Aion Review - PC

8.5

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 9
Audio: 7
Multiplayer: 9
Innovation: 7

As the ancient god Aion watches over the land of Atreia, you must join the fight as the Elyos or the Asmodian in an epic battle of good versus evil, but who is the evil race? The highly developed civilized Elyos, or the dark tortured lost souls of the Asmodian? You decide, as NCSoft brings you a brand new MMORPG where you decide how you want to play. Aion provides plenty of new features to the MMO market, and if this is the first time you’ve heard of it because you’ve been lost in Age of Conan or World of Warcraft, you should probably read through this review to see what you’re missing.

Gameplay

Aion has four major classes which then split off into eight once you reach level 10. The four main classes, warrior, scout, mage and priest, provide enough diversity within the game to allow you to decide which class to play without complicating too much. Once you reach level 10 though, you then choose which path you want to take within the class you chose. Take for instance a scout, they can either choose the path of the ranger or the path of the assassin. Mages can take the path of sorcerer or spiritmaster, and so forth. There are no talent trees in Aion, instead, once you pick your specialised class you simply learn the talents your class offers by purchasing the skill books as you level. This has caused a little bit of concern amongst MMO lovers as not being able to choose your own skills to upgrade and have a different specialisation to your friend doesn’t really allow for much uniqueness, but the system works fine as it is.

Questing in Aion is the same as any other MMO, you have your gathering quests, your kill count grinding quests, quests to kill leaders of groups, etc. Aion has campaign quests though which are vital to your character development. If you don’t complete the main story of quests, you may not get certain key abilities and upgrades. Some people may consider Aion to be a little easy when it comes to questing, as the map usually indicates where you need to go, and the quest log will explain the exact type of creature you have to kill. Sometimes the game will even cut to a video showing you the exact location of where you need to travel to. Questing is made easier with flight paths and even easier with teleportation devices found in all the major towns and cities.

There are also Work Order quests, which are basically just quests to enhance your professions. There are eight different types of professions in Aion ranging from Alchemy to Extracting. You’re not limited as to how many professions you want to learn, which means you don’t have to rely on other people to create or modify your equipment and items. The Extracting professions are a must and should be leveled up as you go, because once you’re in the higher ...