming has enough vulgar charm to keep you going - or whether the distinctly rough edges on this barbarian champion are just too much for your tastes.

Much has already been made of Conan's unique introduction zone, which eases players into the game through a combination of traditional MMORPG style quests with a single-player RPG story mode. This zone, Tortage, accomplishes what it sets out to do with some panache. It introduces players to the basics of playing each class, gives them their first complement of essential skills, equips them with some decent gear, and introduces them to key aspects of the Conan lore and universe.

'Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' Screenshot 1

Pict a fight with the wrong guy.

It's a great introduction. Funcom deserves significant kudos for creating such a terrific early experience. MMORPGs generally don't start offering their narrative and gameplay rewards until you've put many, many hours into them, leaving us all the more impressed by the fact that ten hours into Age of Conan, you're taking on and defeating a vicious tyrant who has been built up by hours of solid narrative.

At level 20, you're deposited into the wider world - with each of the three races being automatically transported to their own racial capital to begin the most standard assortment of MMORPG quests. It's at this point that players experience a bit of culture shock with Age of Conan - this being also, arguably, the point where the game's content begins its slow descent in quality and polish towards the level cap of 80.

'Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' Screenshot 3

Yes, it does look this good, actually.

After Tortage, there's little more voice acting. There are no more single-player sections, there's very little guidance or funnelling to get you through the content. Perhaps most disorienting of all, the rate at which you gain new skills slows down dramatically, which can make the game start to feel stale. Despite the Feat Points awarded for your talent trees every level, characters feel like they evolve very slowly, with the treats along the levelling path being distributed all too sparsely - an impression reinforced by the extremely slow rate at which the appearance of the gear you're wearing improves. In part, this is down to the fact that Age of Conan sticks to a realistic palette of browns and greys for its items. However, Funcom has definitely been economical with loot. There's a good chance that you'll spend the first thirty levels wearing pretty much identical-looking stuff.

The gear situation isn't improved by what must be Conan's biggest post-launch bug - the fact that most of the stats on your items don't actually do anything at the moment. You can stack up the Strength stat all you like, it won't make a second's difference to the damage you deal - a fix is apparently coming shortly, but this critical problem has persisted for a month already.

All of this said, a great many players won't find the game's sluggish character progression, or even that glaring bug, remotely as problematic as it should be on paper. Why? Because on a basic, moment to moment level, Age of Conan is fun. It's bloody good fun, with the emphasis on the bloody. And that's just enough to paper over the cracks.

The decision to take away the auto-attack function common to MMOs, replacing it with a range of melee attacks - all of which have an area of effect, rather than just hitting one targeted enemy - turns the basic combat experience upside-down. After playing melee classes in other MMORPGs, Age of Conan's are a revelation. With collision detection fully active and your sword swinging in arcs in front of you, positioning becomes absolutely vital to success in battle - and as your character evolves, increasingly complex combos require that you learn button press sequences in order to pull off devastating attacks quickly.

The result is a system that's fast and involving, and which manages to be challenging while generally remaining intuitive. Casting classes don't feel the love to quite the same extent, and remain a little more similar to their ilk in other MMOs - although they, too, get significantly more focus on area-of-effect spells. Even healers get in on the action, with the ability to spam area-of-effect healing spells. Besides, some of the game's more innovative magical classes are pretty effective in melee too - we especially like the Herald of Xotli, whose ability to transform into a raging, melee-combat-adept demon every couple of minutes is a pretty unique experience for any fan of squishy mage play.

'Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' Screenshot 2

One of the game's more amusing launch bugs: horses were no faster than walking.

On the class front, Funcom seems to have got most of the balance right from the outset. The developer continues to tweak all of the classes as it progresses, playing with abilities, talent trees and so on in each of its twice-weekly updates - but none of the classes can truly be described as "broken" at this point. They're all pretty fun to play, and the diversity of opinion about which classes are best tends to imply that no single class is standing out as being desperately over- or under-powered.

That's the thing about Conan right now. Every time you find something that's broken or annoying, you find a couple of things that work right, that feel good, and that more than counterbalance the problems. A huge and common complaint with the game is that the content thins out as you progress, and there is definitely a case to be answered here.

'Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' Screenshot 4

You won't forget the first time you see a player riding a mammoth.

The number of levelling zones is actually very small - in fact, the world in Conan seems extremely small overall, compared to the sizes of other MMORPGs at launch - and at some points, the number of quests available seriously dries up. As a result, you can find yourself having to level up by mindless grind, not something an MMO should be asking its players to do in this day and age.

Funcom claims to be aware of the problem, and to be working to introduce new zones and tons of new quests in the near future - but this is stuff that should have been in the game on day one, not on day 30 or day 60, or later still. The fact that a number of quests are bugged or broken, thus rendering the rest of some lengthy quest chains totally inaccessible, certainly doesn't help.

The odd thing is that, despite the fact that Age of Conan is blatantly unfinished, we don't have any reservations in saying that it is one of the smoothest MMO launches we've ever seen. That may seem a contradiction, but it's not - rather, it's a fairly relevant criticism of how the MMO industry treats its early adopters in general. Conan, at least, has a stable - not to mention incredibly attractive - game engine, gameplay that works, and servers that stay up.

Hell, it's even got an endgame, for the small number of hardy souls (i.e. the long-term unemployed) who are touching the level cap already. The quality of the raid content hasn't really been explored in any depth yet; there are concerns about boss battles degenerating into massive melee scrums backed up by healers spamming area-of-effect spells, but it's equally possible that guilds simply haven't grasped the strategic aspect of the game yet. Only a little more time will tell on that front. However, for those at high levels, the options already exist for guilds to create their own keeps and so on - a hardcore, resource-hungry activity that may well keep people busy for long enough for Funcom to shore up any faults in the rest of the endgame.

For the majority of players, for whom the journey to level 80 will be more sedate, Age of Conan a somewhat unpolished and occasionally rough experience - but like Conan himself, this is a noble savage.

It's hugely impressive to look at, with enormous, sprawling vistas that look better than anything the MMO genre has previously turned up (although at a cost - you'll want 2GB of RAM, a dual-core processor and a mid-range graphics card for this, at the very least). The lack of any consistency in the world is disappointing, admittedly - compared to the free-roaming of WOW, it's inter-zone loading times are a huge step backwards, but it's forgiveable for the epic beauty of the zones and cities.

'Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' Screenshot 5

Variety in the environments is traded for beauty and realism - fair trade.

Age of Conan is also, crucially, enormously good fun to play. Great combat animations and fast, exciting gameplay are two things MMORPGs haven't traditionally been noted for, and Conan provides them in spades. For fans of lore, the game is also a goldmine, being absolutely full of great dialogue, interesting quests and solid background material.

We can, in some areas, see trouble ahead. The player economy concerns us, because there's no obvious gold sink in the game, and thus no apparent mechanism for controlling runaway inflation - which could kill that aspect of the game stone dead. The endgame, right now, is unproven, simply because not enough players have reached it yet. Even one of Conan's strongest points could be an Achilles' Heel of sorts - the intense nature of combat means that this isn't a game you can play with one eye on something else, as you can with levelling, gathering or doing daily quests in WOW.

'Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' Screenshot 6

Fat + earrings + loincloth = evil.

In the next six to twelve months, Age of Conan will live or die on how successfully Funcom can address these issues. Right now, though, the game as it stands is a rough diamond - very good, bordering on great thanks to a regular stream of comprehensive patches from Funcom. Yes, King Conan deserves his tribute, but the peasants will be watching closely to see what moves he makes to secure his throne.

8 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Rob.

About Rob Fahey

Rob Fahey is a former editor of GamesIndustry.biz who spent several years living in Japan and probably still has a mint condition Dreamcast Samba de Amigo set.

Read more articles from Rob by visiting the Rob Fahey archive page.

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Comments (177) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TheBoyChris #1 4 years ago

    Fair. Still not willing to give any more time to MMORPG's at the moment, but seems like they've done a decent job at least.

  • Haloboy #2 4 years ago

    Let's hope it sticks around then. Variety is the spice of life.

  • Rirekon #3 4 years ago

    Rating pretty much echo's my opinion, the game has loads of promise but the GUI is letting it down all over the place. If FunCom can get that sorted then it'll be great.

  • Benno #4 4 years ago

    Fair review.

  • HardToast #5 4 years ago

    EG; as this games been out a while, can't we get in-game screenshots which show actul gameplay and UI rather than PR shots?

  • koji_m #6 4 years ago

    an 8 Fahey?

    you been drinking the halo 3'erade again?

    so this pos scored the same as MGS?

    I tried all the archtypes, before finally sticking to the demonologist class, gave up at 37, real innovative combat, melee does the head in and caster gameplay consists of using 2 buttons over and over and over again

    yeah I can really see why this game was worth an 8 (but MGS was O SO broken and O SO fractured, friggin EG reviews...)
    Edited by 1 at 20/06/08 @ 14:28

  • DFawkes #7 4 years ago

    Same score as MGS4? I can't believe they're saying it's the same genre, amount of fun, cost, graphics, main characters, levels, controls... plus some other fanboy gibbering of someone who didn't read the review. Sorry, couldn't resist :p

    Seriously, if it offers the usual free weeks trial I'd probably give it a go, then realise my machines pathetic and I'm overreaching my poor PC, and go back to WoW with the new level for obtaining a mount. The combat in particular sounds great, although I think I'd be awful at it.

  • anomagnus #8 4 years ago

    Sold!

    one bug bear about the review
    'Even one of Conan's strongest points could be an Achilles' Heel of sorts - the intense nature of combat means that this isn't a game you can play with one eye on something else, as you can with levelling, gathering or doing daily quests in WOW.'

    Tell me why this is bad? Imagine the latest game from MS or Sony didn't require you to look at the screen? Imagine a review of halo, or GT5 - 'Yea its great, you can watch tv while you play it'.

    Anyway, can't wait to get t'internet back and get stuck in

  • Gaol #9 4 years ago

    This review is a fucking disgrace.

    This game deserves no more than a 5/10.

    Way to earn your advertising dollars lads.

    *Edit* I'll leave it unedited because it describes my initial reaction on seeing the score, but it does sound a bit personal in retrospect. Apologies for that, but I stand by the 'aghast' reaction.
    Edited by 1 at 20/06/08 @ 20:15

  • #10 4 years ago

    Gaol, is it that bad?

  • Chufty #11 4 years ago

    Trust me, with Euro 2008 getting very exciting, trying to level up in this game while watching the football is a pain in the arse!

    But yes, a completely daft excuse for an Achilles' Heel.

    The game is extremely broken in many places and they're slow to fix the quest bugs. In fact, they still havent fixed some major quest bugs. However they are updating stuff all the time and the game is already evolving despite only being out a month.

  • Rodafowa #12 4 years ago

    The bloke in the first screenie seems to be fighting Spider Jerusalem. Weird.

  • koji_m #13 4 years ago

    5/10 sounds about right, the grafics engine and sound etc deserves some credit, but it ends there

  • Gaol #14 4 years ago

    Some quick notes about Conan as I'm at work:

    - Half the abilituies do the same shit
    - The combat is mindless simon-says input - its appalling. They've replaced auto attack with 'press the sequence of buttons to do more damage'
    - Classes are ill defined and broken
    - PVP is a joke
    - The world is a horrible instanced collection of levels
    - Immersion is sorely lacking
    - The upper levels have little ciontent
    - There is only one newbie area, Toratage
    - Tortage is a non-descript village with a mind numbingly dull quest line
    - Poor community features
    - No reason to group
    - Crafting sucks ass
    - Artistically its just horrible

    This game does little of the things you expect of a good mmorpg.

  • lennon #15 4 years ago

    Blimey some people are really bitter about the MGS score.

  • anomagnus #16 4 years ago

    @Goal

    Jesus man, what did conan do you? Break into your house and kill your dog?

    you sound like you hate it:)

  • Gaol #17 4 years ago

    I hate horribly inaccurate games journalism more.

    There won't be many playing this after the free period, its a very limited game. The review here treats it as a one player rpg which is allowed to be shit because it declares itself an mmorpg.

    It doesn't even have basic grouping dynamics worked out, something we've had since frickin Everquest.

