Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a solid game and a lot of fun. Most press on this game tends to be focused around its graphics which are really great but to be honest that is just the surface of it. This game is just really fun, plain and simple. If you've played any other the other big games out there like wow, warhammer, lineage, lord of the rings etc you will feel right at home.
The first week or two the servers went on-line the game had some major hick-ups as they got the servers and loads balanced but the game has since evened out.
I've played most of the major MMORPGs out there (Wow, lotro, lineage, warhammer, conan etc) and have now played Aion up to max level so will give you a quick run-down on Aion here:
Character creation is extremely extensive. You really can pretty much make your character look like anything. Even your characters voice can be changed around. There are 3 races in Aion, 2 of which you can choose to roll (3rd race is server controlled). Any piece of armor can be used as a template for another so you can make your plate mail armor look like cloth etc. Every piece of gear can be modified in color as well for full customization. But the real character customization is not with the character looks but with how your character is. Titles, manastone, godstones, stigmastones etc. allow you to pretty much make your character into anything you like. None of the other MMORPGs released allow this much customization in player looks or abilities.
You have your typical mage, cleric, rogue and warrior types in Aion. You further define a subclass at level 10 for a total of 8 classes:
Sorcerer (Crowd control and nuker. They hit hard with spells but fold as easily as paper if hit.)
Spirit Master (Pets, DOTs and lots of Fears.)
Cleric (Healer. Sorry I personally think healing is boring so kind of hard for me to get pumped up here but those who like to heal seem to love this class.)
Chanter (DPS and buffing healer. Substitute main healer.)
Assassin (Melee DPS. Stealther. Posions. Assassins are great at pi$$ing other players off in PVP.)
Ranger (Ranged DPS. Kiting and crowd controls.)
Templar (Tank. They can do damage but they can't be killed easily either.)
Gladiator (A DPS tank. Melee mostly. Subsitute main tank.)
The classes are well balanced and of the 6 out of the 8 classes I've played so far all are a lot of fun.
The first few levels have a lot of things to help out new players of MMORPGs from in game help videos to lots of pop-ups with tips. Well done entry to the game.
At level 10 you choose your subclass and get your wings as you ascend and become a Daeva. You were a lowly human until then. You don't really use your wings though until much later.
Levels 10-25 are pretty much learning the abilities of your class. Tons of quests and gathering to do. Lots of which are only done in groups although you can solo all the way to 50 if you'd like but not recommended. At level 20 you may start to encounter the opposing faction and start doing some limited PVP. Up to this point the game is pretty linear and scripted.
Level 25 you do your abyss entry quests and enter a completely 3d world. The Abyss is huge. Larger than the rest of the world combined and you really do go all over the place in it. You will encounter both the opposing faction and the 3 race, the Balaur. The Balaur are a computer controlled faction and are used to balance out the two player controlled races. If one race starts to dominate too much, the Balaur come in and wipe the slate clean. You are often thrown in against both factions at the same time in combat.
Level 25 to 50 consists of quests, PVP, instances and crafting mostly. Tons of stuff and you never run out of things to do. Unlike most games you do all the quests all over the world map. You even have to go back into the starting zones a few times. So while the start of the game consists of doing quests in one area then move to the next, this ends later as they send you all over the place. In other words, the game is very linear at first and becomes completely non-linear later on.
End game consists of well the same things as above except you can actually work on getting your gear set. Tons of end game instances and PVP to do. Fortress sieges really start at level 35+ but are mostly done by the upper levels. There is a lot to do at end game already with more content on the way. When the servers first came on-line there were very few upper level characters but now the shift has changed and more level 50s then lower. This has made it much easier to do the upper level group quests and instances and PVP.
Instances:
First instance is level 25 and is designed to train you how to do an instance. The instance is even called Training Grounds. It's actually designed both to teach you how to do instances as well as teach you how to do the later fortress battles. It's simple and easy and a good way to learn. Most instancing starts at level 30 and up. There are several dozen instances so far and they have plans of adding quite a few more. You really don't run out of instances to do. Some instances have both mobs and the opposing player faction at the same time. Many instances are timed (Speed instances) and all of the instances are quick to complete 20-60 minutes). If you come from a heavily instanced game like wow you will have no issues here.
