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<div style="float: left; padding: 3px;"><img src="http://images.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/aion-box-art.jpg" border="0"></div>Aion: The Tower of Eternity
Release Date: November 28, 2008 (S. Korea), April 16, 2009 (China), July 17, 2009 (Japan), September 22, 2009 (North America), September 23, 2009 (Australia and New Zealand), September 25, 2009 (Europe)
Reviewed On: PC
Developer: NCsoft (Aion Team Development Dept)
Publisher: NCsoft
ESRB Rating: T - Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence
PEGI Rating: 12+
OFLC Rating: M - Fantasy violence; Gaming experience may change online.
Aion, developed by Korean development company NCSoft, will undoubtedly draw a number of comparisons to existing MMO's out on the market. The first obvious comparison made are to the juggernaut that is World of Warcraft. Let us face it, any MMO that released between now and the end of time will draw comparisons to WoW.
Aion can also draw comparisons with Final Fantasy XI, NCSoft's own Guild Wars, and even a touch of Age of Conan (the 3% of that game that was decent). With Aion incorporating some of the best bits from each of these games, it never really manages to surpass any of them at their own game. That is not to say Aion is not a good game, far from it, it just has a few issues that hold it back from greatness.
Aion will instantly appeal to casual MMO players looking to enjoy a full PVE experience. Fantastic visuals will pull in the PVE crowd and solid gameplay will keep them coming back for more. PvP is largely absent from the game until level 25 where the game really pushes forth its hook of combat while taking to the skies.
Aion appears to have it all, but let us take a closer look at what really makes this game shine.
Not everything in the game is as quite as purple as this
Story:
Aion is not the name of a city or a simple layperson, but the name of the God that ruled over the world of Atreia. Aion created a race of servants, the Balaur, whom eventually turned on their creator. Soon after, 12 "Empyrean Lords" were created to form a barrier to prevent the disobedient Balaur from harming the people under their watch. These Lords made use of a magical energy known as Aether.
Over time, the humans learned to use the Aether for their own purposes. With it, they managed to grow stronger. Those humans with wings came to be known as the Daeva and soon formed an army. War was waged between the Daeva and the Balaur, with 10 of the 12 Lords assisting the Daeva in their battle. The battle was waged for hundreds of years before one of the remaining two Lords requested a call for peace. The Tower of Eternity, the "embodiment of the God Aion", served as the meeting place for peace negotiations.
Unfortunately, the talks fell through and a Balaur was wounded in a mysterious altercation. The others acted quickly and attempted to attack the Tower. The two neutral Lords attempted to raise a shield to protect the Tower, but were unsuccessful; the battle split the Tower into two large chunks. As a result, the world itself was split in two, as were the remaining ten Lords.
No, this isn't paradise, but it's close
Five of these Lords, those who opposed peace, rule over the Asmodians in a land bathed in perpetual darkness. The other five Lords continue to rule over the Elyos and the hemisphere still bathed in sunlight.
The story of Aion is told through a series of quest dialogues and cut-scenes, much as the case is with Guild Wars. For many MMO players, a lot of the quest dialogue may go ignored, which is why the cut scenes really shine as a way of progressing the story forward.
The story is not particularly spectacular, as it again boils down to the cliché "good vs. bad" style plot. There are a few twists and turns in the plot as a third faction does serve as a foil to both of the main human classes. However, this really only comes into play in the Abyss area where control of territories is of the utmost importance.
Gameplay:
Aion's gameplay is as straightforward as they come for MMO's. There is the omnipresent
action bar, or action bars depending on how many you would like to have on screen at once. A health gauge is also present, as is a gauge for your magic consumption, and a third gauge which slowly fills over time and enables your character to pull off very powerful attacks.
The interface and a few of the game menus
Gameplay mainly consists of traveling from town to town, accepting quests, turning quests in, and potentially viewing a new segment to the PVE plotline. Along the way, you can choose to fight various mobs of enemies, gather assorted crafting materials, or explore. However, the exploration is slightly limited as many of the areas are more of a "point A to point B" type of venture.
