Aion: The Tower of Eternity Review

By Oli Welsh Published 21 September, 2009

From here to eternity?

2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5.

After a week playing a Chanter in the open beta for Aion: The Tower of Eternity, NCsoft's new MMO, this sequence of key-presses is hard-coded into the muscle memory my left hand. I can tap it out on a table-top, the rhythm steady, urgent yet patient, hitting every skill's cooldown on the nose. Not a second or a mana point wasted. 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5.

I used this same stone-set sequence to defeat almost every monster I fought between the levels of 10 and 20. There might be slight variations depending on range, or if I'd made a terrible mistake and found myself fighting two enemies at once - but usually, the circumstances of every one-minute combat in the thousands of them I undertook would be exactly the same, because I'd make sure they were. Anything else would be sub-optimal. Anything else would risk dislodging me from the locked-down groove of the grind.

NCsoft has made much of its herculean effort to create, in Aion, an MMO that could appeal to both its Asian heartlands and the WOW-addled masses of the West. Although it was made in South Korea, it was designed with one eye on the Occident from the start, and since its Korean release it has undergone almost a year of additional "culturalisation": tweaking, testing, translating, adding features and content.

However, it turns out that you can take the MMO out of Korea, but you can't entirely take Korea out of the MMO. Like its predecessors the Lineage games, Aion is predominantly about grind. Hypnotic, repetitive, epic grind. It's just that Aion elevates grind to an art form, and handsomely mounts it in a gilt-edged frame.

'Aion: The Tower of Eternity' Screenshot 1

The level bands are tight - two monsters one level above you, or one monster two levels above is a dicey proposition.

This is a deeply traditional massively multiplayer RPG that's been tuned and oiled and lathed down to a perfect, stress-tested, smooth-running efficiency. It's beautiful and flawlessly easy to use. It does everything you expect and nothing you don't - until halfway through its 50 levels, at least. That's when you make your first steps in its central war zone, the Abyss, and things start to get more interesting.

But due to the brief windows and restricted level caps NCsoft has employed in Aion's closed and open beta testing, it hasn't been possible to get a full picture of the Abyss yet - and it won't be for some time after the game's launch this week. Even if you were lucky and dedicated enough to level that far, you were pretty lonely, and the Abyss - which pits the game's two player factions against each other and a third, computer-controlled faction - will only come into its own with enough sufficiently high-level and well-organised players about.

However, we do know a fair bit about it - from the game's Korean launch and from what NCsoft has already said - and that informs this review. We'll return to look at it in more detail in a future re-review.

'Aion: The Tower of Eternity' Screenshot 2

Almost all equipment is socketed and can be improved with the abundant "manastones", adding an extra layer of advancement and customisation.

For a starting player, however, the Abyss is almost irrelevant, because there are dozens of hours of straight-laced questing - and not a great deal else - between you and it. You won't even see the inside of a dungeon, never mind a player from another faction, before level 25. You'll be on your own or grouped with up to five others, running around attractive, slightly surreal fantasy locations, smashing charismatic monsters in the face and occasionally pausing to craft, trade and socialise in Aion's expansive cities.

You'll play as either and Elyos or Asmodian, humanoid races who each occupy one half of Aion's shattered, outside-in planet, Atreia. The Elyos inhabit the sun-blessed half while the grey-skinned Asmodians live in permanent twilight, and have claws and manes - but otherwise, the experience is much the same.

In the classic Korean style, both races are designed to be swoonsome waifs and shampoo hunks by default, but NCsoft has expanded the character customisation parameters considerably for the Western release. A little too much, perhaps. Many players end up looking like catalogue models in a hall of mirrors, with super-deformed, gangling giants and ridiculous midgets skittering around. It makes for an odd clash with the languorous lushness and Gothic majesty of the rest of the game's art, but it is quite funny.

There's no shared content between the races outside of the Abyss, leaving you one, largely linear path to take through the levels. You can start a character of the opposing faction on a different server, but what you find there will be a startlingly similar re-skin of the questing you've already done. Elysium and Asmodae are almost mirror worlds.

Despite the division of your adventuring into a mandatory Campaign thread and regular, optional quests, there's little choice. There's enough to cover your levelling, but only just, so you'll need to do almost every task you're given if you want to avoid pure grinding - and many of the quests are just disguised grind. Diversions from standard-issue kill-counts and measly drop-rates are rare, and you do occasionally hit walls of tough or group-only content that can be tricky to pick your way around or slog through if you insist on soloing. It's a narrow experience.

A good job, then, that the set-dressing is so opulent. There's reams of quest text - puffed up with hot air, but not without charm, and the context and care taken in sketching out the details of this foreign fantasy world is welcome. The striking settings - with their rich, humorous ecology, colourful and cosmopolitan races and fantastical, sometimes haunting atmosphere - are nicely varied and a pleasure to explore. Atreia is a great place to spend time: a vital, but still quite rare quality for an online world.

The easy luxury of the presentation extends to Aion's brilliant user interface: it's quick, clean, comprehensive, comfortable and fuss-free. No mean feat at all in MMOs, a field of gaming which verges on having the same stringent usability requirements as office software.

'Aion: The Tower of Eternity' Screenshot 3

The game's engine, a modified CryEngine, is a beauty: clean and sharp as a fresh paper-cut, smooth as silk, and surprisingly undemanding of your PC.

Combat - at least as far as the feel is concerned - is tight as a drum. Skills execute immediately with bright, punchy sound effects and swift animations. There's a satisfying crispness, a moreish, Pavlovian, knee-jerk enjoyment to key-pounding the relatively hardy monsters into the dust. It turns out that's just as well, because it's all sheen; the depth is an illusion, a reflection in its brightly polished surface.

Although the skills are intuitive, their effects are quite basic, and there's little interaction between them or with the behaviour of enemies or other player classes. Your tactics almost never alter beyond the slotting in of new skills, the lengthening of certain rigid combos, as you level up. With few utility or escape abilities available, opportunities to think on your feet are scarce, and getting out of trouble depends on luck and bloody-minded persistence rather than imagination or skill. Pop your consumables, hope the percentage game plays out in your favour, and stick to your rotation. 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5.

