Perhaps you've heard the name whispered on your favorite forums. Maybe you've seen the preorder box at your local game store. But unless you've been living in a cave with no internet access, you are well aware that Aion is getting ready to make its play at the western MMORPG market.
The insipid term ※WoWkiller§ has been around since World Of Warcraft. Realistically, the only thing that can kill WoW is itself 每 so I would consider the appropriate definition of a WoWkiller as a MMORPG that can survive comfortably with continuing updates and a sustainable playerbase. The MMORPG community regards new games with more wariness and cynicism than ever, after being burned on titles like Age of Conan, which was a hype-machine monster that offered little content past the opening levels.
So, here we are 每 beta weekend number 2 of Aion. Initial impressions time 每 cries of ※It's just beta! Don't judge it!§ are essentially worthless here, as Aion has been out for some time overseas. The players are treated to ten levels of Asmodian (the ※evil§ race) play this weekend. Since the NDA has been lifted, we can finally make some observations.
Aion is nothing new 每 but what it does it does well. The graphics are quite good, the gameplay is not laggy or buggy, and it runs well on most systems. The only issue is, I think in today's MMO world you need to stand out, and the gameplay featured in Aion (thus far) is just the same old killing 10 animals and bugs for twitching legs and sticky honey, along with the same old skills that are staples of the genre (Dot's, hot's, DD's, and debuffs) that seem that they could have been generically ripped off from any of ten other games word for word.
Of course, final judgment will have to wait until players get a shot at the PVP 每 an aspect of the game in which it hopes to set itself apart from other titles of the genre. We'll have to take a look at that when it becomes available in the weeks to come. |
