”It’s been more than three and a half years since Blizzard unleashed World of Warcraft, and since then no other MMORPG has even come close in terms of popularity and lasting appeal. Many games have come and gone, some of which were decent efforts that simply weren’t enough to topple the king, some of which were so bad they weren’t worth bothering to play - even if they were free. The MMO veterans at Funcom released the somewhat well-received Anarchy Online seven years ...

After years of careful research, development, and an extensive beta-testing phase that has set new benchmarks for MMO QA, Funcom’s Age of Conan is now up and running. At a time when the colorful, cartoony, and PG-rated World of Warcraft is the undisputed king of the booming MMO genre, Conan positions itself as the rough, gruff, violent, sexual fantasy title for those wanting a more “mature” experience from an MMO.
With a week of solid play and 25 levels under my belt, ...

Funcom succeeded on several fronts with their much-anticipated MMORPG. It’s got a different, enjoyable gameplay style, offers a free-for-all PVP experience that fits with Robert E. Howard’s fiction and boasts outstanding audio and graphical packages. It also offers fairly standard quest chains, a lackluster crafting system, and three weeks outside of launch still has plenty of technical issues, content either missing or unfinished, and is still in need of quite a bit of polish.

While playing Age of Conan over the past few weeks I’ve been using a computer with an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU at 2.40 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, and a GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB card on Windows Vista 32-bit. You can see how well the game runs with this hardware by checking out the most recent gameplay footage we’ve posted. At home, I was playing on a Pentium D 2.80 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, a GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB card and running Windows XP and the game still ran, though most of all the graphics set...

For melee and spellcasters alike, an attack or ability’s area of effect (AoE) nature also needs to be taken into consideration. Since you’re not locked on one target in Age of Conan, your weapon swings and a large portion of the game’s spells can affect multiple opponents. It makes AoE grinding–corralling groups of mobs together and dispatching them all at once–fairly easy and also greatly simplifies healing. Take the bear shaman, for example, whose healing spell...

Funcom’s newest MMO is live, but is it worth your time?
June 10, 2008 - After numerous delays and mounting hype, Funcom’s Age of Conan was finally released three weeks ago. Based on the fiction of early 20th century pulp writer Robert E. Howard, the new massively mutliplayer game is faithful to the source material, meaning that you’ll be spending most of your time watching muscled brutes smashing and chopping their way through ranks of enemies. The game is also remarka...

In a world filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations and a struggling human race, the mighty barbarian has finally seized the throne as king of Aquilonia. But Conan’s rule is on the brink of chaos, spiraling towards the doom of ancient evils. In this twisted fantasy world, dark magic and brutal combat lurks around every corner, and each man and woman must carve their own unique destiny under Conan’s reign. In the true vision of Robert E. Howard’s dark un...

I got my copy of Age of Conan on Friday and I couldn’t wait to install and play it. After playing it most of the weekend I thought I would share my impressions of the game. I only have my 2.2 Ghz Macbook Pro to play it on, so I was worried about performance of the game. It was playable but I really do need a new computer to appreciate the graphics of this game.
As soon as I started playing the game I noticed that, although the graphics are very nice there are many things in the GU...

As a galley slave you land on the burning beaches of Tortage. With no memory of your past, a broken oar and tattered clothes you enter a fantastic journey where you will define your destiny. In a world filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures and a struggling human race, Conan the mighty barbarian has finally seized the throne. As king of Aquilonia, his rule begins to spiral toward the doom of ancient evils as his enemies resurrect from the darkest corners of Hyboria.
In Conan the pla...

Age of Conan is better than World of Warcraft from top to bottom. Let’s take a look:
1. One of the most smooth releases of an MMO, definitely the least buggy of any of the 10+ releases I’ve been a part of. (BTW, WoW is still one of the worst releases of all time, which cost it the Game of the Year Award from a few sites.)
2. Graphics- One of the few complaints by casual gamers is due to the monstrous system specs needed to run the game, as opposed to the comparatively ...

Hi. Alright so like most people we’re wondering is AoC really going to be worth the all the hype? Is it going to rival the dominating player of the MMO field, World of Warcraft.
There are many conflicting opinions on this topic which is why I plan to test out the game for myself. I played World of Warcraft for a couple years so I will be basing my judgement off that.
For now what I think is yes Age of Conan is going to be worth it. I believe it is the next step in MMORPG gam...

Age of Conan truly is the next generation of MMO’s. The graphics are amazing but come with a price. The system requirements call for a top of the line PC to even run the game, let alone run it well in massive PvP battles.
This MMORPG has a new type of combat called “Real Combat” that lets you choose your attack as well as where you swing. This is a clear sign of Funcom trying to make AoC unique and trying to add a new element to MMOs.
The Player vs Player (PvP) i...

The Age of Conan is the newest major MMORPG to be released. The game currently features people of three different cultures; the Aquilonians, Cimmerians, and Stygians. Within each culture are a variety of classes and sub-classes. Major difference between Age of Conan and other Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games is the innovative combat technology, use of mounted combat and the ability to build battlekeeps.
The combat system of Age of Conan is revolutionary in that it allows ...

Kill or be killed in Funcom’s barbaric MMORPG.
“Here come the steamrollers, newbs,” says the text box floating above the crumpled body in front of my group. “Time to call in the level 80s. I thought you guys wanted to get quests done.” I can’t imagine any better victory in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game: Not only is the opponent beaten in the digital world, but defeat has triggered something akin to the Kubler-Ross stages of grief in...

It’s been more than three and a half years since Blizzard unleashed World of Warcraft, and since then no other MMORPG has even come close in terms of popularity and lasting appeal. Many games have come and gone, some of which were decent efforts that simply weren’t enough to topple the king, some of which were so bad they weren’t worth bothering to play - even if they were free. The MMO veterans at Funcom released the somewhat well-received Anarchy Online seven years ago, an...