'Aion: The Tower of Eternity' Screenshot 4

The ability set up a personal shop - leaving your character as an automatic vendor hawking your wares on the street - is a cute alternative to the broker that also helps give the towns and cities a lively feel.

Aion's deep-seated conservatism is also evident in the class design. The eight classes - four initially, with a secondary choice at level 10 - are rigidly traditional, with next to no hybridisation or original features at all, apart perhaps from the Chanter, a buff-merchant with adequate skills in both combat and healing. They're all solidly effective (and making the healers relatively durable, with mail armour, is a nice touch) but stolidly unimaginative. This situation is relieved when you get access to the Stigma system later on in the game, allowing you to collect and equip certain skills from other classes or later levels like loot. It's rewarding customisation, but not a substitute for class design that's interesting at its root.

Your class choice at level 10 - at which point your character recovers from a bout of amnesia and remembers it's a Daeva, a kind of demigod - comes with a couple of other perks. The first, famously, is a pair of wings, but these are of very limited use until you reach the broken, floating landmasses of the Abyss later in the game; flight is restricted to certain areas and on a short timer. The second is a class-specific super-ability with its own resource, Daeva Points, which you grind up slowly through combat. It's a useful get-out-of-jail card, and a well-judged death penalty - losing your Daeva Points when you die stings your pride more than it hampers your progress. You lose a little XP too, which can be bought back for cash.

On that subject - gold-sinks are everywhere in this game. Everything in Aion costs you money, and quite a lot of it. It's a shock to the system at first, but it's actually a very balanced economy, going by the thriving player trade in the beta. Feeding into this, crafting is detailed and enjoyable, with some great rewards. It's not mandatory, however, since there are plenty of ready sources of good loot in the game; quest rewards are plentiful, regular enemies drop some nice pieces and the armour sets are stunningly detailed and covetable. You won't have any trouble figuring out what boosts are for you, either, thanks to Aion's self-explanatory stat system.

Beyond the somewhat shallow, prescriptive combat, it's hard to pick holes in Aion. Community, economy, persistence, customisation, long-term advancement - all these peripheral areas, so often shaky in an MMO's early days, are carefully thought-out. Everything feels taut and considered, assembled from NCsoft's wealth of experience in online gaming as well as a careful study of what World of Warcraft did right (albeit what it did right five years ago - like most rivals, NCsoft is still some way from catching up with what Blizzard is doing right today).

But, pre-Abyss, it's very, very samey. And when you do get to level 25 - when Aion starts to show its true colours - there is no guarantee that you're going to like what you find.

Like Warhammer Online, Aion seems like an MMO for the everyman on the surface, but actually has a very specific agenda. This, embodied in the Abyss, is the concept of PvPvE (player-versus-player-versus-environment): the three-way clash between the two players races and the crazed, dragon-like Balaur. It's a mix of questing, skirmishing with other players, raiding and being raided by the Balaur, capturing "artifacts" (control points which convey buffs to your side), and waging large-scale, organised and (going by footage from Korean servers) spectacular siege warfare over the very valuable fortresses. All of this rewards you with Abyss Points, the key currency for the best endgame loot.

'Aion: The Tower of Eternity' Screenshot 5

It's a shame that play-fields on a single server had to be divided into separate, instanced "channels" that you often need to switch between to find party members.

To get the most out of Aion, you're going to have to engage with the Abyss, get organised with other players, and enjoy both PvP and PvE. In this game, the two are almost inseparable. It seems to be a compelling system, and after a good run in Korea, it will probably be well-balanced. But it won't be to all tastes, it will depend on large player populations with strong leadership, and there are few alternatives to indulge in.

Instanced dungeons offering a more focused PvE challenge are quite rare before the very highest levels. Similarly, PvP is tightly controlled by level, and only available in open-world areas, with the city Coliseums offering the solitary opportunity for a jump-in, casual bout. Outside the Abyss - where raiding parties are able to use Rifts to travel to the opposing faction's side - it's hard to find a scrap when you want one, and hard to avoid one when you don't.

'Aion: The Tower of Eternity' Screenshot 6

The useful dictionary of items, locations, enemies and NPCs, with map links, is a great and relatively spoiler-free alternative to the more explicit quest guides out there.

You'll either like the sound of this singular blend of MMO play-styles or you won't. If you do and are prepared to take the quality and sustainability of the high-level content on trust, for now - trust which, to be fair, the game seems to deserve - I'd recommend it. Aion's particular vision is built on a rock-solid if uninspired foundation, a meticulous mastery of the traditional MMORPG form. It might as well have been made by Toyota or Volkswagen. It won't let you down.

If you don't like the sound of the Abyss, however - if you're the sort of player who likes an online world to bend to your whim, rather than bend you to its own - then committing to Aion is a gamble, because there's not much else to be wrung from it but the grind. A streamlined, structured, gorgeous grind, an addictive and even rewarding grind if you're that way inclined, but a grind nonetheless. An ultimately grim and unvarying pursuit. A string of key-presses, in the same endlessly repeating sequence, reaching to the moon and back. 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5...

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (106) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • tonynibbles #1 2 years ago

    Well that worked.
    Edited by 1 at 22/09/09 @ 10:02

  • Widge #2 2 years ago

    "aaaaah-aaaaaah"
    I like that track!

  • Dizzy #3 2 years ago

    This didn't do anything for me but it will probably offer some good many hours for people who are tired of "their" Fantasy MMO of choice. I do hope you like pastel colours ;) Review is clear on the strong and weak points. Well done.

  • joe90 #4 2 years ago

    played the beta, and the limited mmo time I have is now back at wow again.. which 'for me' i prefer.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 12:08

  • ZuluHero #5 2 years ago

    2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5

    Is any MMO any different?

