Age of Conan? But I don't like Arnold Schwarzenegger...

EDIT - As this page remains inexplicably popular on Google, I'm adding a link to my Age of Conan play diary and ongoing review here. (http://mmodusoperandi.blogspot.com/2008/05/age-of-conan-player-diary-level-1-20.html)

For those of you who aren't a fan of the Governator, his loincloth-clad form is officially not in this game. I can't speak for what he gets up to while ruling California, but one would hope that also does not involve him wearing a loincloth. I hope that gave you an unpleasant mental picture - if not, I've helpfully provided you with a physical one.

Scantily-clad Arnie NOT included in box. Probably the best advert for Age of Conan you will ever see.

But onto more pressing matters. My tip of the week is this - buy some shares in Funcom, because Age of Conan is going to be big. Why have I come to this conclusion? Well, these guys were behind Anarchy Online, which means that they're not new to this MMORPG malarkey. I'll admit, that's not a guarantee of success (just look at what EQ2 was like on release, followed by the rather abject failure of Vanguard - both made by the person who created the original EQ)They've also got some ideas that, while not revolutionary, certainly are a little different.

Realism = man in skirt shooting a bow at a bear. Apparently.

First up, it's meant to be fairly realistic. That's as in low fantasy rather than high fantasy. No elves and dwarves and stuff like that, just a lot of humans with sharp objects and anger management problems. Much like real ancient history, everyone seems to solve their problems by shooting them full of arrows or stabbing them through the face. This is a good thing, because it gives the game the grown-up feeling it is going for. There are scantily clad women in it, and lots of blood, and some quite impressive finishing moves and stuff. It's also meant to be quite morally grey, which is always slightly less patronising than:

'Help, I've lost my pet dog! Will you help me?'

A) Yes! I will risk life and limb to save your dog, for no reason other than the good of my pure pure heart!
B) No. Now I'm going to murder you and burn your village to the ground for asking. Then I'm going to eat your dog.

Probably the most unique feature of Age of Conan is the combat system, however, and it's here I'll stop mindlessly prattling away and actually voice my main concern about the game. It's going to be skill based in a big way. You actually aim your arrows, like in Oblivion. When you're fighting in melee, there's no auto-attack button, you kinda just hack around with your weapon and hopefully de-spleen some of your opponents. Or stab them through the face. I believe there is a low-end targeting system in there to make it bearable, but that unconfirmed at the moment. This might all sound hideously imprecise, but I've not seen it in action so I couldn't possibly comment. Fact is, though, for better or worse there will be a lot of player skill involved. The concept kinda reminds me of the combat in Fable, for some reason, though again I'll reiterate the fact I've never actually played it. Similarly, there's a spellweaving element for casters, which again is affected by the skill of the player involved.

I was going to say something funny, but instead I'm just going to gawk at how gorgeous Age of Conan actually looks.

Now this is either going to be awesome or completely rubbish. I don't see much in-between space with this game. If their combat system fails, it's going to be clunky and difficult to use, completely unplayable on any connection that isn't awesome, and generally a very-hit and miss affair open to a lot of exploitation. If it goes well, it'll be an exciting break from the norm that may well revolutionise how we play the genre. PvP will be nail biting and intense, and realistic to a new degree.

THIS IS SPAARTAAAAAA!

Oh, you're looking for Corinth? No problem. Three villages along, second on the right. No, don't worry about it, really. Happens all the time.

Time will tell which. Age of Conan is currently in beta testing, so hopefully it'll be a very polished game when it comes out. It has a lot of cool features I've not listed here, like player-made cities and siege PvP warfare between guilds, and PvP player levelling. If any of it catches your fancy, check out their FAQs on their website. Funcom are really aiming for the stars with this one, and if they deliver then they're going to have rewritten the genre. It's looking good so far, with impressive visuals and a lot of work going into animations, sound and armour suits too (as well as zone design), and it's definitely a game I'm going to buy on release. I'm tipping it to be the best MMORPG that will come out in the next twelve months, however, and I'm watching it very closely.

Hektor.

Age of Conan FAQ - http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=cwul1uhnwzgvtvfbw94v2ftd8m1gv3&func=publish.show&func_id=1029&table=PUBLISH&template=news_no_feature&selected=1029