  • koji_m #18 4 years ago

    @lennon

    it's not only the MGS score

    this game just isn't worth an 8, if it's so hard to score points on EG... how on earth can this one get an 8? maybe it really does have something to do with this "click to buy now" banner...

    just ask the people who played it, people quitting all over the place (like I did after three weeks...)
    Edited by 1 at 20/06/08 @ 14:42

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #19 4 years ago

    erm. tortage was always the `entry` point for the game, to help u learn how to play it etc.. if you've not left tortage then you havent started playing the game properly, so complaining about `high end` stuff means ya just repeating other peoples comments as your own

  • mikeck #20 4 years ago

    @anomagus

    I think Conan came into his room as he was levelling up on WOW pulled the plug on the PC, took a dump on his keyboard and mouse - can't think of any other reason why it would deserve the 'outrage' of a comment like "this review is a fucking disgrace", unless a game review warrants such a reaction? I mean it doesn't, does it?

    Do you want a hug Gaol?

  • lennon #21 4 years ago

    @koji_m - But its only an opinion. Having been playing MGS 4 this week I can appreciate the score EG gave it. Its very good but not great. I just dont see the point in getting all frothed up about a number.

  • Benno #22 4 years ago

    Dont listen to Gaol, he's very biased as we found in the official thread. Somethings fishy.

  • Darkjinxter #23 4 years ago

    6/10 from me.
    Stable engine?? No no no no no no. This game famously crashes on most PCs within half an hour of playing with the now famous 'out of memory' error. First your mini-map will gray out, then your main map, then your framerate then BOOM, yer out....check out the AoC forums which are afire with punters bemoaning this.
    My character is a credible lvl 46 atm, 2 grouping only to take out bosses when need be. And 6 grouping for the instance which are set at the end of each 10 levels, ie lvl 29-30 (Fortress) and 39-40 (Temple of Burning Souls)
    I was unaware the STR stats i've been choosing my gear upon doesn't actually do anything. This is most annoying.

    There is nothing to see here, move along. Come back later.

  • Gurgeh #24 4 years ago

    "On the class front, Funcom seems to have got most of the balance right from the outset."

    ...which must be why everyone is re-rolling casters for the PvP game, right?

    The in-game economy?
    - There's an exploit where some mini-bosses are dropping far too much gold - the code divides the gold up between the number of players in group 1 rather than the raid as a whole, resulting in everyone in the raid getting a lot more money if they put just one person in the first group. Funcom's fix is to delete all posts about this in the forums.
    - The game is very susceptible to bot farming. Resource nodes restock 10% every few minutes, so just park a bot by the node and set it to right click every 10 minutes. Don't worry, the game is bugged so that you bot doesn't get attacked, you can leave it there all day long. Plus if two people click the same node when there's only one resource to gather, both get one. If ten people click the same node, all ten get one. If twenty bots are set to click the same node 24/7, bye-bye economy...

    Bugs like this have been in for a long long time. Weapon stats have never done anything since beta began. While Funcom deserve praise for fixing most of the graphical glitches that pagued beta, the fundamentals of the game remain weak. Of course if you thought Tabula Rasa was a decent MMO then you're probably frothing at the mouth over AoC.

  • koji_m #25 4 years ago

    @ lennon

    haha, true true

    I'll take some chill pills and let this one sink in a bit ;-)

    maybe they just need to stop putting numbers at the end of reviews alltogether

  • Erinan #26 4 years ago

    Wow, 8? 6 or 7 from me, not more.

    Graphics are good, animations quite poor. Plus, the graphics engine and the servers can't handle more than 20 vs 20 people fighting at the same time in the same zone, when they promised 200 vs 200 battles (what a laugh, now).

    Gameplay is interesting at first, but the whole combo system gets soooooooooooo tiring over time. Instead of pressing 5 to unleash a special attack or power, you have to press 5 + two or three arrows in a specified order, and it's always the same pattern.

    The world is terribly small, one of the smallest ever. Moreover, the game uses instances a lot. Go to the next area, loading screen, instance (limited to a hundred-ish players). Enter a house, loading screen and instance. Enter a cave, instance. Etc, etc... You die, loading screen, even if the resurrection point is 2 feet away from you!
    Edited by 2 at 20/06/08 @ 14:52

  • koji_m #27 4 years ago

    yeah well if you want to play "hard-ball" with your scoring you have to be consistent

  • Benno #28 4 years ago

    how do people get to lvl 22 ish and think they know the game? You have no idea of the pros and the cons of later level play. Lvl 1-20 is pretty much solo play anyway.

  • Hypercube #29 4 years ago

    One of the things that killed the immersion for me was the incredibly slow spawn rate for quest items. Need to pick up 6 crates for your quest? There are exactly 6 of them in the whole world, and when someone else picks it up expect about 10 minutes of waiting before they respawn, followed by a mad rush to get to them first.

    Very slow respawn of mobs is also an issue.

    Doesn't ever feel like an actual world at any point, since travel from one place to another is instant and featureless.

    The combat system is great for a while, but now I'm bored with it.

    On the plus side - boobs.

  • paulf #30 4 years ago

    I've played this game since launch and I think the review is pretty accurate, The tortage storyline is actually really good - and it is less buggy than lotro at launch - i think gaol must be playing a different game to me (if he's played it at all) - for anyone who has played any mmorpg I'd recommend giving it a try even if you dont subscribe i think you get your 30 quids worth with the first 20 levels

  • dadrester #31 4 years ago

    pah. if this was miyazake's "future boy conan" then i'd be interested.

  • Benno #32 4 years ago

    Hypercubes post is innacurate, bordering on a lie.

    What does kill the immersion is the series of instances.

  • dudefella #33 4 years ago

    This game is broken as hell. I played it. Was pretty disgusted with the awful UI and the myriad bugs. It seems it's ok to release a broken game as long as it's an MMO because 'oh it'll get fixed down the line'. Bollocks to that. I mean there aren't a few bugs here and there, where the game isn't flat-out broken it's just bad. The interface is seven shades of awful, you can't even see group members on the map. There is some meat to the gameplay but until they completely overhaul the interface and fix all the bugs, do not bother.

  • Krelle #34 4 years ago

    MGS4 will never "be an 8". One of EGs reviewers thought so, just. Fair enough. Ive got friends who would give it a 3! Doesnt change my opinion about it. Best thing ive played since Galaxy or HL2. Or MGS2.

    Anyhoo..about Conan. Im with Gael. When will people begin to rate MMOs on the same grounds as other games?
    Seems like just becouse its an MMO, you get an extra +2 for the effort and hard work or some bullshit like that.

    Oh, the combat sucks? The classes aswell? Crashes? Artistically mediocre? Jeez, its an MMO for gods sake! Cut em some slack! Bam 8/10.

    Atleast there aint no 60min cut-scenes! Those things will grant you a -1 by default. BEGONE UNPLAYABLE PIECE OF ****.

  • Gaol #35 4 years ago

    Nothing 'fishy' about my opinion, I played till the 30s and am just calling it as I see it. Erinan sums up the combat nicely.

    8/10 for such a broken product is frankly disgraceful. I'm not disputing other folks right to enjoy it, hell some people even liked Vanguard. It takes all sorts. But any journalist worth their salt should see that almost every aspect of this game is deeply flawed.

  • Kannan7 #36 4 years ago

    Meh as the review says the beginning of the game is fun even with the crappy game engine (my pc even exceeds the recommended settings, but quests gets dull and repetitive after level 20-30. Also Stygia is the only place with a bit of atmosphere at least with my settings. I am not subscribing might be back later if they get more content in and patch the game engine.

  • dudefella #37 4 years ago

    I have to agree with the comment "If you're gonna play hardball with the scores, be consistent." An 8 for this is EXTREMELY generous, an 8 for MGS4 is just cynical. I can't put it any other way. That game does things that are completely unique and amazing, this does not. Conan right now is a 5/10 at most.

  • Krelle #38 4 years ago

    Why didnt Oli review this btw? Thought he was the guy into MMOs, no? Or am I mistaken?

  • Gradius #39 4 years ago

    That pic of Conan on the front page looks more like Xena without makeup on.

  • rudedudejude #40 4 years ago

    haha this sounds hilariously awesome :D

  • Krelle #41 4 years ago

    dudefella:

    An 8 for MGS4 generates pagehits.
    An accurate score for Conan does not.
    Simple logic.

    Wish EG could go back to the way it was a few years ago. Ie, not full of shit.
    Oh, and can we just get Ellie here please? Ellie, review more games ffs. Relevant games. Double shifts now pl0x.

  • butler` #42 4 years ago

    Really surprised by this 8 from EG of all publications. AOC is a 7, albeit a strong one, IMO. The odd thing is that the tone of your review is almost entirely reminiscent of a 7, too :\

  • mikeck #43 4 years ago

    @dudefella/krelle/gaol

    I think you've all hit upon a really good point actually, are reviewers giving MMO's more benefit of the doubt? Answer, probably.

    If a game is broken upon release it is going to be (rightly) slated, however because an MMO is always going to be patched, tweaked etc, then it's 'okay as it'll be fixed along the way' which is not the point. If the review clearly stated the score and then added a 'this score is representative of future patches/fixes etc' then perhaps that's more fair?

  • Hypercube #44 4 years ago

    Hypercubes post is innacurate, bordering on a lie.

    Duh, no it's not. I've been playing the game nearly every day since release, in the Stygian desert area with my HoX I was waiting ages to get some crates, along with a bunch of other people. The scorpions that needed to be killed for an item were wiped out by a previous player and the respawn rate was glacial.

    So, I say to you - where is the lie? These are my experiences in the game. I've got nothing to gain from not telling the truth. So instead of slandering me, why not try and show the plus points of the game?

  • paulf #45 4 years ago

    @ gaol
    'But any journalist worth their salt should see that almost every aspect of this game is deeply flawed.'

    what you mean is any journalist worth their salt agrees with my opinion - whereas rob has spend his time to debate the pro's and cons all you have done is posted a rant list with such eloquent posts as 'Half the abilituies do the same shit '

    there are a lot of bugs but the underlying game is good fun, there was nothing there that made me want to switch my machine off, if the quest didnt work i just went off on another one, and the combat is much more interesting than the point and click of wow, sure it may be 3 button presses instead of 1 but it still seems a step forward especially after lotro which i quit after getting bored of the same button presses for every mob i encountered

    as for the comparisons scorewise to mgs4 surely mmorpgs need to be judged alongside other games of the same ilk, so getting an 8 maybe easier than and 8 for a crowded market such as Racing games for example

    overall i think the review is fair - and that the xbox 360 version of conan will be very interesting

  • dudefella #46 4 years ago

    Yeah, I mean this score is no way based on the game in its current state, they are scoring potential, an ethereal entity, which is absolutely ridiculous. Imagine if this was a single player RPG, and +str stats and mounts didn't work at all. Would that get an 8? Of course not, it's ridiculous that this gets a free pass because it's an MMO.

  • ZuluHero #47 4 years ago

    Gaol isn't that spot on the money;

    "Half the abilituies do the same shit"

    Classes of the same archetype will obviously have the same base ability sets. The four archetypes vary drastically between each other.

    ”The combat is mindless simon-says input”

    No. Its not. Mobs change their defensive stance depending on where you repeatedly hit them. This then opens it up to abilities, which may have a multiple sequence to initialise it. In wow you press a button and get a result - no brainer, a trained monkey could do that. In Conan it requires you to pay attention, otherwise you lose the combo, it goes into cool down and you have to wait till it comes online again. That can mean the difference of life or death.

    ”Classes are ill defined and broken”

    They certainly aren’t ill defined. You have the option of one of four archetypes. Healer, Dps, tanks and nukers. That’s the basic setup for any mmo afaik. Now the three sub-divisions make it more interesting as then you start having defensive priests and offensive priests etc. But that’s exactly how wow does it. Conan actually makes it more interesting by making the classes good at stuff that is typically outside their roles in other MMOs. For Example, the aforementioned HoX (my class) which is essentially a melee-based mage.

    ”PVP is a joke”

    I guess that’s just one person’s opinion. The little I’ve engaged in PVP (usually as self-defence) I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve been able to counter, use abilities, fight and kill my opponents.

    ”The world is a horrible instanced collection of levels”

    I agree to this. It’s a shame to have such an immersive experience soiled by instancing to this extent. I didn’t mind it in tortage, as it was mostly going between day and night, but now in the open world every location is disjointed. One minute you’re in a city, the next BAM, a desert. Or a mountain range. The sense of travelling is virtually non-existant. No waiting for boats and chatting with other ppl. None of that “I have to travel THAT far?” . No real sense of discovery or exploration. Its like every zone is a big square sandpit.

    ” Immersion is sorely lacking”

    is it really? Every quest is fully voiced up to 20. Sneaking around at night is exactly as you’d expect. NPCs behave differently to one another. Tombs and crypts feel eerie and forgotten. If you can be immersed in this world then it isn’t the right world for you.