Fighting and spell-casting make use of a rather simplistic chain attack style. Some attacks will begin a chain which can be followed up by another press of the corresponding spell command that will deliver a rather powerful one-two punch to the enemy. Often times these chain attacks will result in the enemy being stunned or falling subject to other adverse affects. It's a straightforward chain system and may get old after a while of playing, but since other MMO's don't have any such chain attacks this little extra touch is a nice change of pace.
Welcome to the Abyss, watch your step
Flying and PvP go hand in hand quite nicely in Aion. PvE is mainly filler in preparation for The Abyss. Players will experience most of the game's PvP elements in The Abyss, and they are quite enjoyable. It's the Elyos versus the Asmodians in an all out war. Both factions are also contending with the Balaur faction for control of multiple regions within the Abyss. Each region holds a specific "Influence" based on how well one side fairs against the other in battle. A higher overall influence results in lower prices on goods from every vendor on the more influential side. NCSoft even set up a page which monitors the day-to-day trends in Influence.
The Abyss PvP makes extensive use of in-flight combat. Keeping track of where the enemy is, your flight time, your spell cool down, and your vitals really keeps you on your toes. It's a very enjoyable twist on the old PvP formula but the rewards of PvP combat may not be enough for some who are used to the robust PvP found in World of Warcraft.
Outside of the Abyss, the flying ability is actually used quite sparingly. There are many areas where flight is prohibited, such as within the main capital cities and throughout many of the areas between the main towns. It is possible to glide for very short distances in non-flight areas, but this is usually for no more than a few seconds at a time. Not allowing for greater flight freedom is a very odd design decision given how one of the major hooks of the game is the prospect of early level flight and in-flight combat.
There is one major complaint when it comes to the gameplay. Initially, the quests flow like water and level progression is both fast and interesting. A great deal of experience is gained through completion of main story quests and side-quests, but only up until a certain point. One of the biggest complaints with Aion is how the player has to grind for levels around the level 20 mark. If you should happen to run out of quests to complete, you may also find yourself in a similar situation; grinding to level up in order to unlock new quests and story elements. Please note that the grinding problem has not affected every player. Perhaps it just has to do with moving quickly through the quests and not partaking in much random slaughtering of creatures for experience along the way. I hope that this is one area of the otherwise solid gameplay that NCSoft will address in future patches.
Graphics:
Aion shows off a number of stunning visuals, all thanks to magnificent use of the original Cryengine (Far Cry). To say that Aion is the most visually appealing MMO to date would not be a lie. Lush landscapes are teaming with life, from exotic plant life to diverse creatures. There are times where I simply admired the vistas before continuing with my adventure.
Don't forget to pick your jaw up off the floor
The opening sections of the game are actually quite different depending on which race you initially choose to play. The Elyos start out in lush, vibrant areas that are teeming with plant and animal life. When the Tower of Eternity fell, Elysea was fortunately largely unaffected by the world splitting catastrophe. Conversely, the Asmodians start out bathed in darkness in a rather bleak set of areas that are sure to appeal to the Goth in all of us. Asmodae is bathed in near perpetual darkness, a result of them receiving the short end of the stick once the Tower fell.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
The only problem with the game locations is the fact that there just does not seem to be enough of them. The world of Atreia is split into a northern and southern half. Each half contains one main city, one main continent, and five sections per continent.
Within each section are handfuls of towns and cities, but it never feels as epic in scale as you may expect to see in a MMO. Each of these towns tend to feature a handful of vendors, at least one mailbox, a number of quest givers, and other various NPC's. Some of these areas contain flight nodes which can take you from one area to another for a small fee. However, these flight nodes are quite spread out, which leaves you having to run from area to area.
Connecting the northern and southern areas is a bleak area known as The Abyss. There is where the meat and potatoes of the game are, should you be a fan of player vs. player gaming.
