Recently I was lucky enough to have both sometime free time and a beta key for Aion. So I thought I would give this a go and see what it was like.
Note I will do a lot of comparisons to WOW simply because this is the other game I play and I suspect the game will get its players from the WOW crowd.
1st thing to point out is that this is not a WOW killer. This is not because it is not very good ...etc but simply because the game will not be as well known and does not have the marketing engine that WOW does.
To me this is a great selling point as you should avoid the masses of kids that normally go with a mainstream game.
Graphics
The graphics in this game are a very strong selling point. A massive amount of details has gone in to the game but they have not made it more realistic like Warhammer. Instead they have stuck to what they know sells and that’s cartoony WOW style graphics.
No matter what area you are in you get a lot of detail and even some extras like birds and insects ...etc. I got to the major city last night and it has waterfalls running down the side. This extra focus on graphics should slow my machine down but it actually performs quite well and with a machine that’s a couple of years old I was easily able to have all settings on High with no problems.
Sound
I turned the sound off after a while simply because it does become repetitive however it is similar to WOW in how it is atmospheric and orchestral at times.
WOW seems to have more NPC’s ..etc speaking as most of the quest givers and NPC’s in Aion seem to only use written dialogue.
Gameplay
OK this is what would make or break a game. Aion at first glance seems to deliver on gameplay. It is very easy to pick up and use especially if you play WOW.
Initially I had a couple of irritating things going on such as click to move ..etc however these can easily be adjusted or turned off in the interface options.
The overall style is very WOW like. You get symbols over peoples heads ...etc however there are a few unique differences which are quite good and these are detailed below.
Characters
The Character customisation screen is like no other. Aion wins hands down if we are to compare on this feature.
You can change every feature from Eyes, Nose ...etc and adjust their height, width respectively. With enough time spent you could create some well known characters.
You are also able to make lots of adjustments to the build of the body and also with skin colours.
With Aion you only have 2 playable races but these changes mean that your character will be unique.
Quests
Quests come in two main types. Campaign and Normal. With normal quests they are as you expect any MMO. Kill this, farm that, go here ...etc. Both WOW and Aion are similar here as the both do the same thing.
Campaign quests are a bit like chain quests in WOW as they take you through a series of quests designed to guide you through the area you are in.
Aion excels in a key area though.
When you get a quest and read it you will notice some words are clickable. So you may get “Go speak to Bob” where the word Bob is clickable. If you click on it, it will open up another window detailing what the game knows about Bob and where he is. You can then click “Locate” and it will tell you on the map where to go. Imagine an in-game quest helper.
Controls
WASD ..etc all the usual controls are here.
With Aion you have Flight and control the height with R and F keys. This I am not too keen on and would prefer a more WOW approach however after a few tries it is easy to get used to.
You can’t swim which has been a talking point however the makers have stated you do not need to as deep water is meant to be an in-game barrier.
Your spell casting is exactly like WOW with numbers or clickable rows. A unique feature they have for spell casting is “Chain Spells”. These only appear after you have cast spell 1 in a certain chain. They tend to be linked so for example one of my first spells as a Mage is a kind of frostbolt and I follow that up with the Chain Spell which knocks them back.
In addition to the above you also have some WOW-esque extras. Instead of gems you have Manastones but these are basically the same thing with the bonus of been able to remove them. Instead of Glyphs you have Sigils which are the same thing.
There are no Talent points in this game so someone wanting to be a DPS picks DPS class from the start and cant change later. Will this be a major problem? Not sure but it should keep the balance a bit more.
Crafting
Again this is similar to WOW in the way that you do it. There are 2 main differences with Aion and seem to be a good idea.
The first is that right from level 1 you start with a gathering skill. This allows you to mine, fish, pick herbs ....etc. In fact anything you want as you actually extract the essence rather than the item itself.
You then have a usual list of other crafts you can do. Cooking, Tailoring ...etc. The difference with Aion is that you can learn all of them if you want. The argument is that it could wreck the economy if you are not reliant on anyone else however if you look at WOW many crafters have alts supplying them with the other Matts. This merely removes that need. In addition to get top level at a craft you would need to put in a lot of time and effort.
Another interesting idea is the “Private Store” feature. This allows you to setup store anywhere you want and attach prices to your wares. You don’t have to be at the PC to interact as the person simply buys of you like a vendor.
Imagine knowing that in a certain location people need a certain crafted item for a quest. Then you simply setup shop near that area and sell away. The downside is of course if there are 100’s of people doing the same thing.
PVP
I have not yet done the PVP side yet but here is what I know.
The World is split in to 3 “zones”. You have one each for each faction and there is no PVP in those areas. You then have a third zone where everyone meets up to kick off and take control of keeps ...etc.
Taking control of keeps gives you access to more Dungeons.
So if you are worried about getting “Ganked” then don’t be as it seems you can level in peace and then get ready for PVP if you want it.
Dungeons
Not had chance to do any instances yet however from what I can see your first lot of Dungeons start at level 25. When you hit level 50 you also have the option of the Dungeons located at certain keeps. These can only be accessed when you control the keep – think VOA.
Flying
One of the key features of the whole game is the ability to Fly and Fight. This transforms the game in to a 3 D universe where quests and NPC’s can be above you as well as on the ground.
The concept works remarkably well and you only get 1 min of flight time before you have to land and “recharge” your wings.
You can increase this time with various methods including upgrading your wings.
Conclusion
Is this a WOW killer? No its not and tbh I don’t think many games will. SWTOR will certainly take numbers but Blizzard will adapt. This may take some numbers because SWTOR will not appeal to everyone.
If you still want to kill Dragons ..etc then WOW is still the game however if you want to kill Dragons and just find wow “stagnant” then this game is certainly worth a look.
In the long terms I see WOW and SWTOR running together however I would like to see something go on with Aion as it is a beautiful game.
I have this on pre-order and will certainly be giving it a go.