    ”The upper levels have little ciontent “
    Agreed. But then ive not really had the chance to experience much past 35. So far there is plenty to do and plenty to see. Wow had very little content past 50 when it launched. No UBRS no raid content. People hit the cap too fast and people complained. Every mmo that has been created suffer from this, and every mmo that will be created from now on will suffer from this. And there will never be a way to solve it. There has to be a point when an mmo has to be released, but the beauty of mmo’s is that they are allowed to grow with their community, and conan is no different to that.

    ”There is only one newbie area, Toratage”

    That’s a negative?!? Ok then – how about a different story line for each of the archetypes? WoW might have 4 areas, but this has 4 points of view on the same storyline so that you get the complete storyline. I think this is a better approach for “immersion”


    “Tortage is a non-descript village with a mind numbingly dull quest line”

    Matter of opinion. If you found that storyline mind-numbing never ever play wow with its “I need 5 wolftails for no apparent reason” quests. Yes Conan has these but at least they are narrated well. Tortage is filled with little stories about things happening on the mainland, of things that will fill you with wonders if you ever manage to get off the island.

    “Poor community features”

    That’s a little too vague?

    No reason to group
    No reason? The game gives you heroic content right from the go! A lot of the quests are not soloable. It might be easy enough to not bother with the group quests and still get to 20 and leave tortage, but wheres the fun in that? Theres more risk for doing a group quest, you get better rewards and its ultimately more fun to play in a group.

    ”Crafting sucks ass”

    yes.

    ”Artistically its just horrible”

    It’s a matter of opinion. I don’t think points like this are ever valid. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. I personally love the more realistic style of this game, but even though it has a more realistic feel, some of the architecture has a more whimsical feel to it that is very in keeping with a fantasy world. Spires twist, statues stand hundreds of feet tall and they all still sit well in this world.



    Edited by 1 at 20/06/08 @ 15:44

  • Krelle #48 4 years ago

    mikeck:
    Exactly. EG probably tried to adress this problem by not reviewing the game at release, but a month later (when some patches would be in place). But, it seems like they still went into the trap of scoring the game as it "would had been" if every problem had been fixed already. Just, that their not. ;c

  • butler` #49 4 years ago

    @ZuluHero

    Almost every counterpoint you just made is void. It sounds like someone didn't play past 20.

  • gmmonkey #50 4 years ago

    This does not deservew an 8/10. You want an idea how the game performs? Go to the technical forums. The game is a buggy heap of shit. There's nothing in the aritcle about the shocking customer support. Maybe because it doesn't exist. I stopped playing the game 2 weeks after I bought it because of crashing ALL the time. There's a humungous thread about this problem. Do not buy this game! Wait 3 months then make a decision. It's essentially beta. If you buy the game like I did you're essentially giving the industry the OK to release a paying beta. Reviewers like rob are just adding to this problem by downplaying the bugs. If game on the xbox 360 got released in this state it would get hammered in a review. Why is it ok to release an mmorpg in a shit state? I'm annoyed with myself for giving money to funcom because of these reasons.

  • ZuluHero #51 4 years ago

    my HoX is 35.

  • mikeck #52 4 years ago

    @Krelle

    Indeed, they previewed the game, and then reviewed it a month later, which was a good move, however there's still the feeling that this is a preemptive score, rather than a realistic one for the current state.

    I suppose we'd only know if Rob were to let us in on this maybe?

  • Clive_Dunn #53 4 years ago

    I think it's fairly disgraceful to call into question the reviewer / EG's integrity just because you don't agree with the opinions expressed.

    Just smacks of playground childishness really, and we resolved the Spectrum / Commode debate ages ago......

  • Krelle #54 4 years ago

    "@ZuluHero

    Almost every counterpoint you just made is void. It sounds like someone didn't play past 20."

    rather, sounds like someone havnt played other MMOs!

  • Hypercube #55 4 years ago

    I agree wholeheartedly with Clive - if you disagree, give reasons for doing so and don't resort to ad hominim attacks or accusing people of lying.

    In my opinion, AoC would probably get a 5/10. But clearly some people here are really enjoying it - good luck to them!

  • ZuluHero #56 4 years ago

    @krelle

    was that aimed at me? :S

  • Chalee #57 4 years ago

    This game has gone from a 7 to an 8 in one month. Soon it's score will be in the double figures, and eventually we'll see a triple figure score with the re-review a decade down the line. Think of the hits EG!!! :)

  • Gaol #58 4 years ago

    People are picking apart a list I did in a few minutes, I'll post a proper comment later that dissects this turgid blight on humanity for all it is worth.

  • Krelle #59 4 years ago

    Clive:
    Well, in the case of Viking, MGS4, NG2 etc I have nothing to complain about really. Its their opinion. Fair enough.

    But this? Its just reviewed on faulty grounds. If Rob Fahey would end the review with "I love this game. Its flawed but I adore it, so Ill give it an 8." then Id atleast know the reason for such an awkward score.

    Now it just smells of inconsistency(sp?). As if Rob didnt attend the last "lets go for hard-ball"-meeting and still use the IGN-o-meter.

  • Krelle #60 4 years ago

    ZuluHero: Only if you felt like it was, love.

  • ZuluHero #61 4 years ago

    heh, no i was just confused. I was going to spout of my mmo background in defence, but i thought i'd check first ;)

  • mikeck #62 4 years ago

    "I think it's fairly disgraceful to call into question the reviewer / EG's integrity just because you don't agree with the opinions expressed."

    Surely it depends on what the person questioning the reviewer is saying? If people are arguing with him for the sake of it, well there's no constructive point of view there, however if as some of us are asking, does the score reflect the actual game as it is now, or the game of a few months time, then it's perfectly valid to question the reviewer.

    Also, in this day and age nobody's opinions are to be held up without question, why shouldn't there be debate?

  • onezeonx #63 4 years ago

    lol funny score!!!

    should get 5/10 max and thats someone who enjoys MMO's

  • naffers #64 4 years ago

    People bash this game so much, comparing it to wow etc. whereas wow has been out for 3 years or watever and this has been out for 1 month... class balance is obviously going to be a problem, its still a problem in wow, constant tweaking of classes. it never will be perfect balance, but anyway im sure this game will kick ass round about the winter time.

  • paulf #65 4 years ago

    @ mikeck

    Also, in this day and age nobody's opinions are to be held up without question, why shouldn't there be debate?

    its hardly debate though, it's more like a slanging match - the joy of forums I suppose :)

  • mikeck #66 4 years ago

    @paulf

    Very true, very true.

    Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, give him the relevant tools and he'll provide for life, give the same man the internet and he'll be able to abuse people online for the rest of his life.

  • Rrralphster #67 4 years ago

    First thing that struck me was "NotsoFunCom's" support.
    Took me 2 days to get me going with my 30 days of free play.
    Needed to mail account support and I got 2 automated replies, no answers to my problem.
    In the first automated reply they told me to mail account support again with the same mail header, so I did.
    I got a second automated reply that was completely the same exept for the layout of it.

    Lost my NPC voices in Tortage (all quests there have voice overs for NPC's) so I tried in-game support and made a ticket.
    I got a message that I was second in line with my petition. I waited for another 5 hours, no reply

    The day before yesterday I tried to log in on the forums, couldn't so I mailed support. Still waiting for a reply.

    -2 points for their crappy support (which can't even be reached by phone...)

  • SleepyMagpie #68 4 years ago

    Completely off score. From one who plays MMORPG's A LOT (and was in AoC closed beta quite some time), the product as it stands today is worth between 5 and 6/10.

    I like Rob's reviews, and think he's spot on when it comes to the JRPG's, but maybe western offerings are not his forte?

    Gomen-nasai, Shinji-san!

  • Turambar #69 4 years ago

    It's full of bugs. Support is hard to get. It's still fun.

  • El_MUERkO #70 4 years ago

    got to 45, stopped playing, tried to log in the other day but the patch borked my install

    and that is the end of that chapter

  • MaxiSleep #71 4 years ago

    Pros
    Great graphics, no serious bugs for me
    Combat is fun, you really feel you are participating
    Tortage is very very very well done, with varying quests for different class types
    They have got the Conan world feel wonderfully

    Cons
    You fall of an immersion cliff at 20
    Feels more like a single player game
    I am finding it hard work past level 20.

  • Trafford #72 4 years ago

    30 levels in 30 days for me and I'm out.
    It has been fun.Will return another month

  • Benno #73 4 years ago

    I have cancelled my subscription and will come back to it in a couple of months. 8/10 is a very just score, good review.

  • Clive_Dunn #74 4 years ago

    Hmm, no way to quote posting from Ipod, oh well.

    It's not about restrictions on debate, or questioning of, and having very different,opinions. It's much more about the constant stream of buying reviews / MS / Wii / Ps3 bias accusations that really have become a bit tiresome.

    Anyway the comment wasn't aimed at the people forming coherent arguments disagreeing, it was about a lot of the earlier posters. Who by now will mostly be at home eating mummy's cooking and preparing to "rox0r at COD4" or something.

    Or perhaps I'm finally a fully paid up grumpy old gamer....

  • 4thVariety #75 4 years ago

    Personally the game does not give me the impression of wielding a sword and smashing down enemies; games such as God of War do that. Action titles have that immediate visceral quality to butchering people with a sword that I had wished to see in a Conan lizense. In comparison to that the sound work is drab, both combatants just click away dps optimized buttons and do not interact other than on an abstract level of "shield directions" and numbers.

    So please EG reviewers, try to remember all those other Conan games and how they were slammed for their unimmersive uninspired combat. Same can be said for AoC, because all those other features aside combat is the central thing people do in the game one way or the other.

  • koji_m #76 4 years ago

    @ Clive Dunn

    I probably overreacted a bit (just a wee bit...)

    Thing is it isn`t about bias (who cares about stupid system wars anyway), it might be about buying reviews... (let`s hope not)

    What it is really about for me is the fact that the rating system is totally inconsistent, some great games get hammered hard for small issues while others like this one receive an equal score while doing nothing special (or just being broke and not even fun to play...)

    Why is that?

    ah well, I`ll get my news elsewhere and keep my info for myself in the future
    Edited by 1 at 20/06/08 @ 18:46

  • rowsdower #77 4 years ago

    This review wasn't reviewing the game itself per se, it was reviewing what the developers hope the game will become, hence it's forgiving nature and disproportionately high score. I'm kinda disappointed in Eurogamer for this review. I've played a whole heckuva lot of Conan since release and while I agree with alot of the points made in the article, it seems like the reviewer didn't actually get into much of the guilding, city building, raiding stuff that the higher levels are doing. This stuff is essentially flat out broken and/or non-existant and despite the review being for the entire game, only half the game was actually really released on day one.

    Obviously the review is the reviewers opinion and the score was probably deliberated on for some time (I have great faith in the Eurogamer staff), I just feel there is a strange acceptance of the flaws due to its MMO stature. Right now we the customers are considering paying our flat out first purchase fee, and then a monthly one after that. 8/10 is a score for a good solid game which Conan arguably (and believe you me, it's arguable) isn't. It doesn't meet those standards as can be gleamed from comparative reviews. 8/10 may well be the score in 6 months when they've actually added in the rest of the content and quests for the over 30's but I think it's actually slightly unfair to give a score like that to a prospective buyer when the game has so many stated issues.

    To put it bluntly (and no doubt, far too harshly), the review sounded like an Official PlayStation Magazine review. Slagging the game off mercilessly in the article, but slapping on a 9/10 to get the mag's name on the box art of the budget re-release. I know this wasn't what EG was aiming at, it just comes across that way.

    I think this just highlights one of the biggest problems with modern video game reviews: scores. 1up changed to a grading system, from F to A+, but that's essentially the same thing, you just translate A+ to 100 and F to 0 etc. I think a more opinion based, group recommendation system of summation might work, feedback from in-house game players and snippets from forums, other reviews etc. As an avid gamer, a good overview of the game from a variety of angles would certainly be more helpful than a simple number.

  • butler` #78 4 years ago

    rowsdower, what you're basically trying to say is: this game has been reviewed on PROMISES and POTENTIAL instead of the here and now.

  • Waffleaber #79 4 years ago

    "most of the stats on your items don't actually do anything at the moment"

    That is without doubt one of the worst bugs i've ever heard of, this is a role playing game, people live more of their lives in the game than outside of it just to get a piece of armour with slightly higher magic resistance. That it hasn't been sorted after a full month is idiotic and amateurish.

  • Gaol #80 4 years ago

    OK so lets lance this boil.

