Sometimes life is too good dear play chums. Not only do we have the Wii to look forward to, but then there's the bumper Christmas games releases such as Gears of War, Zelda and Viva Pi̱ata. Then once we head into the New Year we've got the release of PS3 and the promise of Conan: Age of Hyborian, not to mention LOTR online! And now, to top it all, my favourite MMOG creator, NCsoft has announced a few snippets about Aion РTower of Eternity, the next MMORPG to come forth from its hallowed halls.
Oh yawnsville, I hear you sigh. But wait, no, it's not just another fantasy MMORPG – it's far more than that. I thought the same as you, until I saw the crucial words "free flying and flying combat."
Aha! Now you see the cause for my sense of excitement. Apart from the jaw-droppingly beautiful graphics, the prospect of winged flight and angelic dogfights is almost too much to bear. Just cast your eyes on the pictures of huge, feathered wings, fit for Gabriel himself and you'll be sold on playing Aion in 2007 too.
Aion is the story of an epic conflict between warring factions the Chun and the Ma, plus an NPC faction called the Yong. Players must choose a side and join either the Chun or the Ma to try and bring union back to the world of The Tower of Eternity. The Yong is a warring race that was released when a disaster shattered the Tower and they were exiled from the dimensional Abyss. They are now seeking revenge on both these worlds and of course players will be taken on a journey of epic conflict.
The latest news on Aion suggests that players will have a direct effect on the game world, creating different quests and opening new dungeons. Apparently, each faction on each server will have an impact on the live environment, making all servers unique experiences – so prepare for some server hopping.
There will be PvP, but I hope that NCsoft don't neglect the roleplayers who will serve to make Aion a richer experience. Too often, the roleplaying element in mmoRPGs is neglected in favour of PvP, but I'm hoping Aion expansions won't just feature new fighting arenas and the like. Roleplayers will want more items, quests and immersive content to explore and enjoy.
Despite the initial reservations that come with the announcement of new MMOGs, the developers of Aion are making all the right noises to convince me that this could me my favourite online game of 2007.
Now, we all know that character generation maketh the MMOG. And it has to be said that NCsoft got the character gen so right on City of Heroes, but so wrong on Guild Wars. Hence I played the City of games for two years and GW for maybe six months. Likewise my main problem with World of Warcraft was the character gen was almost non-existent and therefore left me cold before I even entered the game world – I guess those thousands playing every day just don't care what their character looks like.
Basically without the right level of customisation, the whole idea of an online avatar being your own character is negated. If my character looks like every other shmo on the server I don't want to know.
The good news is that things in Aion seem to be going in the right direction. Word on the street from game producer, Ju-hyun Jang is that players will be given a very powerful character customisation tool that could be "more powerful than anything else you've seen." Now that is a grave brag, when you're in the company of the City of games, so I am seriously excited. Characters will be customisable from the start of the game, with professions, equipment, armour and clothing offering players ways to create an individual alter-ego.
On top of a promising character gen system, we have the power of flight people. Not only do we have the power of flight, but we have flight-based combat, aerial battles and sky-bound mayhem. We will be fighting over floating castles and soaring above islands in the sky. Oh"my"god!
The mysterious Yong faction is also being blessed with intelligence and free will. The aim is to create an NPC faction that acts in an unpredictable way, sometimes siding with the Ma, sometimes with the Chun or even attacking both. I like the sound of NPCs with smarts, as well as the promise of Aion being a grind-free zone. Hoorah – at last, we'll have a world where we won't be forced to kill 10 rats to earn the sandals of surefootedness.
My mind is well and truly boggled and excited at the prospect of flying around the Aion universe. Who needs next generation consoles when we have such glories to behold on PC? Only time will determine whether all these promises are honoured – until then I shall banish all thoughts of Icarus from my mind.
Most wanted: Gears of War
Most played: Zelda: Ocarina of Time