Loot:
Yes there is loot in the game but Aion is not a loot based game. You won't find any DKP systems or people checking your gear to see if they will group with you and such. Most bosses don't even always drop loot. Aion is about the game play, not the loot. It is very easy to make Kinah (Gold) and very easy to spend it. Money is tight until after level 40 but gets easier after that. Once again loot is secondary in the game to the game play.
Crafting:
Crafting is very extensive and takes a long time to complete. You can learn all professions but only master two. The professions are Weaponsmithing, Armorsmithing, Tailoring, Alchemy, Cooking and Handicrafting. Crafting takes a lot of money and a lot of time. You cannot level crafting in hours like in some games. It will most likely take you months to level your first profession to max. Crafting is multi leveled and is more similar to the crafting system in Lord of the rings than any other MMORPG. Crafting in Aion puts some games (Warhammer, wow Conan) crafting systems to shame.
Gathering:
Gathering is not a profession per say. There are two types. Air and ground gathering. Took a while to get used to the gathering system but now love it. It is very slow at first but speeds up a lot later. Gathering is used quite a bit in Aion but some people do not like to gather and just buy mats in the broker. Air gathering is very slow but does teach you to fly better so I highly recommend it. I would not start learning any profession until you have your gathering up some.
PVP:
PVP starts at level 20 but to be honest you don't really do much until later. PVP is a complete free for all in that you can easily encounter people much higher or lower than you at any time. I suggest you make friends and stick together when soloing or are lower level as single players are often easy prey by passing players from the opposing faction. PVP is very fast and not easy at all. You are not gimped in what abilities you can use and there are safe places to go to avoid PVP but sometimes even the major towns are raided so you can't even be totally safe except for in one zone and your capital city. All the classes are fairly evenly balanced with none standing out as better or worse than the others. As you get higher in level more pvp is introduced and you are sent into the opposing factions areas for specific quests to do. There are several instances in end game where you have to fight both the instance mobs and players from the opposing faction. If you want to avoid PVP you mostly can but sometimes you will run into it a bit. You just can't avoid it totally. If you absolutely hate PVP, buy another game. If you love some or a lot of PVP you will love Aion.
Graphics:
Yep top of the line. Very difficult to find a game with better graphics than Aion. Lord of the rings online has great still graphics but sucky animations. Wow has very poor graphics compared to aion in almost every category. It's not just the looks of things in Aion but the animations and how fluent everything is. Sort of a cross between Conan (Looks great but horrible lag) and wow (Great gameplay but graphics are terrible).
They are talking about a graphics upgrade later in 2010. I doubt there will be much improvement though as its top of the line already. I'm not sure where they can improve. When you go into the graphics options, you can click the auto-detect settings and it will scan your computer and set the graphic levels to the best level for your hardware. Except for just downright piss-poor computers, almost everyone will be able to run Aion at max settings. Oddly enough even though the game's graphics are better than most games, the system requirements to play it at those levels is fairly low. Moving from any other MMORPG you will see an instant improvement in both looks and or animations.
UI:
The user interface is very easy to navigate around in. It looks good, it's simple but has enough to get the job done. There are no addons in Aion and to be honest I first thought this was a major set back. But after playing I realized addons are not needed. There really isn't anything missing from the UI and it's laid out about as perfect as you can think. It is highly customizable but most people I have talked to seem leave it at the...Read more›
Click Here to see more reviews about: Aion
Product Description:
The Aion Collector's Edition includes these in game items, Black Cloud Wing Set and Earring, Special Title, Exclusive Color Dye, and 2 Character Emotes. Also included, a 6.5" hand painted Asmodian Goddess figuirine, Aion soundtrack, and a double sided Aion.Stunning World: Discover a meticulously crafted fantasy world brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets.Innovative PvPvE: Aion introduces a new dynamic to MMOs by combining both PvP and PvE gameplay into an exciting new style.Intense Visceral Combat: Engage in a spectacular and evolving combat system utilizing combos, skill chains, counterattacks, and spectacular aerial combat.Unprecedented Customization: Take individuality to a new level through an incredibly in-depth character creation tool, advanced crafting systems, and extensive item customization.
Want to buy Aion at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:
