GDC: Aion: The Tower of Eternity Hands On

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One detail we missed last summer was a position combat system intended to stop players standing still while fighting, simply by giving them an edge if they don't. You get a small but appreciable boost to attack power if you're moving forward, to block if you move back, and to dodge if you move from side to side. (A plan to increase critical hit chance with jumps was abandoned when it turned everyone into a Quake III-style jack-in-a-box, and just looked ridiculous.) It's an intriguing twist, more effective in PVP apparently - it should make solo play more interesting, but we wonder if it won't make some group play situations a bit awkward.

We were then taken on a tour of the Abyss, the central zone controlled by the AI Balaur faction. It can be accessed from the mid-levels, but is mostly a maximum-level zone for questing, raiding and PVP. It's designed for full flight, and the Ether fuel that is in limited supply and restricts flight elsewhere is abundant here.

It's a cavernous 3D space criss-crossed by spidery pathways and studded with fortresses. These fortresses, initially under Balaur control, will grant access to hunting grounds and specific vendors that can be taxed by the owners. They have many entrances and are difficult to defend, and also surrounded with lesser control points called artefacts that give a huge advantage. The Asmodian and Elyos will likely run into each other here on their way to wresting fortress control from the Balaur. Korean servers are seeing spectacular pitched battles of some two to three hundred players at a time around the Fortresses.

There's a ranking system in effect in the Abyss. Similarly to Warhammer Online, players will earn points for contributing to their faction's struggle in both PVP and adventuring, although the balance is most likely tipped towards PVP - and towards the individual scores of a dedicated elite. High rankings will bestow special skills, including one that actually turns the player into a raid boss.

Most MMO furries make us wince with embarrassment. These, we like.

All this is grist to the Korean players' mill, of course. By all accounts it's working well over there - but when even Warhammer Online, a game specifically engineered for massed open-world PVP, struggles to attain critical mass in such battles, we have to wonder if it can ever work in the West outside of purely player-driven games like EVE Online. This is one of the biggest areas of divergence in the cultures of eastern and Western online gaming. However, the trick up Aion's sleeve is the Balaur, who effectively turn high-end PVP and raiding into the same thing by their presence. Given a smooth introduction and stuff for smaller groups of players to do, it could still work.

Hands-on, it's clear that one area that's a problem for many MMOs at launch, even quite high-profile ones - moment-to-moment polish - isn't a worry for Aion. Strong sound cues and animations make combat feel slick and robust, although we didn't have long enough with the game to get a sense of the extent of its depth and balance, and the user interface is hard to fault. The creature designs are fantastic in every sense, and the environments are lush and colourful. This CryEngine game has a sharp, defined and detailed beauty, pushing its fabulous art ahead of effects.

Barring slight concerns about the rather random scattering of enemy placement and a lack of environmental variation, making it easy to lose your bearings, Aion's world is an inviting place to be. That's a critical hurdle for an MMO to clear - you're asking players to spend months, years in this world, after all - and not managed as often as you might think. Aion's journey to the West isn't over yet by any means. But it's given itself a decent head start.