Age of Conan: Everything a Girl Could Want

Blood, Boobies, and Boys

By: Savanja

 

It has been an exciting couple of weeks for Age of Conan fans and players. The world has finally been introduced to the highly anticipated wonder based off of a wildly famous enterprise. For some, it was like coming home when they stepped foot into Hyboria. For others, launch was a bit bumpier than they had expected and armchair developers everywhere got the chance to tell Funcom what they think they did wrong.

Will Age of Conan be a major success in the online gaming industry? I think it's too early to make that call, but I do think that it's gotten off to a smashing start and the world will continue to look on to see how this wobbly infant grows over the next few months.

For myself, I fell in love with the Age of Conan very quickly. Several aspects caught my eye and my heart and I'm willing to work with the stutters and stumbles that come with every new online game. Which parts are my faves? Why I'm so glad you asked! I won't list them all, but definitely there are some highlights...

 

The Blood

I'm going to preface by saying that I'm generally not a blood and guts sort of girl. I cover my eyes during the nasty parts of horror movies and I cringe like mad when my daughter makes me watch MTV's Scarred.

That being said, I totally smirk EVERY time I lop the head off of some poor unfortunate who was stupid enough to step in the path of my Barbarian's seriously big sword.

Part of Age of Conan's Mature rating was due to the violence and gore. I was a teeny bit worried that it was going to be ill placed and gratuitous, something that many games will do in the name of capturing shock value.

It isn't.

Blood is a part of combat and as such it feels natural to be there. The various "fatalities" are all pretty cool and even if no heads actually roll (I was sad to see they don't all the time), I still am tickled by the little splattering of blood on my screen. Truly there is just no way to bring the world of Hyboria alive without this brand of grit.

The combat that yields this violence is definitely interesting. Hands on gamers everywhere jumped for joy at the thought of a game that isn't practically automated for you. Some think of it as being spammy, but for those who really enjoy being on the edge of their seats and involved actively in the combat, this is a welcomed relief.

On the downside, I can't lower the game window and respond to my instant messaging during combat. Well I can, but I generally die when I do that. It'll take some getting used to I'm sure.

 

The Boobies

Okay, well yeah.. There are breasts in this game. People tend to have those, right? I'll spare you all the repeated usage of the word "boobies" and get right down to business regarding the art and graphics of Age of Conan.

Teehee. I said boobies.

*cough*

The Splendid Conall's Valley

The art in this game is nothing short of show stopping. The characters models are nice; very realistic without getting too lifelike (after all, this is a fantasy game!). I have always been a huge fan of body sliders in MMOGs and applaud their use in Age of Conan. You have a limited spectrum in which you may slide various attributes, something that seems to be an area of contention for some players, but I can see the need for it. Avoiding collision issues is a difficult task (one thing we've learned from good ole Proxima), plus if people had their way with broad slider ranges we'd see women shaped like Jessica Rabbit in g-strings running through Tortage.

I'll let the boys ponder that one for a moment.

The land of Hyboria itself is gorgeous. The world starts out very linear, which for a new player I think is a good idea. It gets you started in the storyline and pushes you out into Hyboria without overwhelming you with huge amounts of unusable space. This gives your first 5 levels a purpose and allows for the player to learn their class without having to learn the landscape as well.

The early city of Tortage sneakily teaches you about climbing, zoning, collecting, and NPC interaction. You think you are doing quests to gain coin, armor, and experience? Heck no! You are learning about your interactions with your surroundings and having fun doing it!

Outside of the newbie city and beyond level 20, the world opens up and there is so much more to explore. The land has natural elevations and is nothing like the wide, blank space of so many other MMOGs of the past. Scale mountains and towers, walk from the icy peaks to the green valleys. The beauty of Hyboria is everywhere you look.

 

The Boys

I considered making a montage of some of those male hotties that roam the lands of Hyboria, but something tells me that it wouldn't be quite as popular as Cody's saucy look at the ladies. I'll just leave you with this:

Meet Sven!

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, well male characters are far less interesting than the female characters. You don't see Turach running into the same issues as Proxima which I find unfortunate, but I do have a few things to say about the community.

The launch of any game brings out plenty of angry people. Many still hope for smooth sailing while the veterans know that the rocky launches FAR outweigh the perfect ones, and most fall somewhere inbetween. Because of this the official forums will be in an uproar for a while, but never fear, they will settle down eventually.

In game, public channels have been full of helpful and fun players, and the bad apples have been few and far between. I haven't yet experienced a bad group. There have been the usual experiences with kill stealing and mob camping, but I have a bumper sticker that reads "I Survived Lineage II Launch" so I know it's nothing that doesn't usually happen when newbie areas are packed to the rim. I think we have a great community here and I've always believed that who you game with is just as important as what you play.

Age of Conan is is making waves in the gaming community and whether you have given it rave reviews or if you are kicking yourself for spending cash on another game you may not play, we want to hear from you! Let us know what about the game you love and what you hate.


Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Ten Ton Hammer network or staff.

To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Age of Conan: Unchained Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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