Gliding about through the city
Audio:
If there were any true low points in Aion, it would have to be with the game's sound. It's not terrible but there are times that I just found the sounds to be almost irritating or unusual for what was going on. There are character voices used within the game but they’re not used as often as one may hope. The most you, the player, will ever really hear from your character are battle cries, grunts, and spell chants as you hurl another fireball towards the enemy.
The NPC's, on the other hand, have somewhat solid voice acting. There are times where some of the dialogue sounds as though it were phoned in, but this is quite rare. Background music perfectly fits the mood of the area you’re currently exploring. It never feels distracting and adds a subtle bit of ambience to the gaming experience.
The more subtle sound effects bring the environments to life in a way that mere visuals alone cannot. The creatures, both enemies and non-enemies alike, dish out sounds that fit their particular visual representations. Just as the case is with the graphics, sometimes it's nice just to kick back and take a moment to let it all soak in while you're in between quests.
More hot PvP action
Multiplayer:
MMO's are, by their nature, nothing but one huge multiplayer experience. It would not be called a "Massively Multiplayer Game" if multiplayer was not one of the key aspects. Gamers should expect the usual in Aion when it comes to trying to join up with others to quest or run instances. That is to say, it is a very hit or miss experience.
Often times your fellow players will be more than willing to lend a hand with anything you have trouble with. There is a group search channel, but when most every channel is being spammed with gold sellers, it can sometimes become a daunting experience. A party search feature is built into the game, but is far more useful for instanced areas and higher level questing. It is unfortunate that this party search tool is so underused in earlier parts of the game, where it seems as though new players would benefit the most.
The inherent problem with a MMO is that because it's all online, it becomes extremely hard to pin down a specific "score" to the experience. If you have a great group of friends to play with on a regular basis, it's easy to have an enjoyable time. However, if you are more of a solo player that may require the help of other players once in a blue moon, it may take a little while to form a group. A guild system does help to ease the pain of those who are not playing with friends, but still frequently play the game with those met within the game world.
Fast travel from town to town is included
A huge problem that plagues Aion, and most MMORPG's in general, are gold sellers. While strides have been made by NCSoft to try to stem the onslaught of these advertising bots, it just never seems to be enough. Trade channels, chat channels, private notices, and even the in-game mailbox have all come under fire from accounts set up with the sole purpose of promoting a gold selling website. Players can find various workarounds to partially hide themselves from the bots, but nobody is fully immune. If you play Aion in its present state, you will end up seeing or receiving a spam message about gold selling. However, until this is better addressed by NCSoft it is just one of those things that you will have to put up with and accept as a fact of life within the world of Aion.
Another common problem with MMO's arises when too many players attempt to connect to the same game server at the same time. Yes, the dreaded server queue has reared its ugly head in Aion, at least initially. The first few days after the game’s release found many players unable to connect to their server of choice, leaving those players with a very sour taste in their mouths. In the weeks following the game's release, the server queue issues have slowly disappeared as NCSoft added more hardware and servers for players to enjoy. In fact, they even went so far as to give every player a few in game bonus items as a way of apologizing for any issues they may have encountered because of the queue issue.
It's a bird, it's a plane...
NCSoft has actually been quite attentive to the issues players have with the game. Sure, there is more that could be done to stop the annoying gold spammers, but that's not to say that NCSoft hasn't already taken some steps to stop them. Indeed, there was a time where the current gold spam situation was far worse than it currently is. Beyond this, the company has issued in-game surveys that ask for a brief bit of feedback on some of the latest changes made to the game. These steps, while they may not seem like much, really go a long way to making the player feel as though the company actually cares about what the fans want.
Summary:
Aion is a solid MMO with only a few nit-picky flaws. PVE gamers will love it for its unique story and diverse selection of quests. The solid fighting mechanics are a great plus, as are the visuals, the robust crafting mechanics, and the combat while in flight. It does suffer from a plague of gold selling spambots and occasional areas where level grinding is unavoidable and forced upon the player. Generally, though, the positives far outweigh the negatives and should prove to make Aion an incredibly fun experience for both newcomers to the MMO genre and seasoned veterans alike.