    My rogue in WoW was 2,2,2,1,2,2,2,3,5

  • TriggerHippie #6 2 years ago

    That key press sequence wore me down in the first week of open beta resulting in a cancelled pre-order. Its a lovely looking game and gets an awful lot right but I just didn't find it engaging enough. This'll please some folk right enough and good on em, there's a lot to like. But it's just not my bag, baby :p

  • Chufty #7 2 years ago

    This game is a polished, balanced representation of everything that is wrong with MMOs. It's panfully, woefully generic. I hope you all like arbitary grinding.

  • ZuluHero #8 2 years ago

    There is no grinding that I have seen thus far. Like the reviewer says, as long as you do nearly all the quests.

    Strange how he didn’t mention the things that sets it apart from wow, like the in-game “Aion Dictionary”. And the new content for 1.5 (the launch client) with additional raid encounters and more instances and quests.

    And what has EG learned about reviewing open betas? Firstly it was capped to 30 and secondly there was a limited user base – only a fraction of which could be bothered to reach that cap, because they knew their hard work would be wiped and it would all mean nothing, hence why it was so barren at those levels.

    The game is brimming with people atm.
    Edited by 2 at 21/09/09 @ 11:26

  • Koozer #9 2 years ago

    2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5

    Is any MMO any different?

    1,3,4,hold 2,shift,hold 2,6
    or
    1,3,hold 5

    Guess the game and win a prize.

    Oh yeah, Aion...First time I logged in I thought it looked like it was trying to be like WoW, with very similar pastel textures done in a freehand style. After an hour or so of playing I realised it played like WoW too. I can't stand tapping a button, staring at the screen doing nothing for 3 seconds, then repeating ad nauseum any more. I can't stand the Eastern art stylings either. Personally if I ever wanted to play a bog standard MMO again, I'd go back to WoW.

    So if you don't mind the silly graphical style, the average combat mechanics and the niggling feeling you've played it before, this is the game for you!
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 11:31

  • Raitasar #10 2 years ago

    I'm not sure at this stage that they have much of a choice other than to review the beta test, stating carefully how their information on topics without first hand experience was gleaned.

    They do re-review MMO games frequently, often more than once when significant content patches are added. I'm sure they'll do this with Aion when the time calls for it.

  • ps3owner #11 2 years ago

    can you not write a macro to shorten this to one key press...

  • YobRenoops #12 2 years ago

    Oli wins a pristine collection of three internets for use of the word Occident.

  • CordableTuna #13 2 years ago

    "2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5."

    I was sooo hoping those were the review scores Oli was thinking about while playing, but no such luck. :)

  • cianchristopher #14 2 years ago

    This probably isn't the right place to ask, but I'll go ahead!

    I don't *get* MMOs. I don't see the point of them! Can anyone tell me what makes them rewarding gameplay experiences?

  • DDevil #15 2 years ago

    I'm not normally one to bitch about the score at the end... But this got a higher mark than Champions Online. The text suggested a very negative experience, so I'm rather surprised.

  • Aname #16 2 years ago

    "An ultimately grim and unvarying pursuit."
    7/10 - Good.

    Uhm..

  • Anufea #17 2 years ago

    Great review, mirroring my impressions from the open beta. Once again well done, Oli!

  • butler` #18 2 years ago

    Expected at 6, but got an 'on the fence' 7 omgosh

  • Tiiti #19 2 years ago

    Well, I for one love this game. It's given me the same kinda fuzzy feeling WoW use to give me :)

  • dbranchevans #20 2 years ago

    Think its a fair review, albeit I've never encountered an MMO that didn't have grind and a few people have already made the good point about key pressing in WOW. Personally it sounds like I'd hate it, the reason I enjoy games like COD4 or Guild Wars over this is they trick you into thinking your advancing whilst not ravaging your wallet to do so. Ultimately like the rest it'll live or die on its community so I'll wait for the re-review before deciding.

  • ZuluHero #21 2 years ago

    +1 Tiiti

    Thats exactly what i got from it! I guess that either the world just clicks for you or it doesn't (as with Oli).

    Persoanally, I've never seen an MMO look so nice, pay so much attention to incidental stuff (like the idle anims changing when it rains, or your standing in water, or in the heat, or the cold), and be as smoothly playable as Aion is atm.
    Edited by 2 at 21/09/09 @ 12:17

  • Mircy #22 2 years ago

    DP stand for Divine Power not Daeva Points moron.

  • persus-9 #23 2 years ago

    Whenever I read a fantasy MMO review it boils down to one question for me and I'm sure thousands of people like me: why should I buy this rather than go crawling back to WoW? Once again the answer seems to be "the graphics are prettier and we've got a slightly different take on large scale PvP". Sorry, wrong answer. WoWs graphics are still acceptable to me and swaping WoWs several decent PvP styles that I know I find quite fun for one that may or may not be any good isn't worth the gamble in terms of money or levelling time. I had a little fun messing about in the beta for Aion but I really can't imagine I'll ever paying for it.

  • wowami #24 2 years ago

    Can anyone comment on the Gameguard install please?

  • joe90 #25 2 years ago

    7.. yes a 7 Yarr..

  • Dizzy #26 2 years ago

    "1,3,4,hold 2,shift,hold 2,6
    or
    1,3,hold 5

    Guess the game and win a prize. "


    Champions obviously ;)

  • ZuluHero #27 2 years ago

    @wowami

    I don't think GG is being used atm.

  • Mellissa #28 2 years ago

    At 8pm BSTlast night: Server is full. At 10:30pm night... You are in a queue position 2182/2182. Est time: 3hrs 56mins.
    Game started at about 12:45am

    Aion said they had 400,000 pre-orders. Server and character selections were made last Fiday starting at 8:20pm BST.
    So why the hell didn't they know what resources they'd need to cope with all the players?
    NCsoft tech at their usual best.

  • Inigo #29 2 years ago

    I really have no idea whether i want to give this a try. A 7 is the worst type of score for that.

    I do like the art style on the characters, a nice change from WOW.

