That's what playing Aion can sometimes feel like. NCSoft's MMORPG has an outstanding presentation, beautiful art style and graphics, and enough interesting twists on standard MMO gameplay to make it a fun game, but still lacks the certain punch necessary to recommend the required $15 subscription fee.
Aion's setting is the world of Atreia, which is comprised of two separate worlds inhabited by the Elyos and Asmodians, the game's two playable factions. Think of the original X-Men's Archangel and you've got the Elyos aesthetic pretty well, which is the "light" faction of Aion's daeva. Add in some Constantine, mood lighting and power chords and you've found the Asmodians, the "dark" playable race. Both of these factions are in constant struggle - otherwise known as PVP - with each other, as well as a third, dragon-like race called the Balaur that occupies the Abyss, a no-person's-land in between the other two.
Aiononline.comGraphically, the game is likewise incredible, sporting breathtaking environments and detailed, fully customizable character models. Seriously, this game has one of the most comprehensive character creation experiences we've ever seen, where you can change things like facial features, body type, skin tone, and choose from dozens of hairstyles and tattoos. The environments are lush and gorgeous, and the large variety of detailed items and armor sets make for characters that look great and feel different from every other noob that you'll run into in the auction house.
Part of what makes the game's visuals work so well is the clean, efficient interface and the way the graphics integrate smoothly into the UI. Aion has a level of polish that is akin to games like World of Warcraft and The Lord of the Rings Online, where the graphics don't just work well for the setting - they also simply work, meaning that there are minimal issues with clipping, seeing through characters, or popups that are common to a lot of MMO's. Similarly, the interface integrates seamlessly with Aion's art style with a level of detail that adds to the immersiveness of the game. In my mind, if you're staring at a game for hundreds of hours (even you, Morrowind), the UI had better be as banging as the other visuals, otherwise the whole thing's going to look stale after awhile.
Aiononline.comOne thing does set Aion apart from other games, online or otherwise: flying. Yes, FLYING. As in, after you reach level 10 and fulfill certain quests, your character gets WINGS. TO FLY WITH. Perhaps one of the most awesome additions to the game, you can hit the jump key any time to use your wings to glide from higher to lower ground, or fly around for limited bursts in specific areas of the game. It adds a totally rad spin to the usual gameplay elements in an MMO, and can be quite useful: I was questing with a PuG in an open dungeon-type area up on a hill, and rather than fighting our way through respawns to reach the valley below, we simply took off and glided lazily down to the next area. Totally awesome.
Flying also lends an interesting y-axis dynamic to PVP, for which there are several options to get your pwn on. Within general PvE areas there are periodic "rifts" that allow travel between Elysae and Asmodae to specific locations in each other's worlds. What this generally amounts to is you happily minding your own business slaying monsters in the wild, only to realize that a group of level ??? players from the opposing faction have suddenly teleported directly in your personal space, and that they don't like sharing. Gah!
Aiononline.comIf you're into crafting, Aion has plenty for you to do. As with the graphics and gameplay, it's mostly standard stuff: gather or purchase the ingredients and then cook, smith, woodwork, tailor, or alcheme (not a word, but it should be) to your heart's content. And seriously, your heart had better be into it, because it's going to take you a good long while to grind through the several tiers of crafting. At least you've got four hundred other people in each of the six or so crafting rooms to talk to while you're doing it!
Speaking of grinding, the lack of mid-level content is probably our biggest - or only? - real gripe with Aion overall. The 1-10 experience for both factions is spectacular, with a bunch of interesting quests, interactive story sequences, and a good dose of wonder as you earn your wings. After level 15 or so, the content starts to get pretty thin, and you're forced to grind mobs to get to the next quest hub, which can get repetitive really fast. If combat or exploration were really engaging, that wouldn't be much of a problem, but as we've mentioned, the action is pretty standard MMO stuff and although the environments are beautiful, they tend to run together with a lot of pretty colors, lacking some substance.
Aiononline.comOther than that, people seem to be pretty friendly.
Aion recently celebrated its first anniversary with the release of Assault on Balaurea, a free expansion to the main game that increases the level cap to 55, introduces the new zones of Gelkmaros and Inggison in Balaurea, adds new flight dynamics and useful pets to the game, and brings a host of new instances and quests to the world of Atreia. NCSoft has bundled the expansion into a new retail version of the MMORPG as well as providing the download as a regular update for subscribers. Although we haven't had a chance to check it out just yet, we're definitely excited to do so as it seems that they've addressed a lot of the grinding issues that we've had trouble with.
With the huge range of MMO's available to contend with, Aion definitely makes a name for itself with its distinctive art style, spectacular graphics, flying mechanics, and general polish. Even the game's launch went relatively smoothly, which is mute testament to how well-supported it is. Still, Aion mostly builds upon a tried and true MMO formula, and requires a lot of grinding, while lacking a certain depth or innovation that would really make us want to keep up a subscription. Like a lot of other MMORPG's, Aion could definitely benefit from the F2P treatment (please oh please SOE, if you're listening, hear our plea for a F2P Vanguard), or even just 3- or 6-month pricing plans, which would seriously make it easier to justify the subscription cost.
We're really looking forward to checking out Assault on Balaurea, as it seems like NCSoft has been paying attention to the community it's working for, and in the MMO world, that goes a long way towards increasing playership. Support of a game is paramount to the success of a good design, and if Aion gets the attention it needs in terms of content and balancing open-world PVP, then that's something we can subscribe to!
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