Release Date: November 28, 2008 (S. Korea), April 16, 2009 (China), July 17, 2009 (Japan), September 22, 2009 (North America), September 23, 2009 (Australia and New Zealand), September 25, 2009 (Europe)
Reviewed On: PC
Developer: NCsoft (Aion Team Development Dept)
Publisher: NCsoft
ESRB Rating: T - Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence
PEGI Rating: 12+
OFLC Rating: M - Fantasy violence; Gaming experience may change online.
Aion, developed by Korean development company NCSoft, will undoubtedly draw a number of comparisons to existing MMO's out on the market. The first obvious comparison made are to the juggernaut that is World of Warcraft. Let us face it, any MMO that released between now and the end of time will draw comparisons to WoW.
Aion can also draw comparisons with Final Fantasy XI, NCSoft's own Guild Wars, and even a touch of Age of Conan (the 3% of that game that was decent). With Aion incorporating some of the best bits from each of these games, it never really manages to surpass any of them at their own game. That is not to say Aion is not a good game, far from it, it just has a few issues that hold it back from greatness.
Aion will instantly appeal to casual MMO players looking to enjoy a full PVE experience. Fantastic visuals will pull in the PVE crowd and solid gameplay will keep them coming back for more. PvP is largely absent from the game until level 25 where the game really pushes forth its hook of combat while taking to the skies.
Aion appears to have it all, but let us take a closer look at what really makes this game shine.
Not everything in the game is as quite as purple as this
Story:
Aion is not the name of a city or a simple layperson, but the name of the God that ruled over the world of Atreia. Aion created a race of servants, the Balaur, whom eventually turned on their creator. Soon after, 12 "Empyrean Lords" were created to form a barrier to prevent the disobedient Balaur from harming the people under their watch. These Lords made use of a magical energy known as Aether.
Over time, the humans learned to use the Aether for their own purposes. With it, they managed to grow stronger. Those humans with wings came to be known as the Daeva and soon formed an army. War was waged between the Daeva and the Balaur, with 10 of the 12 Lords assisting the Daeva in their battle. The battle was waged for hundreds of years before one of the remaining two Lords requested a call for peace. The Tower of Eternity, the "embodiment of the God Aion", served as the meeting place for peace negotiations.
Unfortunately, the talks fell through and a Balaur was wounded in a mysterious altercation. The others acted quickly and attempted to attack the Tower. The two neutral Lords attempted to raise a shield to protect the Tower, but were unsuccessful; the battle split the Tower into two large chunks. As a result, the world itself was split in two, as were the remaining ten Lords.
No, this isn't paradise, but it's close
Five of these Lords, those who opposed peace, rule over the Asmodians in a land bathed in perpetual darkness. The other five Lords continue to rule over the Elyos and the hemisphere still bathed in sunlight.
The story of Aion is told through a series of quest dialogues and cut-scenes, much as the case is with Guild Wars. For many MMO players, a lot of the quest dialogue may go ignored, which is why the cut scenes really shine as a way of progressing the story forward.
The story is not particularly spectacular, as it again boils down to the cliché "good vs. bad" style plot. There are a few twists and turns in the plot as a third faction does serve as a foil to both of the main human classes. However, this really only comes into play in the Abyss area where control of territories is of the utmost importance.
Gameplay:
Aion's gameplay is as straightforward as they come for MMO's. There is the omnipresent
action bar, or action bars depending on how many you would like to have on screen at once. A health gauge is also present, as is a gauge for your magic consumption, and a third gauge which slowly fills over time and enables your character to pull off very powerful attacks.
The interface and a few of the game menus
Gameplay mainly consists of traveling from town to town, accepting quests, turning quests in, and potentially viewing a new segment to the PVE plotline. Along the way, you can choose to fight various mobs of enemies, gather assorted crafting materials, or explore. However, the exploration is slightly limited as many of the areas are more of a "point A to point B" type of venture.