  • JammyPez #30 2 years ago

    Not better than Conan when it first came out then? Oops! :p

  • spudsbuckley #31 2 years ago

    Personally if I ever wanted to play a bog standard MMO again, I'd go back to WoW.

    WoW is the best MMO ever if not one of the best games ever. This game is probably ok but it's pretty much only going to do well in Korea because it's Lineage 3.

  • kestral #32 2 years ago

    The way the game was picked apart in the article for me does not correlate to the amount of fun i'm having with it.
    I feel it is a bit like reviewing a particular 7/10 novel as 'a series of chapters with a clear backstory and suitable ending' rather than a 'A dramatic, exciting and scarily believable novel'. And in particular pointing to the quest an story as filled with hot air for me is an indication that you missed part of the experience that makes Aion so great. A team of established western fantasy writers has spent a long time rewriting the text and it would be a shame to just click through it and see the quest as another grind.

    I felt really braindead with some other mmo's after a while so its refreshing to be able to immerse so such a degree in a well crafted fantasy world without elves and ogres. :)
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 12:36

  • Zoink #33 2 years ago

    Surely this should be a preview? Seems a bit unfair reviewing an MMO before it's even released with all the beta restrictions in place.

  • grenade_master #34 2 years ago

    "Can anyone comment on the Gameguard install please? "
    Gameguard has been deactivated till further notice just before the release.

    I am happy with the game atm. The servers are rock solid right from the start, the game is polished.


    Edit: To Melissa
    Sorry you were too slow! ^_^
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 12:47

  • JahB #35 2 years ago

    DP stand for Divine Power not Daeva Points moron.

    as far as the world is concerned, that stands for Double Penetration. get a life

  • uglygamer #36 2 years ago

    Is the first line of the review, your Wii's friends code?

  • DodgyPast #37 2 years ago

    This probably isn't the right place to ask, but I'll go ahead!

    I don't *get* MMOs. I don't see the point of them! Can anyone tell me what makes them rewarding gameplay experiences?
    For me it's the experience of sharing a vast fantasy world with many other people.

    For me this is what makes EVE so amasing, since a lot of the real challenges come from the conflict between the ways people want to play the game within the universe CCP have created. When something as dull as hauling fuel to run your own space station can becomes heart thumpingly exciting when you trying to get a slow and clumsy ship through lawless space.... this spiced by the fact that the things out to get you are infact real people hoping to loot your wreck.

    As a result you'll want o team up with your friends to scout... thus making it an MMO.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 12:50

  • spatss #38 2 years ago

    No WoW killer, apparently.

  • spudsbuckley #39 2 years ago

    The game that kill WoW will be WoW 2.

  • Gaol #40 2 years ago

    Really good review of the *opening* content of Aion - firm but fair, every pro and con checked off. My only disagreement is that it gives the impression the grind is a lengthy one - reaching level 25 and the Abyss is actually surprisingly fast.

    Worth noting that Aion launches in a much better state than most recent releases that have score higher on EG - and that EG changed their review policy on MMOs recently to represent 'actual' and not 'potential' - so this '7' is a good score for a title with fairly niche appeal.

    Also worth noting, that by all accounts the real action starts at level 25. We'll see ...

  • Rubarack #41 2 years ago

    Sounds like a vision of hell to me quite honestly.WoW has an awful lot of this kind of thing outside of the instances pre level 60 but you can always get away from it, DDO got rid of it entirely and Champions/City of Heroes flirted with the idea of dropping it before nerfing it back in. But for an MMO to embrace it so enthusiastically sounds a lot worse than a second job.

  • Shikasama #42 2 years ago

    WoW is the best MMO ever if not one of the best games ever.

    Oh dear. It isn't. On so many levels it isn't. This is from a player of three years.

  • Tyranix #43 2 years ago

    So many things wrong with this "review" I won't even cover them all. Saying that I think 7 is a fair score, but the content of the write up is very poor for you Oli.

  • duckncover #44 2 years ago

    @Koozer

    It's Champions Online, which has its own issues.

    Going to pick up Aion later this week. It will tide me over until SWTOR launches which is the MMO I am looking forward to the most.

  • joe90 #45 2 years ago

    @Shikasama ... so how many other games have you played that much for three years...???

  • spudsbuckley #46 2 years ago

    Oh dear. It isn't. On so many levels it isn't. This is from a player of three years.

    What MMO is better, besides maybe EVE?

  • 4thVariety #47 2 years ago

    Always the same with MMOs. Lots of players in one level drive up the lag, high lag means input delay, input delay ruins all gameplay based around reacting to what your enemy does, and the result is two people in front of each other executing their combat moves with no interaction to each other whatsoever.

    So I guess it'll still take a while for Ninja Gaiden style combat to hit an online game.

  • Shikasama #48 2 years ago

    Hah, I'm totally not getting into a 'WoW sux/WoW rox' argument. There are no winners there, just sad pandas.

  • sneetch #49 2 years ago

    @spudsbuckley
    The game that kill WoW will be WoW 2.

    Naw, WoW 2 won't kill WoW. Won't even wound it unless they let you bring your characters across from WoW.

  • spudsbuckley #50 2 years ago

    Hah, I'm totally not getting into a 'WoW sux/WoW rox' argument. There are no winners there, just sad pandas.

    Can't come up with one so.

  • Gaol #51 2 years ago

    "WoW is the best MMO ever if not one of the best games ever.

    Oh dear. It isn't. On so many levels it isn't. This is from a player of three years. "

    Only took you three years to figure that out? :p

  • mkreku #52 2 years ago

    Judging from my experience with the beta, 7 is pretty high for this game. I'd have scored it lower.

    One quest line for everyone in the game to follow (most of those quests being grind quests), generic combat, generic crafting, generic enemies, no instances for a looong time and so on. I played as an assassin, but I felt like Generio McGeneric of the Generic Klan. I mean, there was nothing assassin-y in the way the game played out for me. Even my stealth was on a ~30 second timer! And the wings were only used in two zones.. for about 60 seconds at a time.

    My key sequence was 7, 8, 9 (in quick order: stealth and two backstab boost skills that last for like 3-10 seconds), 4 (backstab), 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3 (and so on until whatever I was fighting died). Horribly predictable. And my backstab still did minuscule amounts of damage, a normal critical hit did more! I hated that.

    But the game does look good, I'll give it that.

  • shellyc #53 2 years ago

    an MMO lives and dies based on its community and what that community invest in terms of time and their lives into it, that will be the test for Aion and why people cant tear themselves away from WoW. WoW is life for many people, their characters are an extension of themselves, they are not about to give it up for anything short of an amazing game, if at all.

    I think people need to stop comparing Aion to Wow, alot of people have been plodding about WoW waiting for something new top step upto the plate, this is that something new for alot of people. So I say give Aion a chance, only time will tell...

  • Shikasama #54 2 years ago

    No spud, but it was rabid Warcraft fanboys that made me leave the game, so I choose not to spend my free time arguing with them now. Any intelligent player recognises Warcraft's failings.

  • Gaol #55 2 years ago

    @Crofto

    The player vendor isn't new, it's common to Eastern releases.. FFXI had them.

    Also, I have to agree with the reviewer on the player customisation. I love the good looking avatars in Aion, Lineage etc.; and I think having some players looking like the small headed aliens from Beetlejuice detracts from this somewhat.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 13:58

  • Arktik #56 2 years ago

    I don't know about this one.. Will have to give it a try. Personally I think WoW is and will be at the top for a long time..and even if WoW 2 does come along eventually Blizz will surely develop a way to transfer your toon over. I doubt they would just leave it all behind.

    Second thought they probably won't even make a WoW 2 just because why? They can just patch it or release another expansion that either updates the graphics or add's new areas.

    I think they will end up making another sort of MMORPG rather then a WoW 2. Anyone agree?

    I'd much rather see the Fallout MMORPG come to life.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 14:36

  • Synthesis #57 2 years ago

    Every MMO has some sort of grind, they always have long term goals that are generally time consuming to reach and they love to periodically move the goalposts in a classic attempt at keeping you hooked. The more you play the more committed you find yourself and the more accepting of these new goal posts you will be. You know deep down that you've spent 1000 hours working hard on your character and that it's really too much to ask you to spend another 200 hours on the new 'necessary' raids/quests/levels in order to obtain the new 'necessary' skills, lest your 1000 hour character falls behind and becomes ultimately weak and pointless compared to the newly skilled characters around you.

    MMO designers these days are so afraid of letting you reach the end, they are so afraid of you maxing out your skills, getting the best gear and fighting your enemies with it. They want you to be always looking for the next cool item, trying to fit the new skills into your style, buying the next expansion pack because all the effort you previously put in will be worthless unless you have access to the new content.

    Ultima Online is about the only MMO to have ever been happy to let you reach the 'end', happy not to have a huge array of Diablo style items for you to spend forever trying to obtain, happy not to move the goal posts once or twice a year and most of all happy to let the players run as much of the economy as possible. At least all of this was true until EA bought OSI and took UO closer and closer towards Diablo and further away from Ultima.

    No matter what MMO you play, almost everyone should be able to agree that the main attraction of all these games is the fact you are playing in a persistent world with thousands of other people. For once your effort in creating a strong and interesting character seems warranted, unlike the time you spent untold hours on a single player RPG and found the time you got to enjoy your wonderful character strictly limited before the game was over.

    There is nothing like playing against/with/around humans in a multiplayer environment, it's just a shame that all the MMO designers these days seem stuck on the notion that they must keep you trying to beat the machine too.

    I tried Aion a couple of times and it's a perfectly fun MMO, there's plenty to keep the hardcore player occupied but it also allows the casual players to have fun too. Ultimately every MMO comes down to how much time you spend playing it and those who play a lot will always be ahead, Aion is no exception but that should not be considered a flaw, as long as MMO designers are intent on making games with every shifting time consuming goal posts then it's more of a feature that they all share, rather than a specific flaw.

    I am not a fan of enforced faction based PvP myself, there are far better ways of allowing people to fight that ensure a whole lot more competition, excitement and longevity than some artificially engineered 'conflict' restricted to specific 'zones' with rules.

    The enjoyment of these games is entirely down to the people you are playing with/around/against and this should be the deciding factor on whether you play any MMO. You can have the best graphics you've ever seen coupled with divine gameplay and it all counts for nothing if you have no one there to enjoy it with.

  • Shikasama #58 2 years ago

    Synthesis - a good point for sure, but let us not forget that many of the problems with an MMO will come from the players. Whether it is attitude, player made 'rules', elitism or simple internet dickery, the very fact that an MMO is what it is can detract an awful lot from the actual game.

  • sesskie #59 2 years ago

    You know, I remeber when back in the day an MMO would launch and most reputable reviewers would publish their reviews only 4 weeks later, so they could report on how the game felt in a live envioronment. I guess after the fallout of Darkfall, Eurogamer hasnt learnt to spend adequate tme with a product, and has gone ahead and published a review before the game has even oficialy been released. Regardless, some noteworthy comments:

    1. Grind - hello? this is a MMO. You are going to kill shit and you are going to quest a lot to level up. You are going to repeat tasks over and over to hit your cap, even wunderkind WoW does it. Why bitch about this in Aion? All MMOs do the same. At least Aion lets you quest to your cap, unlike other games at lauch (CO, Conan). Also, as others mention, the "grind to 25" isnt as long as its made out to be. In Open Beta I made it to 15 in 2 days. Maybe the reviewer is the impatient type?

    2. Shallow Combat system - So what, I assume even WoW at level 25 was the epitome of depth and complexity? Please level past 25 first, the you can comment on the depth or complexity (or lack thereof) of the combat system, which as far as I am concerned at least offers more variety than WoW. But again, 2, 2, 5, 3, 6, 2 - Welcome to MMOs. Its the same in all WoW/EQ/Lotro style MMOs. Why pick on Aion? ITs not reinventing the wheel, much like WoW didnt when it came out.