    Since EQ, these 'traditional' MMORPGs need a certain number of features to work to a basic entertaining level. It's a genre that has been riddled with unfinished bug ridden crap, but there are enough decent examples now that we should call a spade a spade when it appears and not 'hope Funcom fix it'. AoC is a failure of design at a basic level, technically its fine, but theres so many gaping holes in its gameplay it really needs called out.

    1. Combat

    Replacing auto attack for moves with a sequence of key presses does not make combat more interesting or challenging. The moves still perform the same function, and the key presses are just a case of following on screen arrows. It's just a diablo clickathon with the clicks replaced by the number keys. The monsters respond entirely predictably to moves with their 'shields' so it just becomes a case of hammering the same moves agin and again. There are no animations for the defenses, just on screen brackets. It's basically paper/scissors/stone except less fun because you win every time.

    Speaking of moves, I played a Ranger to the 30s and what a heaving pile of crap I had in the way of moves. A full description will take too much time, but basically I had 'big whack' left, centre and right at close range; and a snare, root and 'big whack' ranged moves. There is zero strategy in combat, mobs die too quickly for DoTs, debuffs etc to be necessary. Its just whack-a-mole. And why do I have 6 ranks of cunning strikes but only one 'slam' which doesn't even knock back targets after the newb zone. The way it gives out abilities is atrocious, never mind that they all perform the same function.

    Even solo play should require some strategizing, even if its just to minimize downtime between mobs. AoC has none. Whack. Whack. Whack. Simon says up left right. Big Whack. You Win.

    2. Classes

    The problem with making classes solo friendly is that it dilutes the group dynamic that is crucial to later content in these games. In EQ some classes couldn't solo effectively because it was designed with the group in mind. WoW cleverly enables classes to solo while keeping the roles and key abilities spread enough to ensure that for end game content a good mix of DD, Tank and Healer is needed. All of the classes in Conan seem to be pretty much as good at each other at anything. So say goodnight to epic raid battles, interesting PVP teams and so on, this is why group stuff is just devolved to a few folk playing 'whack a mole' with the healers are spamming their same moves over and over. Well at least we won't need raid leaders o,O

    3. World

    The heavy instancing of this game ruins any belief in a cohesive world. You are constantly reminded its a game. Not only that but the zones have a large number of instances because of their tiny size. And there isn't even an obvious place on screen which tells you which instance you are in, or explains the instancing system. In term s of ambience, atmosphere and style, I am aware it is quite subjective, but even on High settings it does little for me. No particularly memorable landmarks, by the numbers interior designs, probably made a lot worse by the instantly forgettable soundtrack in each area. Contrast with the starting WoW player, who begins in a newb hamlet slowly works their way to a city, say Stormwind, for the first time. Immediatelly the world map is brimming with possibilities. The only thing the AoC world is brimming with is loading screens and utterly bland scenery.

    4. Itemisation

    A crucial reward for rpgs is kitting your character out in better gear - its been the carrot on the stick since EQ. As this review says, no items in AoC have any impact whatsoever on combat. Yes, you read that right, stat adjustments mean sweet fuck all. You may as well go into a whack-a-mole session naked. How else whould you describe a RPG without the ability to upgrade your gear other than irrovecably broken? And it doesn't stop there, the loot tables are FUBAR. Why, every 5 minutes, do I need to empty my inventory of a heap of utter shite that doesn't stack?

    5. Quests

    It defies belief that this site criticized the story in MGS4 while some actually thought to praise the Tortage sequence within this game. It is the most uninteresting tripe I have been forced to endure in an mmorpg. Basically some slapper in the Inn describes some hokey politics that is supposed to give you motive to do your usual run of the mill missions for the resistance. You wish the game would 'show' and not 'tell' But tell it does, and you can't even click past it without pressing the key an interminable number of times. This holds true for the uninspired tripe you do after you have left. I am aware that most other mmos have shitty quest lines too, but usually the character of the world/zone lends some differential to the experience, and usually there are a few standout chains. That doesn't happen here, its generic delivery quest #666 from generic fantasy npc #654 standing in zone 644 instance 601. Its fucking awful.

    6. Community

    I was lucky enough to play AoC with guildmates from previous games but it hardly promotes user interaction, which is crucial for any mmorpg. There are no artificially created meeting places, no reasons to group while levelling, no reasons to interact with other players at all. Everything is easily soloable, and given that the players in any one zone are spread over innumerable instances its unlikely you will ever have a busy central location like an Ironforge. The chat interface has half its options hidden within the game options, and the friends list can't accurately keep track of who is online and who is offline. Crafting is completely broke, so scratch a working economy as any reason to speak to somebody. AoC doesn't just fail as an RPG, its utterly devoid of the stuff that brings players together and requires them to play as a community.

    There is other stuff, you could go on and on.

    In summary, AoC is a crock of shit. And this review, for whatever reason, is WAAAYY off base.

  • Bleh #81 4 years ago

    The game has quiet some bugs, some more annoying than the others but for me it's still a great game. The starts are pretty difficult for a mmo and not only for AoC. When do you release a mmo. Wait another year so everything is perfect.

    If you don't like these bugs wait half a year and try it than. If you can look passed these things go for it. I really like the game and the potential it has in store. Combat is different compared to other games. Visual it's a beauty but for the cost that you need a good computer. Also how the quest are being told is just great. I have gotten more from the story so far than with all the other mmo's together. It's not anymore just reading a book. Your having a "conversation" with your quest givers.

    So for me the 8 is just correct. But it's all a point of view.

    Edited by 1 at 20/06/08 @ 19:24

  • Turambar #82 4 years ago

    ""most of the stats on your items don't actually do anything at the moment"

    That is without doubt one of the worst bugs i've ever heard of, this is a role playing game, people live more of their lives in the game than outside of it just to get a piece of armour with slightly higher magic resistance. That it hasn't been sorted after a full month is idiotic and amateurish."

    It has been sorted. Last week (or this week I have no concept of time atm).

  • AOFanboi #83 4 years ago

    Instancing not only addresses but even SOLVES one of the main problems with MMOs: the "quest/boss camping". Do you really think it is more immersive to sit and look at the floor until some mob you need to kill (or in the last case I had, some stone columns I had to knock down) pops out of thin air. Do you REALLY like the EQ curse of your group sitting in queue and chatting while you respond to shouts of "camp check Foo'fie"? Instancing lets you or your party take part in a story, a sub-game, with no pestering from other players doing the same thing.

    Believability? The graphics engine lets characters get "stuck" on small objects until you face straight away; conversation audio can keep playing past when you have killed the person talking. Climbing means "insta-shifting" to and from the "ladder". All quests are signposted to the point of ridiculousness. The lack of item wear and tear is also a bitt too much of a simplification (even though other MMOs largely use it as a money sink). And if it should be believable, then surely each task would only need to be done once: If player A kills the Ceremonial Master in Tortage then there would not be a need for player B to do so? But because it is a game they have to let player B do it as well...

    It is not a virtual world. Deal with it.

    At least ACHA prevents you from running through other characters unlike most other MMOs. Well, except for when climbing though I guess that just uses the crawling system.

    I do think the situation-triggered powers in WoW and LotRO are better than the "queue up attacks and combos unless you need to block or dodge" in ACHA though.

  • Pirotic #84 4 years ago

    8/10?

    I really wanted to like it but could only just about muster up enough praise to give it a 5.

  • Gaol #85 4 years ago

    Instancing is a great solution when used properly in moderation. Problem with using it with blanket coverage is that it takes away interaction chances with other players, artificial meeting points and hampers the illusion of a co-occupied game 'world'.

    Compare 'I'll meet you at Ironforge by the bank' with 'I'll meet you in Ironforge instance 17'.

    Its a matter of debate though. Fot a heavily instanced game that is more or less successful see Guild Wars. Its more 'game' than 'virtual world' however some people like it for that reason, and it allows the creators to tell a story through the campaign missions.. having the world change around the players. And Guild Wars is second to none in giving players a reason to group - progression through the plot and to new zones!

    AoC just uses instancing as a solution to the fact its zones are microscopically small, not as part of a fundamental design plan like the massively superior Guild Wars.

  • woodbear #86 4 years ago

    8 out of 10, playing this and mgs 4 now, lets just say, I`ll be playing conan for a long time... mgs4 is completed in a few more days and put away or sold. Yes, mgs in my opinion feels like a 10... but whne I think about the little game there is, I knock it down to 8... and yes the last chapter fmv totalled over 90minutes, but with many saving and loading points to break it up... never boring though..

    I play an assassin and my wife a guardian right now... playing the game slow, enjoying every aspect.. combat is addicting as hell, and as an assassin, I die pretty damn quick unless I put in the smartest combos quick...

    I think the godd thing here is the combat is a type that work with a mouse an keyboard.. any traditional streetfighter like combo method would fail horrible.. thanks for inventing a new "wheel" so to speak... I have friends who went back to wow for a few days, and it felt empty to play after aoc..
    Edited by 1 at 20/06/08 @ 21:17

  • Benno #87 4 years ago

    Wow Goal, your insane.

  • Benno #88 4 years ago

    I am a little pissed off that AoCs players are paying to beta test the game. Its clearly unfinished and was released early to avoid competition from WAR and WotLK.

  • Cider-X #89 4 years ago

    haha 8/10... this game is 3/10 max. Read what Gaol wrote a few comments up from this, it's spot on.

  • Benno #90 4 years ago

    To be fair, as much as I hate Gaol's baiting, reading through his post its full of valid points, he almost makes me hate the game.

  • Phattso #91 4 years ago

    Well I like it.

    Scoring it 8/10 feels a bit generous, but frankly if you can't get even a little bit of fun out of this you probably need to chill out and just play it for what it is. It's not a shit game. It's not a broken game. It's just a game - and a fun one at that.

    Combat a gimmick? Maybe so - but it's a fun gimmick. Auto attack is something I couldn't go back to now.

    Can't be arsed to read all the posts here, but I assume Gaol and co. are going off on one since the makers of this game clearly bummed their mothers or something. Suffice it to say theirs isn't the most measured of opinions, but they're certainly welcome to them.

    /continues having fun levelling his Guardian

  • Feanor #92 4 years ago

    Just in case the nutters in this thread aren't aware, there are nine other reviews on Gamerankings that score this game higher than 8/10. Please go over there to excrete your bile.

  • Phattso #93 4 years ago

    Well yeah, it's Rock-Paper-Scissors, but so what? The fact is I have to pay attention to fight, which I find more gratifying than just starting a fight and then being entirely passive (as I was in WoW at the end there, just churning through mobs). Certainly didn't tire of it myself yet, but fair enough if it's not your thing.

    Positioning also seems to be _very_ important in my experience. With my Guardian I routinely take on five or six mobs at a time - so the ability to wear them all down with judicious swings is of critical importance to me, and something unique to Conan.

    I've taken a couple of alts through Tortage, too, and haven't minded the repetition any more than rolling alts in other games.

    As I said, 8 feels a bit generous so by no means am I saying this is the best game in the universe - I'm only commenting because there are people saying they'd give it 4 or 5 and it just doesn't tally with my experience. I'll happily keep playing for a few months in the very least, I think.

  • davisorle #94 4 years ago

    Well the game is amazing really. Finally found a reason not to log on the same old WoW and left my guild to some1 else to take care of for the time being. I created a new guild in AoC and within the 3red week of the guild's excistance we have already a full built T1 city and its just amazing tbh. we gather at nights like 20 ppl the least from my guild watching the city grow while i build it. The gaame can be really fun in every way, The Classes are amazing ( even tho not balanced of and my poor Conq needs to be patched up asap ) The game is ofc also full of nubs, the general channels have pricks and kiddos talking shit but thank god the "ignor" button works like a charm.

    Im just glad i decided to make a guild again in this game. Big guilds are needed ofc cause its no WoW since the battles with 300 ppl at once happening BUT our guild is huge already in number and they acre even crying to me not to gang them and take them of our KoS list. So PvP server ftw and for those crying about it pls go straight to PvE! ty ;)

    Bottom line. dont whine about the bugs or qs. its only normal for now... Funcom ppl are working on everything and i can say fast. I was there with both WoW and Lotro. Tho Funcom isnt excused when it comes to contacting GMs... they suck hard at that. But the game by th end of the main patching will be fucking amazing. Thats all i can say since its already great. take care.

  • Gaol #95 4 years ago

    "Gaol went hardcore"

    I blame Manic Miner.

