Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

The cycle of life is as fitting for the MMOG universe as it is for we mere mortals. Even as games like Tabula Rasa prepare for their imminent demise, other games are continually born into existence. The next big title coming from the warm, snuggly, Garriott-empty womb of NCsoft is Aion: The Tower of Eternity. With the company allowing one of its most hyped games to shut down after only a short chance at life, I think players are naturally nervous about putting their trust in the company yet again.

After spending some time digging for information, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say their latest endeavor will be well worth taking another chance on. Ever since the days of Icarus, man has wanted to soar through the air with the agility of sparrows and the speed of the falcon. Welcome to the world of Aion.

Whether you choose to join the side of light as one of the angelic Elyos, or the side of darkness as one of the imposing Asmodians, you'll take to the skies and all of its violent beauty as you fight in the Abyss. The world has been shattered into innumerable shards and it’s up to you to protect your factions floating chunks of rock, the rocks you call home.

Impose your will in the air.

The concept of flying in a game certainly isn't unique, but using it at as a staple in MMO combat certainly is. The current strategies we're all used to employing simply won't cut it and will have to be modified if you want to truly rule the skies. Rather than being on a flat, two dimensional plane, you'll be forced to be cognizant of threats from all around you at all times.

According to the website, the customization of your wings will supposedly be "as unique as your imagination will allow". While I hope they pull this part off, I think they seriously need to reword this particular statement. The Ten Ton Hammer community alone has shown on multiple occasions just how creative they can be. Toss in the other one million players they're hoping to attract to Aion and I think they have a better chance of developing cold fusion than they do of fulfilling that particular promise. The concept of my Asmodian's demon wings may be completely different from everyone else’s. Attempting to truly satisfy everyone is ludicrous. The various images I've seen show a remarkable amount of diversity, so even if I argue with their wording, there should be enough variety to keep everyone from feeling as if they look like clones.

For years, many of us have played various flight simulation games, with those of the space flavor being my favorite. From the early days of Wing Commander (will someone *please* make another one?) to the more recent addition of space combat in Star Wars Galaxies (its only saving grace in my opinion), the idea of 360 degree combat is a familiar one. I'm intrigued to see just how different Aion's combat will be though since we're not going to flying at 500kps (kilometers/second) and firing lasers. Having a general sense of enemies shouldn't be much different, but keeping track of your teammates may be an entirely different ball of wax.

Diversity for the win!

Upon character creation, you'll be able to choose from a standard host of classes: Warrior, Scout, Priest, and Mage. From there, you'll be able to split off into specialty classes further down the road in your career. The idea sounds great on paper, but as a person that tends to have more characters on my account than the infamous Sybil had personalities, I worry about having to play the same basic character multiple times.

Everquest II started out with a similar system, but eventually allowed players to start as whatever class they wanted to avoid the inevitable sense of burnout invoked just from wanting to try out a Shadow Knight and Guardian. Both started out as warriors, but you had to play through an immense amount of content before you could tell whether you would actually like the class. Lessening the amount of content players have to go through before choosing further classes in a tree may be one way to go, but at that point, I have to wonder why they don't have all the classes available from the start.

Aion is coming along in its development, but there's still plenty of time for things to change. When it comes to MMOG's, the standard rule is that everything is written in Jell-O and can be altered at any time. Despite the current cloud of disappointment hanging over NCsoft, I'm still anxiously awaiting the day I can get my hands on the game. It has the potential to finally satisfy my urge to rain death and destruction from the sky in most glorious fashion. Keep your eyes peeled as I bring you more on the game in the future!