    7/10 is a fair score, but those two points wre the ones that dint sit well with me. And the fact its a review based on a week's playtime in OPEN BETA. For shame.

  • optimusprym8 #60 2 years ago

    I thought DP meant "Death Penalty" in MMOs

  • Kerome #61 2 years ago

    Actually, most people who play MMOs have it terribly backward.
    .
    .
    .
    The grind and the game mechanics are merely an excuse to enjoy a bit of adventure in another world, instead of the other way around. Gear and grinding and theorycrafting are just the gamey backdrop for lore and environments, and on that level Aion actually does quite well.

    I very much doubt I will still be playing it in a year's time, but I will enjoy it for a couple of months, it's very pretty, occasionally interesting, and not too stressful.

  • The_Realist #62 2 years ago

    I'm confused... Is this review based on the Beta or the Asian version?

  • Kerome #63 2 years ago

    It's based on the Headstart - the servers in north america and in europe are now open, but only to people who pre-ordered through the pre-order scheme in shops or online. Officially it launches in a few days, but the people who are now playing don't get their characters wiped or anything.

  • Averice #64 2 years ago

    WoW is a better game. Aion is a better MMO. That's been my conclusion so far. Aion is more traditional than WoW.

  • lucifonz #65 2 years ago

    Game deserves an 8 if you ask me, from what I've played so far. Been absolutely loving it, its one of the most polished MMOs since LOTRO. No its not going to top WoW, but man what is? Much like WoW did it borrows elements from the best in MMO's and then often has its own twist on things. The world and music is absolutely stunning. I definitely recommend it

  • Instinct #66 2 years ago

    I'm really enjoying it, to be honest.

    Yes, its not doing much different. If you don't like MMOs/don't like WoW, I doubt you'll like this. What it does it does very very well, IMO. Lots and lots of polish, and I think polish is the most important thing in an MMO, particularly at launch. You can tell instantly when you start up Vanguard or LOTRO or others, from the animation, the walking around, the combat, and UI, how much polish it has had, and Aion has had a lot.

    I can see why people say its a generic MMO, because its not offering much new, but if like me, you aren't bored of the MMO formula and you've got some mates playing, I'd definitely give it a go.

  • spengos #67 2 years ago

    Eurogamer, IMO this shouldn't be described as a review. If you want to mark the game for "first impressions" then fair enough. But to "review" the game when you haven't played it properly isn't doing the game justice OR the people who come on here to read it.

  • YenRug #68 2 years ago

    Well, it's not always supermodels you can make, I went for fat Elvis after finding his name was still free on preselection:

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=0M8LvMiuSAU

  • tnomad #69 2 years ago

    I must say this was quite a poor review. A lot of criticism seemed to be reminders that you're playing an MMO. Rather than playing an FPS and complaining repeatedly you'll mainly be shooting lots of enemies games should be reviewed in the context of their genre.

  • ZuluHero #70 2 years ago

    Because pressing the 8 buttons on a controller is oh so different...

    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 16:35

  • Mr_Gallows #71 2 years ago

    When reading the review I don't see how it can support a 7/10 score. A polished turd is still a turd.

  • Hypercube #72 2 years ago

    And in your case Mr_Gallows, a tard is still a tard.

  • Mr_Gallows #73 2 years ago

    @hypercube

    If history could have planned for someone like you, the alphabet or language would never have been discovered. Now just stfu and get on with your irrelevant puny and remarkably simple life.

  • Mr_Gallows #74 2 years ago

    @Jozzy

    Yeah it's a shame when you notice obvious flaws in reviews that reveal that the reviewer may not have bothered playing long enough to give a fair review. I have tried Aion though and while I agree that it's super polished, nice looking and everything. Gameplay is absolutely old school in the worst possible shitty way.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 18:36

  • Roxette #75 2 years ago

    Spudsbuckly wrote: "The game that kill WoW will be WoW 2"

    Well, I think the only game that will kill WoW is WoW itself

  • Scimarad #76 2 years ago

    I absolutely love the world from my very limited impressions of it. And it seems very easy to just solo compared to something like FFXI which really was a grind.

  • butler` #77 2 years ago

    dno why people are moaning about this being too early for a review etc when EG have a policy of re-reviewing MMOs anyway

    and lol at the people saying WoW isn't possibly the 'best' MMO ever but not daring to present an alternative

  • davisorle #78 2 years ago

    Minus a few more points for the bad PvP... for me it has to go down to 6/10 if not 5. Another waisted MMO for me. Just my damn lack. Wish they could combine a AoC with a WoW PvP. Id pay double monthly for that.

  • DarkBytes #79 2 years ago

    TBH I think the reviewer and a lot of commenters here are a little wow bias, you just cant see out of that wow box

  • Kami #80 2 years ago

    People looking for a WoW killer, I hate to disappoint you but what will kill WoW is... well... WoW. The route it has been heading for some considerable time is slowly ebbing away at numerous weak points, and it will just get to a stage where it can no longer go on. Cataclysm is, more or less, their attempt at "redesigning" the game to give it a couple more years at best but there are so many problems to go with that - and so much of the old content will disappear forever - that long-term players are just getting disillusioned, whilst newer ones will wonder what the fuss was about.

    And WotLK is a prime example that I don't even think Blizzard quite get it. Naxx40 was always, by the old players (myself included), considered one of the most beautifully crafted raids. It was tough and challenging but fair and interesting. Naxx25 is a pale, poor imitation of that old content and yes, they had to adjust it for 10 and 25 man versions but somehow, somewhere, something got lost. And now people hate Naxx. To new players, it's a dreary and simple walk in the park and to old players, it is an example of how you can take a great old raid and balls it up so badly that it hurts. Cataclysm, and the redesign, is going down the same route - so yes, WoW is what will kill WoW in the end, especially if Blizzard continue to miss the point as to why people still enjoy the older content over the newer content. Because, perhaps, old Blizzard and old WoW rewarded and challenged far more than new WoW?