  • earthling #96 4 years ago

    Funny review, Gaol absolutely on the money, Fahey in my opinion either missed the point or was staring at the $$$ banner above the review a bit much. Anyone know a decent site where reviews can be trusted, cuase I seem to have misplaced my old one?

  • Benno #97 4 years ago

    Page 3

    And for trusted reviews, ask the eurogamer community. The website is all about the cash apparantly.

  • Phattso #98 4 years ago

    Well I'm in the community, and I agree with the review!

    MARVEL AT THE LOGIC AT WORK. MARVEL, I SAY!

    Playing it again this morning (with a pounding hangover) and it's spot on: minute to minute, the gameplay here is better than any other MMO out there. Where it falls down (and WoW will always reign supreme here) is the dungeons, I think; the instanced group content doesn't seem all that compelling.

    But now I must go and complete my rush to Level 40 so I can finally use the Mammoth mount I got with my pre-order. :)

  • Benno #99 4 years ago

    I got a Rhino and the code wont work for me.

  • Phattso #100 4 years ago

    Pisser. I know there were some issues with play.com and some others having a bum set of serials, I think FunCom have resolved that now though. For my Mammoth I registered the serial on the web based account portal, and then redeemed it in game. A bit fiddly, but it did at least work for me.

    Not an issue for you now anyway, Benno, as the free month is over in a few days and I presume you're not carrying on?

  • Benno #101 4 years ago

    Ermm, well I will have another bash at the code now and see if it works.

    I am off to a festival in belgium next week and then a tour round europe for a bit so theres not much point in me continuing my sub at the minute. I will definitely be returning in the future though, this game has mega potential and is about 80% on the way to achieving it.

  • Benno #102 4 years ago

    Nah its not working still.

  • ch3w84cc4 #103 4 years ago

    I have played over 20 MMOS over the years and I was looking for something which offered something different. I still play SWG (yes I know its crap but its Star Wars) but I tried WOW and LOTR and yes they are good games in their own right but I think sometimes they are taken a little too seriously. The AOC community is amongst the most friendly I have come across and yes there are kids who play it but not as many as the others and it shows.
    The game has its querks and isn't perfect by a long way but it is the only game that is going to make me move from SWG. I hope you give it a try because it is a lot of fun. A fantastic and rich world based on some great source material. Thoroughly recommend.

  • Mantra #104 4 years ago

    Bahh this game is awsome in my oppinion ....9/10

    Regards 70 Barbarian

  • Mantra #105 4 years ago

    Nice rewiev btw....agree with your conclution and observations

  • Phattso #106 4 years ago

    Might be worth dropping Funcom and email then, Benno.

    Also you may just have to be a bit patient - it was a couple of hours after I registered the code before I could redeem it in game. Unless it won't accept the code at all in which case, yeah, you're buggered. ;)

  • Dizz #107 4 years ago

    Wtf is happening to EG? 8/10 for a bugridden piece of shit? Perhaps in 6 months to a year, when FC decides to wisen up and crank out code and patches.

    Time to find a new gaming website. The only thing that still holds up EG is the fact some of you play EVE. :)
    Edited by 2 at 21/06/08 @ 15:26

  • Orange #108 4 years ago

    It's a fair review, technically I'd give it a 7 as things stand, but an 8 given the frequency of patching and the level of improvement each week I can't argue with.

    Unfinished and no massive leap forward, but enjoyable and with some nice features and potential.

  • 1simen1 #109 4 years ago

    If some of you feel the review was to good, go to gamerankings.com and check the average so far : Link is :

    http://ww w.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/9...

    The average now after 19 reviews is 83/100.

    Highest rating is 94/100 and lowest is

    70/100.

    I take it many of the negative rants are from :

    a) People with olders computers that struggle hard running the game even on low.
    b) People from other copetitors scared shitless about guilds falling apart because people are leaving for AOC.
    c) People doing viral marketing for the competition.

    I can't really see any other reasons than the ones mentioned above for going "bananas" over a GAME getting a higher mark than some feel it deserves.

    If you like it keep playing and have fun, if you hate it don't subcribe and go back to whatever you where playing/doing before AOC's releace...

    Only way to find out if this game is for you or not is to check it out for a month or two.......

  • SleepyMagpie #110 4 years ago

    Simen.

    a) I have a cutting edge rig.

    b) My mates are currently playing AoC, with me.

    c) I do not work in advertising, above or below board. If anything, as a norwegian, I would like to see AoC do well.

    As I wrote about AoC earlier:

    AoC has many faults atm, some which can be rectified over time.

    But there is one thing that I am very uncertain about, and this is it's much vaunted fresh take on MMORPG fighting - it's realtime-combat.

    After about 3 months now (closed beta tester) TRYING to like, and use smartly, and grow accustomed to these active moves when fighting, I am about to give up.

    It just does not work. I mean, it works, but that's because the quests and the general fighting usually degenerates into a mass of flailing arms and weapons, with little or no skill involved, and no gauge to give any indication as to whether you're doing well.

    -> New comment: You just either die or live.

    The much flaunted graphic gore with decapitations and the like, are not consistently reproducable after certain combos, and therefore leaves the gamer with an even greater feeling of disaffection. It's just so random!

    -> New comment: There is just as much dice rolling going on behind the scenes here as well, making the "real-time" combat redundant really.

    So I have no idea whether I'm playing well. Combos do not produce effects with certainty, and quests and mobs are droll and without depth.

    And don't get me started on the puerile "sexiness"'!

    I am certainly leaving before my free month is up, and really not sure if anything can persuade me to come back.

    -> New comment: I have let my subscription lapse now, and unlike others, given my view that the game has a built-in flaw in it's combat system, I really don't know if I'll be coming back.

    So, Simen, people have free minds (mostly) and make them up independently, and sometimes you will get to hear opinions that grate with your own. AoC is new, many want it to be good, many have possibly invested large sums in new PC gear to get it to run decently, and then the "have to" like it, cos if not, they're the ones that end up with the shit-end of the bargain, and a stupid look on their face.

    Is that how you feel now?

    I am positing that many of you are in that situation atm. In denial, that is. Because Conan is NOT IN ANY WAY, a good game, a game that requires skill, that rewards skill, that in the end, feels like a world - at the time being, and I don't think it ever will be.

    And therefore Mr. Rob Fahey's 8/10 seems way off to us salty, cynical sorts. I smell some Eidos ties, desperation, fiscal year must-hit-targets somewhere in the background here.. Shame.


  • Benno #111 4 years ago

    Its an 8/10 game, just accept it.

  • Phattso #112 4 years ago

    See, I have no issue with people saying they don't like the game. We're all different. But I'm really really confused by people that say it's an intrinsically "bad" or "shit" game, when that patently isn't the case. And I'm even more confused by people like SleepyMagpie that hate it.... and yet played it for three months?! I just can't see it - why persist so long with something you don't like? Madness.

    For my part, I've stuck maybe 30 hours into it so far (which is practically fuck all in MMO terms, admittedly) and I'm still enjoying it. The review averages suggest a lot of other people are enjoying it, too. I doubt I'll play it for the three years I played World of Warcraft for, but that doesn't matter. It's not a competition. :)

    It's a game. It's for entertainment. And it entertains me, very well in fact.

  • Gaol #113 4 years ago

    "But I'm really really confused by people that say it's an intrinsically "bad" or "shit" game, when that patently isn't the case"

    It is patently shit for the reasons I gave last page.

    I am absolutely the first to always say 'different tastes, different opinions, each to their own'.

    Except with Age of Conan, it is utterly awful in almost every respect; and the fact that it is getting decent press means we will continue to get mmorpgs which are half finished, poorly designed cash-ins. This genre will never move forward until games like AoC are called out for the mess they are.
    Edited by 1 at 21/06/08 @ 19:44

  • bad09 #114 4 years ago

    Dear oh dear! I don't do MMOs but the high post count had me interested. What do I find? yet more "i feel different about this game so your review is wrong" crap. Rob gave this 8/10 he's is neither wrong or right it's just his opinion. You may agree you may not big deal. Why do people need some sort of validation by reviewers agreeing with their own personal view. You don't look clever by doing it and look like a bunch of whiners. Reviews are not purchase validations anyway, just one person telling you what THEY think of the game. Besides if you base you purchases on what someone else says you need you head examined.

    We've already had MGS4 mentioned, surely someone will throw in the H3 10/10 that MS "paid" EG for. Of course we all know comparing review scores of different games in different genres makes you look clever :)

    Sorry for the rant but is it me or is there more of this review comparing/complaining/whining, EG is biased and EG is taking cash rubbish lately on reviews?

  • SleepyMagpie #115 4 years ago

    Phattso: I played it for 3 months because when you betatest, you devote some time to providing feedback, bug hunting, and generally trying to get the game in shape, along with the devs. I am sad to say they didn't listen to what many said about the combat system (you should have seen it early on!), and also, development took longer than economically feasible, so in the end they had to release before the game was really finished.

    Benno: Clearly, in Eurogamer it's an 8/10 game, but that's just the problem, something smells fishy, and I don't like it.

    Also - the "different strokes for different folks" adage is one I am also a follower of, for example, I wouldn't touch WoW with a ten-foot pole today myself, but I will still admit that it is a very well made game, and sure to entertain most MMORPG'ers.

    AoC, as Gaol has been putting it, is in completely different straits, and if we continue to sanction these derelicts with good scores, be it for shady economic reasons or otherwise, the whole MMORPG community will end up as shipwrecks.

    Cheery wave from stranded youngsters.. indeed.

  • SleepyMagpie #116 4 years ago

    bad09: Go and watch footie on the box maybe, and leave us to our whining?

  • Phattso #117 4 years ago

    As I say, don't dispute anyone's right to hate the game for any reason. I just look at my (almost entirely positive) experience with the game, and truly wonder how anybody could be having the exact opposite experience. :)

    I read your comments, Gaol, and I think I could only agree with about a third of them and even then not to anywhere near the extent you felt them to be vastly negative.

    I think it all stems from the combat in this game: if you don't like that, everything is going to be awful because it underpins the entire game. Thankfully I really, really enjoy the combat. You can call it "broken" or a "gimmick" or "absolutely shit" and I would just have to disagree with you.

    At least the discussion has remained more or less civil in these comments. We can disagree, but no instant descent into shitslinging is great to see.

    With the exception of those that think there's an EG review score conspiracy. I think you're all batshit crazy. ;-)

  • SleepyMagpie #118 4 years ago

    Batshit crazy, eh Phattso? Well, those who are content with the status quo generally label naysayers that way until a different issue important to you comes up and bites you on your own arse.

    Here's what Oli Welsh wrote in the closing paragraph of his preview of AoC for some weeks ago:

    "We'll offer a full review in the coming weeks - before your 30 days' free play are up and you need to decide whether to subscribe, if you buy now. If we had to predict the score, we'd say it's a 7, but that could vary either way depending on how certain things shape up - notably, the endgame, crafting, and PVP. The next couple of months are still make-or-break for Age of Conan, but by pulling such a professional launch out of the bag, Funcom has given its baby the best chance of success."

    Whole article here: [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=142772
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/article.php?art...[/link]

    Notably, the endgame, crafting, and PvP are barely touched upon in Rob Fahey's review, and are listed by Oli Welsh as critical to AoC's score.

    These areas mentioned by Welsh in his pre-review are in bad shape, and this is mirrored by forums across the net.

    A consequence of Welsh reviewing the game then, might have been seeing AoC fall beneath the original tentative 7/10 to perhaps a 6 or even a 5.

    Who took Oli Welsh off this job, and why?

  • Phattso #119 4 years ago

    Yep - absolutely batshit. :)

    It's just opinions. If I reviewed it I'd give it a seven. If a Conan nut reviewed it, they'd give it a ten. If you reviewed it, you'd expose the International Mediocrity Conspiracy for what it was and presumably give it zero. Them's the breaks. There's a million good reasons for Oli to not have done the review - you're making the assumption that he was ever in line for it, of course.

    But the bottom line is, I just don't think Conan is a shit game. Nothing is going to bite me in the arse, at all. I've been gaming for the better part of twenty years now, and this kind of shit has been bandied about since the heydays of the print magazines.

    And lo! Despite people liike yourself proclaiming that we're ushering in an era of doom and mediocre shitty games: I look along my games collection and see nothing but classics.

    I'm sure gaming will survive an EG 8/10 for Conan. A game that I actually really enjoy. :)

  • SleepyMagpie #120 4 years ago

    Well, keep sucking on that blue pill man! You seem to be enjoying it!