Fighting and spell-casting make use of a rather simplistic chain attack style. Some attacks will begin a chain which can be followed up by another press of the corresponding spell command that will deliver a rather powerful one-two punch to the enemy. Often times these chain attacks will result in the enemy being stunned or falling subject to other adverse affects. It's a straightforward chain system and may get old after a while of playing, but since other MMO's don't have any such chain attacks this little extra touch is a nice change of pace.
Welcome to the Abyss, watch your step
Flying and PvP go hand in hand quite nicely in Aion. PvE is mainly filler in preparation for The Abyss. Players will experience most of the game's PvP elements in The Abyss, and they are quite enjoyable. It's the Elyos versus the Asmodians in an all out war. Both factions are also contending with the Balaur faction for control of multiple regions within the Abyss. Each region holds a specific "Influence" based on how well one side fairs against the other in battle. A higher overall influence results in lower prices on goods from every vendor on the more influential side. NCSoft even set up a page which monitors the day-to-day trends in Influence.
The Abyss PvP makes extensive use of in-flight combat. Keeping track of where the enemy is, your flight time, your spell cool down, and your vitals really keeps you on your toes. It's a very enjoyable twist on the old PvP formula but the rewards of PvP combat may not be enough for some who are used to the robust PvP found in World of Warcraft.
Outside of the Abyss, the flying ability is actually used quite sparingly. There are many areas where flight is prohibited, such as within the main capital cities and throughout many of the areas between the main towns. It is possible to glide for very short distances in non-flight areas, but this is usually for no more than a few seconds at a time. Not allowing for greater flight freedom is a very odd design decision given how one of the major hooks of the game is the prospect of early level flight and in-flight combat.
There is one major complaint when it comes to the gameplay. Initially, the quests flow like water and level progression is both fast and interesting. A great deal of experience is gained through completion of main story quests and side-quests, but only up until a certain point. One of the biggest complaints with Aion is how the player has to grind for levels around the level 20 mark. If you should happen to run out of quests to complete, you may also find yourself in a similar situation; grinding to level up in order to unlock new quests and story elements. Please note that the grinding problem has not affected every player. Perhaps it just has to do with moving quickly through the quests and not partaking in much random slaughtering of creatures for experience along the way. I hope that this is one area of the otherwise solid gameplay that NCSoft will address in future patches.
Graphics:
Aion shows off a number of stunning visuals, all thanks to magnificent use of the original Cryengine (Far Cry). To say that Aion is the most visually appealing MMO to date would not be a lie. Lush landscapes are teaming with life, from exotic plant life to diverse creatures. There are times where I simply admired the vistas before continuing with my adventure.
Don't forget to pick your jaw up off the floor
The opening sections of the game are actually quite different depending on which race you initially choose to play. The Elyos start out in lush, vibrant areas that are teeming with plant and animal life. When the Tower of Eternity fell, Elysea was fortunately largely unaffected by the world splitting catastrophe. Conversely, the Asmodians start out bathed in darkness in a rather bleak set of areas that are sure to appeal to the Goth in all of us. Asmodae is bathed in near perpetual darkness, a result of them receiving the short end of the stick once the Tower fell.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
The only problem with the game locations is the fact that there just does not seem to be enough of them. The world of Atreia is split into a northern and southern half. Each half contains one main city, one main continent, and five sections per continent.
Within each section are handfuls of towns and cities, but it never feels as epic in scale as you may expect to see in a MMO. Each of these towns tend to feature a handful of vendors, at least one mailbox, a number of quest givers, and other various NPC's. Some of these areas contain flight nodes which can take you from one area to another for a small fee. However, these flight nodes are quite spread out, which leaves you having to run from area to area.
Connecting the northern and southern areas is a bleak area known as The Abyss. There is where the meat and potatoes of the game are, should you be a fan of player vs. player gaming.
Gliding about through the city
Audio:
If there were any true low points in Aion, it would have to be with the game's sound. It's not terrible but there are times that I just found the sounds to be almost irritating or unusual for what was going on. There are character voices used within the game but they’re not used as often as one may hope. The most you, the player, will ever really hear from your character are battle cries, grunts, and spell chants as you hurl another fireball towards the enemy.
The NPC's, on the other hand, have somewhat solid voice acting. There are times where some of the dialogue sounds as though it were phoned in, but this is quite rare. Background music perfectly fits the mood of the area you’re currently exploring. It never feels distracting and adds a subtle bit of ambience to the gaming experience.
The more subtle sound effects bring the environments to life in a way that mere visuals alone cannot. The creatures, both enemies and non-enemies alike, dish out sounds that fit their particular visual representations. Just as the case is with the graphics, sometimes it's nice just to kick back and take a moment to let it all soak in while you're in between quests.
More hot PvP action
Multiplayer:
MMO's are, by their nature, nothing but one huge multiplayer experience. It would not be called a "Massively Multiplayer Game" if multiplayer was not one of the key aspects. Gamers should expect the usual in Aion when it comes to trying to join up with others to quest or run instances. That is to say, it is a very hit or miss experience.
Often times your fellow players will be more than willing to lend a hand with anything you have trouble with. There is a group search channel, but when most every channel is being spammed with gold sellers, it can sometimes become a daunting experience. A party search feature is built into the game, but is far more useful for instanced areas and higher level questing. It is unfortunate that this party search tool is so underused in earlier parts of the game, where it seems as though new players would benefit the most.
The inherent problem with a MMO is that because it's all online, it becomes extremely hard to pin down a specific "score" to the experience. If you have a great group of friends to play with on a regular basis, it's easy to have an enjoyable time. However, if you are more of a solo player that may require the help of other players once in a blue moon, it may take a little while to form a group. A guild system does help to ease the pain of those who are not playing with friends, but still frequently play the game with those met within the game world.
Fast travel from town to town is included
A huge problem that plagues Aion, and most MMORPG's in general, are gold sellers. While strides have been made by NCSoft to try to stem the onslaught of these advertising bots, it just never seems to be enough. Trade channels, chat channels, private notices, and even the in-game mailbox have all come under fire from accounts set up with the sole purpose of promoting a gold selling website. Players can find various workarounds to partially hide themselves from the bots, but nobody is fully immune. If you play Aion in its present state, you will end up seeing or receiving a spam message about gold selling. However, until this is better addressed by NCSoft it is just one of those things that you will have to put up with and accept as a fact of life within the world of Aion.
Another common problem with MMO's arises when too many players attempt to connect to the same game server at the same time. Yes, the dreaded server queue has reared its ugly head in Aion, at least initially. The first few days after the game’s release found many players unable to connect to their server of choice, leaving those players with a very sour taste in their mouths. In the weeks following the game's release, the server queue issues have slowly disappeared as NCSoft added more hardware and servers for players to enjoy. In fact, they even went so far as to give every player a few in game bonus items as a way of apologizing for any issues they may have encountered because of the queue issue.
It's a bird, it's a plane...
NCSoft has actually been quite attentive to the issues players have with the game. Sure, there is more that could be done to stop the annoying gold spammers, but that's not to say that NCSoft hasn't already taken some steps to stop them. Indeed, there was a time where the current gold spam situation was far worse than it currently is. Beyond this, the company has issued in-game surveys that ask for a brief bit of feedback on some of the latest changes made to the game. These steps, while they may not seem like much, really go a long way to making the player feel as though the company actually cares about what the fans want.
Summary:
Aion is a solid MMO with only a few nit-picky flaws. PVE gamers will love it for its unique story and diverse selection of quests. The solid fighting mechanics are a great plus, as are the visuals, the robust crafting mechanics, and the combat while in flight. It does suffer from a plague of gold selling spambots and occasional areas where level grinding is unavoidable and forced upon the player. Generally, though, the positives far outweigh the negatives and should prove to make Aion an incredibly fun experience for both newcomers to the MMO genre and seasoned veterans alike.
Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Graphics: 9/10
Audio: 7/10
Total Gaming Network Rating: 8.0 / 10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Graphics: 9/10
Audio: 7/10
Total Gaming Network Rating: 8.0 / 10
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