    As for Aion, it's grind-tastic. And yes, that is fun. Will it be sustainable long-term? Well, that depends entirely on the content they have added in 1.5, doesn't it? It is, however, one of the purest forms of grind I've seen in a long time and it drops more or less all the gimmicks and the distractions to focus entirely on what it is - a grind, but a beautiful, measured and lovingly crafted grind, sweetened gently with some lighthearted and interesting plot. Aion is by no means perfect though and I happen to loathe, hate and despise the crafting system - not that it is bad, or polished, but because grind on top of grind is just too much, and when droprates on flux are so damn low you'll either spend a lot on buying them from other players or a chunk of otherwise enjoyable story grind just grinding mobs, and that is not fun.

    I still think as it stands, it's a 6/10. It's pure, it's clean and it is largely inoffensive. But it doesn't evolve the market in any way, it doesn't radically change anything - it is just "Pure Condensed MMO". If that is all you want, then it really is worth sticking with I guess.

    But just, this is what replaced Tabula Rasa? Sorry NCSoft. It's not even close to as good, as fun and quite frankly it doesn't make me feel anything like I felt in TR. And yes, thank you for the free collectors pack and month of play for being one of those who stuck with TR to the bitter end but in reality, I've seen the future. And it is Champions Online for me.

    I don't want more of the same. I played WoW for nearly five years. Tabula Rasa was the closest thing to being brilliant as I've seen in a long time, and yes Garriot was a twonk and I understand when he walked a lot of the funding disappeared, but it had - and if opened up for fans to develop for, still does have - a lot more to give. Until Tabula Rasa sees a resurrection to rival Jesus (and I do hope for a Tabula Rasa resurrection), Aion just reminds me that some companies are still playing it way too safe, way too clean and trying to keep it within the peramiters that it will rob WoW of some players. And let me be frank, that is the market that will play your game for a month or two and go back to WoW at the next pretty gimmick. You do not want to be stealing WoW's players. That is the greatest fallacy of the whole industry.

    The future... is not World of Warcraft.

  • Trikk #81 2 years ago

    I have no idea why people were looking forward to this.

    Oh right, graphics.

  • foadiron #82 2 years ago

    "its one of the most polished MMOs since LOTRO."

    Is this the same LOTRO with the incredible stutter and awful popup?

  • foadiron #83 2 years ago

    "and lol at the people saying WoW isn't possibly the 'best' MMO ever but not daring to present an alternative"

    They did: Eve Online. Also, IMO, by a million miles, UO too. Warhammer as well if it wern't for the awful stutter.

  • levitate #84 2 years ago

    I'm quite interested in getting Champions Online too. Just to try it out for a month and see where it's heading. Aion seems to be too much of a grind for my taste. Besides, this whole fantasy thing is getting dreary.

  • Scimarad #85 2 years ago

    Champions is very solo friendly but it can get a little dull if you are on your own. We do have an EG supergroup.
    Edited by 1 at 22/09/09 @ 09:46

  • Ecks #86 2 years ago

    "2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5."

    This must be the most idiotic comment on a game mechanic I've seen in a game review, in years. Game review I said? Sorry, but this is a libel. 7/10? Huh?
    Then again, you are the same people gave that glorified tech demo called crysis a 9.

    Aion will succeed because the things it does, while not unique (most of it anyway) it implements them very very well. It does not claim to be the most revolutionary MMO of all time, it does have some good ideas though.

    So Oli, your review 2/10.FAIL

  • bigbadbeasty #87 2 years ago

    I have to agree with you Ecks.

    Considering Oli is a WoW fan it seems absurd to complain about spell rotations. Levelling a mage in WoW can be just 1, 1, 1... Frostbolt, frostbolt, frostbolt. The whole game and all classes are based around sometime of spell/skill rotation, maybe WoW should be marked down....

  • butler` #88 2 years ago

    They did: Eve Online. Also, IMO, by a million miles, UO too. Warhammer as well if it wern't for the awful stutter.

    not really, someone arguing the same point as me simply suggested EVE as one that at least wouldn't get laughed at

    WAR on the other hand...........

  • BruntFCA #89 2 years ago

    Actually, ignoring the score the review made it seem quite good!

  • sesskie #90 2 years ago

    @Kami

    You hit it prety much right on the head, since WotLK the growing momentum wow had seems to have hit a plateau and I have a feeling that plateau will become more evident with the release of Cataclysm, when people get tired of the same old thing and decide to move on to the next thing.

    What Bliz have failed to realize in WotLK, is that the crack, the drug in WoW that raiders eternally chase, is the high they get from an "epic kill", from a boss never killed before. In TBC you toiled months at an instance and when you got the last boss down, you got that rush, that epic kill, that feeling that pumped you up to continue your progress in the next instance.

    And what do we have in WotLK? Faceroll modes, and superhardcore modes. By the time you gear up enough and practise enough to clear a hardmode, youve kiled that boss already 20 times in easy mode, and your "epic kill" has never happened. You seriously expect me to feel puped when I kill Arthas in 25man mode, when I´ll probably have killed him in a 10man raid weeks before?

    This feeling of disillusionment has cheapened the game, cheapened the experience of raiding, and no matter how many carrots of shiny new tier sets they dangle before our noses, the general feeling that WoW has reached the end of tis peak, is unescapable, and its only a matter of time before people find that "high" in some other game.
    Edited by 1 at 22/09/09 @ 14:17

  • levitate #91 2 years ago

    Well said sesskie. I think that's definitely what is happening. But people have invested a lot of time and money into WoW and they're not about to abandon their characters. Blizzard know this and that's why they've introduced the faction/sex/color/whatever change. To spice things up. To me that cheapens the game even more.