    This never happened either, anyone remember Jeff Gerstmann and the Eidos case:

    [link url=http:// www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/11/28/
    ]http://ww w.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/1...[/link]

    And of course, there has been no consolidation in the industry over the years, and we have just as many developers now as earlier, with just as many unique ideas..

  • Phattso #121 4 years ago

    It's a wonder you can get any gaming in at all with that rain cloud following you about. ;)

    Do I think there are some shady deals being done? I'd be stunned if there weren't, at least on some level. Do I really think that it has a massive and permanent effect on the industry? Not in the slightest. The fact is, the public buy whatever they're told to - in sales terms (and therefore what gets made the most) quality isn't even an issue (/glares at WiiPlay). Sad, but true. Just look at the top sellers in every year since the 80s.

    And yet, despite all this, the last few years has seen the release of some of the best games in videogames history. And the next few years promise more of the same.

    And if you _truly_ can't see why the games development industry has undergone consolidation, then there's nothing I can say to convince you otherwise. But it's what I do for a living, and it seems pretty straightforward to me. :)

  • 1simen1 #122 4 years ago

    Sleepymagpie : Oli Welsh used an old computer when previewing the game. He had all settings on low. His entire preview was coloured by the experience of playing with an old rig. He would have had looooong load times and and crappy framerate.

    That whole preview was bogus because of that part alone....

    I have no problem with people not liking the game, but going all negative without anything positive to say about a game currently at 83/100 at gamerankings....seem abit strange to me.

    You don't like the combat fine, move along to a game with a combat style you like. There are plenty of people around haveing a ball with this combat system. Are you mad at them for enjoying what you don't

    And no the end game hasn't really been touched in any reviews yet. It takes time getting enough players up to level 80, then the endgame can begin for real.

    In the meantime Funcom will continue to add content and pach it together.
    Having everything in an MMO working from day one is impossible. They need time watching how the players interact with the game.

    A MMO is a living breathing beast in constant motion forwards ( or in SWG case backwards lol) It will never be a finished game but evole overtime into either a sucessfull one like WOW or a unsucessfull one like Vanguard.

    Which path AOC will take is way to early to tell, but a lot of games have been sold, patches are comeing fast and it's only one frikkin' month old. Most players aren't powergamers and seem to be happy.Things are actually looking rather good for AOC.

    BY the time the majority reach level 80 most bugs will have been fixed and the real end game will begin.

    I guess patience is a virtue some eager power gaming (10 hours a day) MMO players don't have ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 21/06/08 @ 23:58

  • TheRealBadabing #123 4 years ago

    Oli is the EG MMO guru. We all love Rob but in a different and more gentle way.

    This is one of the few proper (don't talk to me about TR) MMO releases this year, so why isn't Oli reviewing it?

    Edited by 1 at 22/06/08 @ 11:00

  • Gaol #124 4 years ago

    A lot of the reviews are giving it decent scores because it functions in a basic 'Titan Quest' kind of fashion, except a lot less fun and polished. However, as an mmorpg it gets away with blue murder.

    The 'naysayers' will be proved right, in a few months the sub based will be reduced to a hardcore few, unless Funcom start working miracles. This game has none of the depth of many other mmorpgs, and can't justify a premium monthly fee.

    I seriously recommend people try Guild Wars, another heavily instanced game, but with higher production values, finely tuned combat, and it does it all for free after you've bought the game.

  • Phattso #125 4 years ago

    Actually, Gaol, I'd agree with that statement. I'm certainly enjoying the game more in a Diablo/TQ context than MMORPG. But then I was always a casual MMORPG player anyway (the whole "alone together" thing) so it suits me down to the ground. Reading the reviews, that also seems to be the subtext.

    But Guild Wars? I bought it, and one or two of the expansions, and it bored me to tears.

    Until the end game content is dropped into AoC, it would probably be wise to approach it more like Hellgate: London. That had a spike of subscribers for a while, and then tailed off to nothing. AoC should be different, though, as there's the Guild PVP Siege stuff when the finally get it on its feet, and the inevitable instanced endgame updates.

    Time will tell for sure, but I'm one of the lucky few who take an age (pun intended) to reach the level cap, so none of it will affect me. ;)

  • Benno #126 4 years ago

    This isn't just a high review from eurogamer, almost all reviews in the gaming media have placed it between 7-9/10. I dont know why some people fight it so much, I think its the best MMO to come out since World of Warcraft.

    Combat isn't broken, melee combat is brilliant. Auto attack in wow feels rubbish now.

  • Shinji #127 4 years ago

    I'm not going to get sucked into the discussion here - a bit pointless given the entrenched viewpoints that are so apparent with some of our more, er, prolific posters on this thread - except to point out two things.

    Firstly, I understand that some people may have stability issues with the game, and I did at the outset as well - but this review was designed as a snapshot of the game as it stood last week, and I deliberately didn't kick it over bugs that are already fixed. I've got AoC running on two very different systems (albeit both high-spec and running Vista 64), and haven't experienced a single problem with stability in the client for about a week and a half. Problems in the forums also seem to have quieted down massively in that time. I don't judge stability / crash-bugs to be a major problem at this time.

    Secondly, I'm amused by the idea that some grand conspiracy existed to "take Oli off the job". Oli is the editor of Eurogamer's MMO section, and it was he who commissioned me to write the AoC review - that happened several months ago, and I've been playing in the late beta and the final game ever since for this purpose. Nobody was taken off anything, and there are no suspect men smoking cigarettes in and prowling the alleyways around Eurogamer Towers :) *




    * This isn't strictly true, but EG Towers are in Brighton so the suspect men are there for an entirely different reason.

  • Phattso #128 4 years ago

    Your simplistic attempt to divert attention away from the obvious conspiracy is doomed to failure. You might as well just come clean! ;-)

  • Krelle #129 4 years ago

    Shinji:
    You should read, and comment on, Gaols long post of faults with Conan. Respect your way if can bother with that.
    What I experienced of the game is the exact same as Gaol, and I cannot see how a game can ever get 8/10 with such obvious flaws.
    I wont ask you to "defend" your review/score (great review btw), but if you saw none of the faults Gaol pointed out, Im afraid youve played different games.

    Related to Kotaku-Fahey btw?

  • Shinji #130 4 years ago

    I confess that I've been skipping his posts - the belligerent, arrogant tone of the opening paragraphs is enough to render them tl;dr - but I'll read them when I get back home. I'm away on holiday this weekend and not keen on extending my "sorry, just checking my email quickly!" time to include that.

    There are definitely valid criticisms to be levelled at the game, and I think if you're a power-leveller who's going to make your way to 80 within the first two months, they're probably very strong criticisms, but for the vast majority of gamers I think the positives outweigh the negatives right now. To put it in context, though, I don't have any doubt in my mind that WoW is a 10/10 game right now, so Conan still has a mountain to climb. If the bulk of the player population starts hitting 80 and things are still unfinished in that part of the game, then our next look at Conan in a few months' time could well be a lot more negative.

    Anyway - I'll read and respond more thoroughly early next week, but not on mobile internet from my holiday :)

  • SleepyMagpie #131 4 years ago

    Thanks to Shinji for coming on comments and speaking in this case, the vervremdung just got a bit lighter.

    I really don't think large-scale shady deals were made in this case. But given the preview Oli made, his points listed upon which AoC would be judged in the review, and then having good old Shinji-san review it; in the slightly teddy-bear fashion he seems to review western-rpg's - well, things seemed a bit off.

    This is not coming from a "played WoW for a year, I'm sixteen this summer" newcomer to MMORPGs. I've played them heavily since 1997. Almost all of them.

    And in my mind, even if Age of Conan has some fine points - the basic core experience, and the mechanics that will propel or hinder future rewarding gameplay - is broken. And Oli Welsh seemed to suggest that he saw this as well, in his preview.

    Why did Oli take himself off the case, then?! LOL.

    I have played many MMORPGs as I have stated. It is VERY EASY to get caught up in the novelty of things, and also a general wanting in the community to see it all prosper. And then again, some people have made considerable investments in gear and such to get it on.

    So there are definitely some who "like it so much, really, great stuff!".

    And then they hate it 1 month later.

    Anyhoo - as Jon Stewart would say, Gaol raises a good point in suggesting people try out Guild Wars.

    GW is a great diablo-like semi-RPG, that is very instanced, but works due to the arcade mechanics and gameplay. Guild Wars never pretended to be a deep, rich MMORPG. Conan does.

    But it isn't. Wonder if it ever will. I hope for your sakes, but I doubt that many of you will be around to see the change through if it comes.

    Have a good sunday, play good games that you like (and that could well be AoC in your mind, it's called freedom), and we'll see what happens. Cheers.

  • Krelle #132 4 years ago

    Very cool, Shinji. Kudos.
    Enjoy your holiday!

  • Benno #133 4 years ago

    Guild wars is a bit pants really.

  • Gaol #134 4 years ago

    "the belligerent, arrogant tone of the opening paragraphs is enough to render them tl;dr "

    My posts in the first page certainly fall into this a bit, I usually post short sharp trashy stuff while catching a break at work, mainly for kicks. Three cheers for internet anonymity.

    But I put some reasonable amount of thought into the points on the second page, and I sincerely believe that they put the launch of AoC on a par with the NGE revision of Star Wars Galaxies. The lights are on but nobodys home. Certainly the criticisms don't simply apply to power gamers or the 'endgame' - they are fundamental issues that make AoC totally unworthy of its £10pm subscription model. I should have really put a proper 'reader review' together for submission, but that's a lot more time consuming than bullet points on a comments thread - as I'm sure you know too well.
    Edited by 1 at 22/06/08 @ 20:20

  • 1simen1 #135 4 years ago

    Gaol, what is your agenda here?

    Are you on a personal crusade to discredit AOC?
    Do you want the game to fail and if so why?
    Are you making a stand for MMO gamers around the world with a mighty cause of : "from now on no MMO should ever be released without beeing flawless from day one as a polished masterpiece"

    Do you believe Funcom has treated you poorly as a consumer?

    I just don't get it.

    I take it if you have played the game as much as you say you have, you have gotten your moneys worth and then some already in entertainment value. Especially compeared to single player games at the same price that are over and finished in 10 hours.

    Oh and on a side note. Gametrailers.com also reviewed AOC a coupple of days ago....and the score....85/100.

    Seems like you are a bit on the negative side compeared to most.

    If the game turned out not beeing your cup of tea, why not move on and find a game you like?
    Edited by 2 at 22/06/08 @ 21:52

  • Gaol #136 4 years ago

    It's not personal to Funcom, they are just the latest culprits. I am frustrated at the long line of piss poor mmorpgs being foisted upon us and the easy ride they are getting by a videogames press that doesn't seem to know how review them. The 85/100 you quote is pretty much my motivation.

    Tabula Rasa also garnered an 8/10 on EG. Although better than AoC, it was still deeply flawed in many respects. It's deserted now and running on life support - AoC will be no different, for the reasons I have mentioned (and then some).

    I'm pretty relaxed about this, if my tone makes you think I am frothing at the mouth and venting, think again!

  • Vandrius #137 4 years ago

    I actually agree with some of the comments here. I'm getting very disenfranchised with game reviews as a whole, as they seem to be stand-alone gut-feeling scores.

    Yes, different reviewers will have different experiences (no matter what product they are reviewing), but at least hardware reviews are honest in that they compare products with each other.

    If you hold up MGS4 and AoC next to each other, MGS4 is far superior in terms of total product, polish etc. Yet they get the same 'score'.

    This isn't an attack on EG, its an attack on every reviewer. Do some damned comparisons before you spout out a random score. If you give Bioshock 10/10, then you'd better damned well ensure you also gave Half-Life a 10/10. And vice-versa.

  • Krelle #138 4 years ago

    lsimenl: rather, what is your agenda? Atleast Gaol and a few others bring up some relevant issues about the game.
    What do you do?
    From my neutral pow, it looks more like you are the one "in love with the game" and when someone points out a flaw, a voice in your head says "hey, simen, maybe he's right. Maybe your not having as much fun as you think!" Scary thought that, ne?

    My own agenda? To troll.

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #139 4 years ago

    Thanks to Rob for clearing up the issue of how he came to do the review. I feel I need to add my reasons here.

    The point of the MMO channel is that we offer continuing, month-in-month-out coverage of the biggest games, including re-reviews. The best way to do this is to assign one writer to each game who will then have the time to "go deep" with it. Expecting Age of Conan to be a major game, I lined Rob up to be our Hyborian correspondent, as it were, my plate being full enough with World of Warcraft and whatever betas and smaller games are kicking around. Having decided to do that, I felt it was best to let him kick off his Conan coverage with the first official review, for reasons of consistency.

    Yes, Rob's view is slightly more positive than in my "pre-review", but he's played the game for longer than I have, so I defer to his judgement. Although I do have to warn you that it's possible that we have slightly different opinions! Eurogamer isn't a hive mind.

    As for comparing the score with Metal Gear Solid's, these are not comparable games in any way. Each was reviewed in its own context and on its own merits. MMOs in particular can not be scored in the same way that you can score a boxed console game.

    One more point, I did not play the game on an "old" PC - it's a brand new XPS laptop, but being a laptop, it's not quite up to speed with a proper gaming rig. It's probably very representative of the average player's machine. I played on medium-ish settings designed to optimise my framerate, and the game was reasonably pretty and very playable, just not pretty enough for screenshots is all.

  • butler` #140 4 years ago

    For those saying "check gamerankings/metacritic" - do note that the top five or so reviews are COMPLETE TRASH and have basically reviewed Tortage.

    7/10 game at best.

  • Krelle #141 4 years ago

    Oli:
    "As for comparing the score with Metal Gear Solid's, these are not comparable games in any way. Each was reviewed in its own context and on its own merits. MMOs in particular can not be scored in the same way that you can score a boxed console game. "

    What you say here is generally that MMOs get away with murder (ie, the obvious flaws).
    Of course you cant compare two games of different genres side by side, but there just has got to be a red line when it comes to scoring that everyone follows (atleast on EG, cant expect the whole world to fall in line just yet).

    Im not the least upset about the MGS4 score. I see where it comes from even thou I dont really agree.
    But Conan an 8? In its current state? Its just..off.

    Is my reasoning total bollocks to you two, Rob, Oli? Maybe im the one "not getting it"? I dont know, honestly.

  • CunningLinguist #142 4 years ago

    I don't want to slag the game off, because it has potential, but it is obvious this game wasn't ready for release. I for one canceled my subscription. Tortage is very well done, but what comes after is really disappointing. The score is very lol to say the least. I regret spending the money on the game when I could have spent it on something more enjoyable, like sushi.

  • 1simen1 #143 4 years ago

    Oli, it was this comment you made in the comment section of your preview of the game that made me believe that you had been playing on an old pc. That and the fact that you said you had long loading times in the preview text.

    Quote Oli : "Darkedge, if I had a better PC I would, but I don't think it's fair to the game to show it on low quality with half the effects turned off. That's no more indicative of what players will see than those official shots."

    Krelle, as for my agenda, i have only one. I'm tired of people going all out because they don't agree with a review making it a personal goal to turn people away from a product.

    Now if AOC had gotten piss poor reviews all over the net, i could understand it. But when the majority of reviewers consider the game to be a bit over 8/10, then maybe it's actually quite good but not some players cup of tea?
    Do you believe that the small developer Funcom has "bought" favourable reviews all over the net?

    Maybe some ranters are doing viral marketing for compeating companies?
    Maybe some ranters have lost guildies in other games and try hard not to lose more?
    MMO's create very strong emotions in some people

    If you don't like the game why not stop playing and move on? Why the need to write page after page about how crappy it is?

    That last part is what i don't get, and why a write what i write.....
    AOC has bugs and flaws, but based upon all reviews, the positives outweight the negatives. And as we all know MMO's usually just get better and more polished over time.

    (One exeption that comes to mind : SWG ,it went from awsome PRE - CU , to trash with the CU and later NGE....)

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #144 4 years ago

    Krelle - as Rob's review says, while Conan wasn't quite ready for launch, is was at least as ready (if not more so) than the majority of MMOs are. The core of the experience was in place and very enjoyable on day one, which is more than can be said for the likes of Vanguard.

    Lest we forget, WOW launched with no organised PVP at all - no battlegrounds! can you imagine? - and whilst it was relatively bug-free, the servers couldn't cope with demand and were suffering constant unannounced downtime (something else Funcom has mostly managed to avoid). Should it have been given a 7 for that? Of course not.

    No, I don't think MMOs should get away with murder, and I do think launches in general need to be improved. But at the same time some allowances need to be made - publicly damning a promising game like Conan at launch won't help it get better at all. The opposite in fact.

    1simen1, if the load times are long with a 7200rpm laptop drive and 4GB of RAM, then the load times are just long. Like I said, my comments were about screenshot quality - draw distance especially - the game is perfectly playable on my machine.

  • 1simen1 #145 4 years ago

    Oli, thanks for clearing that up:-)

  • butler` #146 4 years ago

    You're still basically admitting you guys reviewed it on the potential it has Oli. The fact is, right here right now, the game doesn't deserve an 8 from Eurogamer (nor Edge, or any other reputable - perhaps more "hard line" outlets).

    There's plenty that will get better; the fast majority of it in fact. Six months, twelve months, who knows? It's a diamond in the rough as Rob puts it, a 7/10 game that could easily be 9/10 with time.

  • Phattso #147 4 years ago

    Except that not a single person in this comment thread has suggested that AoC is anywhere near WoW in quality terms. It patently isn't.

    Everything else is a matter of opinion, however. You say it's visually boring, I say the view from the top of Connall's Valley makes you wrong. Others say the combat is a boring pointless gimmick. The hours I've already ploughed into the very enjoyable combat suggests not everyone feels the same. Some say that the instancing and loads ruin any semblance of a seamless world and therefore they can't get invested in it. Maybe I'm just special, but most of the game is hubs from which you spend hours and hours questing: Connall's Valley, Wild Lands of Zelata, some 15hrs of gameplay in those two, with minimal loading.

    Bottom line is it's not fundamentally broken, at least in my opinion and that of the reviewer. I've met loads of great people, completed loads of fun quests, and I'm having a ball with it.

    Do I think the UI and chat/guild management is a clusterfuck? You bet - I don't think I can imagine a way they could've fucked that up any more. But it just isn't a gamebreaker for me. I don't have the time to waste on shit games - this just doesn't fall into that category for me. That said, and not that it's that big a deal, it's a 7/10 for me.

    Or maybe Magpie's right and I've been chomping on these here Blue Pills for too long, and for some reason I'm deluding myself. :)

  • butler` #148 4 years ago

    re: the comparisons to WOW at release

    The minute I hit 60 (as one of the first rogues on the server) I was into the attunement for MC with various groups of 5 players throughout numerous complete, balanced and fun instances.

    That very same evening I was in a fully working 40man raid situation, downing the first boss and collecting Epic gear with stats that mattered and looks that differed.

    I compare that to our guild's AOC level 80s now having painfully grinded awful, broken, incomplete content for the latter part of the game, only to hit the cap and be completely bored and un-catered for.

  • Gaol #149 4 years ago

    I'd still like to see my points on the second page answered.

    Nothing posted by either EG staff member in any way justifies this abortion receiving an 8/10.
    Edited by 1 at 23/06/08 @ 13:34

  • Krelle #150 4 years ago

    Oli:
    "Lest we forget, WOW launched with no organised PVP at all - no battlegrounds! can you imagine? - and whilst it was relatively bug-free, the servers couldn't cope with demand and were suffering constant unannounced downtime (something else Funcom has mostly managed to avoid). Should it have been given a 7 for that? Of course not. "

    Yay, lets compare it to a launch that took place ~4 years ago. I see what your aiming at, but thats just a silly argument.
    Whats laughable is that the Conan launch wasnt better than WoW. On par with, id say. Some things are better (as you point out) while others cant even stand up to a launch made FOUR years ago.
    And they solved one of the problems by heavy instancing. Something that, personally, ruins a whole lot of the immersion.
    As the endgame pvp in Conan is mediocre at best (today that is, may improve), its hard to see that as one of the games "strong points". "Look at us! Pvp at launch motherfukkers. Its shit, but IT IS THERE."

    I dont know where im going wih this really. No point in arguing with reviewers over a number. Im done trolling. Can find me under my bridge.
    Rather than replying to this, use the time to read Gaols "post of obvious flaws" on page 2. Cheers (y)


  • anomagnus #151 4 years ago

    being honest, i think its ridiculous for people to be writing conan off.

    gaol may not like the game, and have legitimate concerns, but to be frank everyone of them is a?) his opinion and b) if correct is fixable.

    the hyperbole that comes with mmorpgs is unreal. the recent outrage, and i do mean OUTRAGE at the removal of attunements from wow is truth to that.

    the point is, AoC is 30 days old. A year from now, it wont be recognizable. If you compared WoW now, to WoW 4 years ago, i;m sure, SURE that you if you interview 10,000 players you'd get

    a) Rabid gamers who would put their mother heart on the table and swear the game was broken, unplayable and a waste of time
    b) rabid gamers who would whip their cock out and wank all over the show and say it was the best thing since god developed megan fox
    c) Everyone else that just plays the game.

    Conan is just an mmo, it'll fix things, break things, and grow in its own regard. WoW will continue, but if you think the game isn't stagnating just a little, you're living a fantasy. WoW is an institution now, it has become its own structure, and any rapid and original departures at this stage would be game breaking.

    As a result, some people will go to conan, just as some went to lotro, and some will go to war. They'll have their own communities, their own needs and wants. WoW will be a vanilla offering something that defines the genre, does it well, but never breaks the mold that itself has created and never unbalance anything.

    So why panic about an 8? Those that like the game will direct its growth, you can try it again when its fixed. I have a lot of faith in Funcom anyway. AO was a DOG, and i mean a DOG when it launched. It hit a peak a few years after that, and to this day, flaws and all, i have more memories, good AND bad, of AO than WoW.

    Now calm down. I mean, all this chitter chatter is taking us away from the big story. Was GTA4 better on the Xbox.

    Yes. Yes it was.

  • mikeck #152 4 years ago

    "Now calm down. I mean, all this chitter chatter is taking us away from the big story. Was GTA4 better on the Xbox.

    Yes. Yes it was. "

    Good diffusal tactic there ;)

  • Krelle #153 4 years ago

    "b) if correct is fixable."
    "the point is, AoC is 30 days old. A year from now, it wont be recognizable."

    Thats my biggest complaint for the Conan 8 you just brought up there.
    So you also think a game should be reviewed with a "what will be" in mind?

    The Orange Box for ps3 got shitty reviews (in comparison). Rightfully so! It had some serious issues.
    Those where later addressed in a patch. Should the original review had taken the future patch in consideration? I personally dont think so, and nor did EG.
    With MMOs thou..its suddenly a different story?

  • butler` #154 4 years ago

    Exactly Krelle, and this 'MMO effect' you describe runs contrary to the whole re-review thing that Eurogamer brought in to counter it.

  • anomagnus #155 4 years ago

    Krelle and Butler

    The game will change as it grows, but that doesn't negate its score now.

    EG reviewed it, and they found it to be enjoyable. More than any other genre, the MMO is what you make of it. No other game type offers you as much to do. Yea, some MMORPG's dont have everything right straight away, but you can only rate them on your current experience and your expectations for it.

    The re-review is a good idea, as it allows you to reflect on everything that does change.

    A stationary and permanent score for a piece of entertainment that WILL change is absurd and unfair. Its not a movie, or single player game, which will always be the same. But nor is it something that changes everyday. Scores are fair, as a means to see how a game is in a particular state at that time.

    You rate the game as is, each time you play.

    As for the orange box issue, i don't think EG should have based their review on an expected patch, but after the patch was released, a re-review wouldn't have been unfair, if the patch was of considerable impact.

    Again, thats a rare case. Remember, patches in MMO's and expansion packs can have considerable impact, often changing entire swathes of games completely. Basing a review on something that may no longer be valid is unfair.

    All MMO's should be subject to reviews, to review how they are at that time.




    Edited by 1 at 23/06/08 @ 17:11

  • Sythrian #156 4 years ago

    Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint!! Point! Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint! Point!

    **Primal Scream

    No actually - there were a lot of really nice (as in interesting to read) comments. Just thought I'd thrown in my two cents. I have a level 26 Conq. that so far I've really enjoyed playing. The combat for me is interesting and feels right and is why I haven't logged into my wow account in a week. Now don't be silly, it’s not the only reason, but so far it’s the most relevant reason. Back that up with this – “oh crap – I’ve got to log into wow so I can farm for the raid tonight”! This highlights the fact that – YES – wow is getting stagnant for me. Don’t get me wrong – I love wow – and what it has become – full of friends and fun and three uber toons I can run around with and pwn sht. I don’t see myself canceling my wow account either btw. I keep getting this feeling that any second AoC is gona turn to sht and my old faithful stand-by will be there waiting for me.