  • cmdmd #92 2 years ago

    It is comical how everything gets compared to World of Warcraft. That game is a polished turd, so far. It had it's appeal, but it belongs in a dust bin right now. People forget how WoW had its issues right from the get-go and had very little endgame content. Combat in WoW seemed designed by a group of retarded 5 year olds. I am amused by how the author mocked the game by typing "2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5". On Warcraft, you could right click on a creature and watch it die over time, with auto attack. I did play WoW on and off for 4 years, I liked it, but, it seemed better at creating habits rather than being a really good game. Aion is a good game, nothing will be the end-all, there will be no fabled "WoW Killers". Instead, there will be a few games that will take away from WoW's base and eventually, it will come down to Blizzard's do or die...they'll gave to make a new game or watch their 800 pound gorilla get old and die. Aion will be polished as WoW did, and we will only see its true potential in about 3-6 months. In the mean time, WoW fanboys can keep their grindfest. I, for one, swore off MMo's altogether.

    Cheers from a Yank

  • dmcg #93 2 years ago

    So you reviewed a MMO in 30/48 hours ? How about be proffessional next time or didnt you learn from Darkfall Eurogamer?

  • YourMessageHere #94 2 years ago

    Loving all these comments that basically can't divorce grind from the idea of an MMO. Grind is no more needful in an MMO than it is in any singleplayer game - it's there because it's much easier to make games that way than work at creating an alternative, not because it's a necessarily integral part of the MMO.

  • KonZ3N #95 2 years ago

    Agree with the review, but the score of 7/10 should have been 6/10 or 6.5/10

    Yes, it is polished because its been released ages ago in other regions already. But the very basic elements of a generic mmo is their, nothing new about all the features. Just been added a few tweaks then refurbished them to give it a lasting appeal to the market.

  • Allish #96 2 years ago

    Way too early to write a review on a game, and also.. based on beta?
    Lol, this site really is unprofessional... The max lvl is 50, he COULD not hit more than lvl 30 - dont write a fucking review unless you've played the entire game, and there is no way he experienced the pvp that most people actually play the game for..

    This is a preview, write the review after playing the game, not a re-review after your first impressions
    lol nuubz
    Edited by 1 at 24/09/09 @ 23:07

  • Averice #97 2 years ago

    MMO's do not require grinding, that's true, I misspoke. As a traditional MMO, or MMORPG I suppose, Aion is wonderful. It has the nostalgic feel of old school MMO's while not being ridiculous, like most old school MMO's were. I personally love to compare it to vanilla WoW. This is not a new age MMO, anybody who comes to it thinking it is will be disappointed. They aren't trying to push boundaries, and honestly, that's part of what I like about it. When you have a genre where every single boundary pusher for the past 5 years (since WoW was released) has been a major flop, it's nice to have a playable and enjoyable experience. Aion isn't meant to be knew, it's meant to combine some of the best elements of past MMORPG's, much like WoW did, but it's going in a different direction. Right now, WoW forces the entire player base to grind while not rewarding players based on the grinding they do, so many players end up unrewarded for their efforts. Bad policy in an MMORPG.

  • Henrik_se #98 2 years ago

    @YourMessageHere:

    I agree that the grind is not an integral part of an MMO, in the same way it's not an integral part of a single-player RPG. However, the grind is integral to the business model of a subscription-based game. You need to keep people hooked for a long period of time, and you can't create content with the same speed as it is consumed, so you need to stretch the content, and there you have the grind.

    Single-player games have the luxury of choosing to be short instead, because they've already got your money, although there are games with "filler levels" which is the grind by another name.

  • YourMessageHere #99 2 years ago

    @ Henrik_se:

    You have a point, but then again, look at Eve. You don't have to grind, necessarily, because the time hook is not in repetition but in the player progression system; you set your skills training and they take a set time, during which you can do anything you want. Eve has its own problems, of course, chief among them being that the actual gameplay was far too dry and uninvolving, but it's a good example of grind not being integral.

    Another thing that's not really explored is proceedural generation of content; a generator that creates missions/quests/jobs that are randomised within certain boundaries would surely be better than repeating the same exact mission over and over? My former flatmate was WoW addicted, and he used to do the same handful of quests daily for at least 90 minutes because they were the best way of getting the cash and reputation and so on that he needed for PvP equipment, which was what he actually wanted to do with WoW. The same few jobs in the same places doing the same things, when there's the entire game world out there, being neglected. The size and complexity of the modern MMO ought to make a random job generator a much more interesting alternative to that.

  • magocracy #100 2 years ago

    An excellent review mirroring my thoughts exactly.

    Aion is a pretty but shallow experience - the decade old generic MMO wrapped up in a shiny new shell. Once you get past the surface it's really not very good.

    Oh, and let's not forget the awful community as usually befits a mainstream PvP game.

  • actionfitz #101 2 years ago

    i have to say im still enjoying Aion immensely. been playing since last sunday.
    it feels like a very polished and accessible version of something immediately familiar.
    Its lovely to look at even on a turd of a system and on my server the community are quite helpful.
    for me its more of an 8/10.
    (mostly because im quite precious about what i'll give 10s out to).

  • krisskross #102 2 years ago

    The queue system suks hard, ncsoft took a bad move accepting more players that it can handle.
    Looks like a FAIL to me. Sorry for fans, I wont pay any cent on the 3 hours queue screen!

  • Dizz #103 2 years ago

    The queues are a fucking joke. Aion: the Queue of Eternity lol.

    Guess NCSoft is actively trying to have a failure on their hands.
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/09 @ 14:54

  • actionfitz #104 2 years ago

    jesus fucking christ.
    you cant even fucking queue anymore.
    either you get 'sorry too many users online' or you get fucking DC'd 5 min into the cunting queue.
    they have over 400k preorders and couldnt fit them on their shit servers. then comes launch weekend and cant even queue to get into the game.
    was loving the game, but fucked if im gonna pay to look at some patronising fucking message thanking me for patience.
    cunts.
    -----
    apologies for my mini tourettes-style outburst hehe.
    still annoyed though.
    Edited by 1 at 28/09/09 @ 16:24

  • Kerome #105 2 years ago

    Just to make sure people know where it's at... prime-time queue length on ALL servers over the weekend was around 2 hours, from noon until about 11 pm. Totally swamped at the moment, although they are slowly bringing more servers online...

  • Lionheart #106 2 years ago

    2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5
    How many times is that joke used in this article.