    Things I love about AoC:
    *The graphics are fantastic. I have to mention three especially nice stop-and-go-oh-shit-that’s-cool moments. 1-turning around after creating my first toon and seeing the water and the beaches and reefs and white sands. 2-Seeing the city of Tortage off in the distance and noting that it just looked perfect. 3-Climbing up to a knoll in Conarc Village and seeing the snow-capped mountains and the cloudy blue sky for the first time.
    *The combat system is oh-so-sweet. When I’m fighting a bad guy and I hit my sequence of combo’s just right, not missing any of the button smashing juiciness, it flicks my pleasure center’s in just the right way.
    *The way everything looks – it just feels right!

    Think I don’t like about AoC:
    * Zoning in and waiting for the new content to load. Look – I don’t mind it when I’m going from like the village to the valley or from Tortage to Conarch Village – but walking into the Inn or into a house is Irritating to say the least.
    * The shear amount of crap I had to go into to get my freaking drivers to work well enough to play the game.
    * The economy and AH is absolutely useless and this makes me sad.
    * The generally unpolished aspect of it. Though this is something I’m willing to live with in hopes that the dev’s will fix it.
    * Broken quests
    * Being able to run along a cliff without falling or running down mountains.
    * Being able to swim up a water-fall.
    * Mobs acting all goofy.
    * Mobs not following me in the water.
    * Being hemmed in and forced into areas. Let me go to the higher level areas even if it means my toon will get mauled. The fact that I can’t just irritates me and makes me feel over-manipulated.
    * The fact that the Feat-Tree’s are too freaking complicated and I can’t tell if it made any difference when I put points into it. Just seems like it’s a bit overwhelming. The tweaks are too small and there are too many of them. (come on guys - .3% of anything is just silly - stick to a ten point system - its okay just make it 1% - it'll be alright - really)


    **Tons more to say but this is already to long.**
    Edited by 2 at 23/06/08 @ 17:58

  • Benno #157 4 years ago

    Wow this comments thread is insane.

    People need to calm down a bit, everyone has their opinions.

    I really liked AoC, Gaol etc. obviously didn't. You can list as much as you want, I will still like it, and they still wont. The review is fine, its the reviewers opinion.

  • Krelle #158 4 years ago

    Benno: So, just becouse we wont change the world (or opinions) means we cant have a debate about it?
    Do you expect politicians to switch sides, or problems to get solved, every time there is a debate on that level aswell?

    The only thing youve contributed with is this thread is several "im better than you guys. I wont take part in the debate, which means im above you."-posts.

    Somn po g. klocka ar fukkin 02.40 i Kyoto redan.

  • Gaol #159 4 years ago

    Nothing wrong with the comments thread going fubar Benno, its better a case is made here than in the forum threads which you won't see me near, as I've no interest in ragging on people who are enjoying it. Eventully though, expect it to contain the usual backlash about lack of patches when the game was a stinker from the get go.

    I disagree with the idea that this game can be patched to be bearable, and believe that even if the review is based on 'potential' it should still be getting a merciless kicking from the press. Its fundamentally flawed at a design level; its a below par one player game that that has been shoehorned on a server with no thought about grouping mechanics, community, structured pvp, class differences or a working economy.

    The last mmorpg to put such a decidedly one-player based experience on a server?

    Auto Assault.

    7/10 :-s
    Edited by 2 at 23/06/08 @ 19:31

  • Benno #160 4 years ago

    Krelle = got killed on a pvp server and stopped at lvl 22. Bitter lol.

    I can taste your tears from here, yummy.

  • 1simen1 #161 4 years ago

    Gaol, i say again go to [link url=htt p://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/927504.asp
    ]http://ww w.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/9...[/link]
    So far 20 sites/mags have reviewed AOC. The average is 83%

    Can 20 professional reviewers be way off? or should we believe you , one single person on a warpath because you don't like the game.

    I totally respect you not enjoying AOC.
    I still don't get why it's so important to you to trash it left and right and tell everyone how much you hate it.

    If you had written down pros and cons in a balanced way, myself and others would have takened your critisism seriously.
    Even if you found the negatives to outweigh the posetives for you.

    When all you do is trash it like it has nothing at all in it that is right or even remotely enjoyable, well something's off....

    Noone forced you to buy the game, if you don't like it don't play it and move on. I mean is 50 euros all the wealth you had in the world and Funcom robbed it from you?

    You sound more and more like a WOW fanboy doing your best to stop people to drop WOW for AOC.
    Or a WAR fan worried about WAR not getting enough players. There is room for all and more MMO's. I believe the future will prove me right on that one :-)

    If someone like WOW more than AOC i say cool , play it. If someone like AOC better, i say cool play that.
    A game can't please everyone all the time, but it can please someone most of the time.

    Bottom line is everyone have to try for themselves and find out if the game is right or not for them. Just make sure that you have a good enough rig before trying, if not the experiece will not be good.

  • Krelle #162 4 years ago

    Benno: Never tried the game, to be fair. Just trolling. Wonder whos bitter, eh?

  • Gaol #163 4 years ago

    1sien1

    Go back and read my criticisms and respond to them and I might take you seriously. Your post is a list of assumptions about my motives and PC rig which are all way off base (as you'd know if you had read them). Phattso has done a decent job of defending the game (I doubt you've even played it), so its not like this thread has been one sided

    The thread is dieing out now anyway, it'll be off the front page soon. Can 20 reviewers be wrong? Wait 12 months and we'll see who was right. You keep hiding behind that metacritic score, which as I suggested already, is the primary motive here.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/08 @ 09:10

  • 1simen1 #164 4 years ago

    Gaol, I have read your critisism and all i find is rant, rant ,rant oh and more ranting.

    Not one posetive thing to say. Your posts lack balance which i why i totally disregard them and suspect you have "hidden" motives.

    Note that a game's quality and sucess don't go hand in hand. Gaming history is full of games that were considered great that just did not sell and the other way around.
    Reviewers find AOC to be good, and it has already sold lot's of copies ,wether enough people stay in game to call it a sucess or not is way to early to tell.

    We can agree about one thing though, the answer to this lies in the future.

  • Gaol #165 4 years ago

    My criticisms are not just a rant, and even the other AoC defenders here will back me up on that. You're way of base 1simen1, and not adding anything to the discussion.

  • paulf #166 4 years ago

    @ Gaol - after criticising you earlier in the thread for not presenting your arguments well, I take that back after reading your full critique, you make some very interesting points there and make them well, I salute you for taking the time to do so.

  • Phattso #167 4 years ago

    Just to clear up any perception that there's Gaol on one side and me on the other: I'm not defending the game and all of its issues blindly. Very clearly there are elements in AoC that were rushed, are unfinished, and even that were ill conceived. Buyer beware and all that.

    My sole purpose in posting in this thread has been to simply say this: for everyone like Gaol who thinks the game is an affront to nature with zero merit, there's probably someone like me that's happily plodding through the game and having a great time.

    While Gaol, to his credit, has listed the things he dislikes about the game very clearly I would point out that more than half of them do basically boil down to personal preference, rather than facts that can be set in stone. I like the combat. I find the game to be high on atmosphere. The instancing hasn't been a significant issue for me yet. Some of the visuals are breathtaking. I get a very clear sense of being in a MMORPG world.

    And while Gaol appears (thus far) to be spot on regarding class balance (in that there don't appear to be encounters that utilise specific class functions, as WoW does so well in its dungeons) I'm not convinced that this in any way precludes a group of dungeon runners from, you know, just having some fun. :)

    Anyways, just thought I'd clear that up. As Gaol mentions, once this thread drops off the front page it'll barely get any posts. And maybe in a year AoC will be a footnote in history. But Gaol won't be "proven right" - I'll just be disappointed that a game I'm enjoying didn't go the distance.

    Age of Conan: Not as Shit as You've Been Led to Believe.

    I should work in marketing - that tag line is genius! ;)

  • FortysixterUK #168 4 years ago

    A fair review I'd say, covers the bug issues well but still congratulates the game on being, quite simply, good.

    Closing comment spot on, the next few months and Funcom's addressing of issues will be this titles make or break. For now, my 30 days has run out and I'm in no rush to go back yet...really liked AOC, can see potential for a wow competitor ( but never a wow defeater, simply because wow has gone on for so long , no other reason )

    Maybe I'll pay for another month or two next week...maybe not.....wish play.com would send me one of the 17.99 sixty day play cards I ordered a month ago....

  • Gaol #169 4 years ago

    "But Gaol won't be "proven right" - I'll just be disappointed that a game I'm enjoying didn't go the distance.

    Touche, thats a much bigger concern than my ego getting a boost. Believe it or not, I won't be getting any satisfaction from another mmorpg crash.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/08 @ 11:19

  • Phattso #170 4 years ago

    Well, I meant more "proven right about the game's basic failings" rather than winning teh internetz. :)

  • Gaol #171 4 years ago

    So did I. :)

    I w1n btw ;p
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/08 @ 11:33

  • Phattso #172 4 years ago

    Heh - well as long as I'm bored with it before you and the rest of the AOC Resistance storm their servers and take them offline, I'm happy. ;)

  • oleros #173 4 years ago

    Jebus C.., the amount of time some of you guys put into commenting on a game you hate is just beyond me..Do you half n' half your days into 1.playing MMO's 2. Ranting about how much the MMOs you're not playing suck. No wonder you're in such a terrible mood;).
    In Metacritic 523 users (most of whom probably don't participate in any organised scheme to promote shitty games) has given the game an average of... 7.9!!! Now will you please shut up about the conspiracy theory and leave room for a constructive debate!?!

  • 1simen1 #174 4 years ago

    Gaol, you are not discussing, you are ranting. There is a differece.

    You don't like the game, that is very clear to all here.

    You have an opinion, well here is 3363 more : [link url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofconan hyborianadventures/review.html
    ]http://ww w.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofcona...[/link]

    Gamespot gave it an 8,5/10 and the user average after 3363 votes is 83/100.

    Your user review for this game (if you were to give one) would probably be like this : "this game is really terrible, nothing is like i though it was gonna be. I'll give it a 4/10, utter crap"

    Let it go. Just because you don't like it doesnt mean that the vast majority aren't haveing a ball with it. Even with all the bugs and flaws. They are there but will dissapear overtime with patches and polish.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/08 @ 21:43

  • velimirius #175 4 years ago

    With amount of bugs atm,its not worth money.

  • hula hoops #176 4 years ago

    I preordered AoC, bought the Early Access, played the game for 4 days and stopped.

    I just couldn't handle the awful interface and heavy instancing. The graphics is very good, it ought to be ... I have spent £900 to build a new computer just to play this game.

    My copy of the game is still shrink-wrapped and my account is frozen. I couldn't even bothered registering it now.

    I went back to WoW. Play the same characters again. I should have felt bored playing the game for 2 years now but I don't.

    For me, AoC is a dissapointment. I really wanted it to be very good. My expectation is high and it ends up with nothing.

    I can't give a score for this game because I just haven't played long enough. But from what I have experienced 8/10 is a too generous score to give for this game.

  • dunk #177 4 years ago

    From my own personal opinion, I agree with the original score of 8, because I enjoy it a lot. I played (still play) wow for over 3 years, and was looking forward to this for a while. A lot of the problems that have been mentioned here are valid. But, to be honest, at this moment in time, the only thing worth worrying about is the hardware issue. This game is such a huge resource hog. A lot of the "Our of memory" issues seem to stem from 32bit versions of Vista. 64bit seems fine. You do need a very, very good PC to really enjoy the visuals I believe.

    I'm currently lvl 58, and havent had a problem with quests running out. If I find a broken quest, then I just go and do another one. And later on (past 35 really), the game does encourage you to group up, as Instances have some really good loot in them (Sanctum being the first proper one at around lvl 40ish). I'm playing a Tempest Of Set, and we have just had out first big nerfs this week, to our aoe leveling style, but its fine, its early days still. It's only a month old really. As time moves on, more spells and feats will be added I'm sure. Yes, it seems slow to gain new stuff, but I was so immersed, I didn't really notice that at lvl 40, I was still wearing a few lvl 20 items. Maybe thats a bad thing to some, that you think gear doesnt make that much of an issue, but as soon as I swapped in some lvl 40 items, my defence rating really made a diference (as a caster). The 'Skills' section really needs to be explained better too, as I didnt find out till about lvl 50, that pouring all my skill points into Mana Regen and Mana Attracter makes absolutely no difference if youre not using Rest.

    So, from my own personal point of view, I agree with the 8, but then it's my kind of game. If I was taking into account the wider world, then it would probably get a 5 or 6 due to need of imba pc to fully appreciate it.