In recent years, in the MMORPG genre stagnates. Most games coming out similar to each other as twin brothers, everywhere you look, everywhere elves and gnomes, while developers try to please everyone, trying to cut a little more greenery. The gaming community has long appealed to the creators: "Enough to feed us a fantasy-consumer goods. We want meat and circuses! "Well, it's time to open the champagne. Spring 2008 will go down in the history of the birth of the most bloody and realistic MMORPG, which sparkle with swords and flying in all directions of the head. It is time for Conan!
Escape from the galley Universe that Funcom has chosen the company for its second MMO, more than eighty years. It is not like a Tolkien fantasy. Writer Robert E. Howard created a world of dark barbaric Hyborian era, where the legendary warrior get on ancient gods, and dark wizards are hatching plans for the conquest of free people. This world - is our Land "before time". No company would not have enough forces to recreate the whole thing, so at the time of release, developers confined to a small part, although their future plans are ambitious.
As with any online adventure, Age of Conan begins with the choice of hero. True hero is something just yet to become, and the first time will have to settle for the plight of slaves in the galley. As already mentioned, the game is not the usual elves and orcs. All the characters - the people, but the choice of nationality affects the appearance and available classes. Akvilontsy - proud and civilized people, the Cimmerians - barbarians from the North, carrying out life in battle, and Stygians - dark-skinned nomads of the desert, tending to magic.
Developers have created an impressive system to customize the exterior with a lot of sliders and a variety of parts. Besides the traditional changing hairstyles, players can break his alter ego nose, add a couple of horrible scars, decorate the face of "Indian" stripes, printed an ominous tattoo on his body, build muscle and stubble. Age of Conan - one of the few MMO, where the character gets a truly unique and memorable. Particularly well here go Freaks!
Once the newly-slave receive the name and appearance, the galley gets into a terrible storm and our hero stumbling go to the bottom. At the last moment he still be able to escape and get to shore. But, as first reported a counter-old man, freedom does not guarantee the serene life. Savages, pirates, demons, the wicked witch and the tyrant ruler - just a few challenges to face. Another attack - amnesia. In a shipwreck, our hero firmly struck his head and remembers nothing about his past. How he became a slave? Who was before? What does the strange tattoo with a claw on his chest? Answers to these questions will learn soon.
 | |  | Conall's Valley landscapes adorned with the heads of the northern savages, strung on sharpened stakes. These are the main enemies of the Cimmerian people. | | The first thing we have to save the beauty.Girl, as it turned out, works at the local brothel, but it should not confuse the real hero. |
Meat alive and dead The graphics in Age of Conan is not as colorful as, for example, in Lord of the Rings Online, but incredibly realistic, and allows you to plunge into the dark maelstrom of barbarism. Funcom staff took into account feedback on the Anarchy Online (the first online game company) and decorated it with many details the world of Conan. You'll notice the half-flooded the galley, discarded water bodies, which have already managed to get the flies, and which lie ahead of the jungle - the best jungle ever created in the online game!
But behind the beauty will have to pay. To play comfortably with maximum quality graphics, you must have a powerful multi-core processor, 4 GB of RAM and a graphics card of GeForce 8800GTS. But even on medium settings with no shadows Age of Conan looks great. You immediately feel like a hero of Robert E. Howard books and believe that it is this he represented Hyboria. In this dark world war has left its traces everywhere. Dead bodies will be found so often that to thirty levels to get used to it, even the most avowed pacifist. Hung, impaled on stakes, dismembered and fried ... no wonder Age of Conan has received an adult rating. Nudity in the game too short, and the whores are almost more than the glorious warriors.
 | |  | One of the brutal scenes, which many in the Age of Conan: the offender is being prepared for execution, and the townspeople came out to look at the view. | | At sunset the desert Stygia looks awesome. Bottom right you can see a map on which the cross marked the place to do quests. |
Under the yoke of a tyrant While Age of Conan is a full-fledged MMORPG, the first few levels take place in single-player mode. During this time you will have time to get acquainted with the world, control and interface to save the girl from the clutches of gangsters, and win a herd of monkeys. Meet other players can only be arriving to the city Tortazh. There will be stuck for a long time, as the evil ruler does not release the ships from the port and all kinds of fun of the locals.
In addition to the bloodthirsty tyrant, the townspeople full of personal problems. We were asked to solve the mystery of the cursed amulet to save the city from the awakened volcano, to intervene in a dark ritual to become a tool of revenge for the armless pirate and so much more. At the beginning of all the dialogues sounded excellent and reflect the hard life of local residents. In addition to hundreds of professional voice actors, Funcom has invited a whole orchestra to record soundtracks. There are games where you want to turn off the music from the first minute, in Age of Conan, it is not boring for a few days. Melodious disturbing song, emphasizing the atmosphere of the barbarian world, will accompany you during your downloads, walks around the world and exploring dungeons.
Alas, gunpowder, to voice all the quests with the developers did not have enough - after Tortazha NPC silent, but the job remains interesting and consistent with the spirit of Robert E. Howard stories. In addition to conventional missions, the game is a full-fledged story - the fate of the protagonist and his familiarity with those who are clothed in this world of power and authority: King Conan, the powerful sorcerer Thoth-Amon and necromancer Tulsa Doom.
On the map are designated place of performance of all tasks, so that deal with quests in Age of Conan is even easier than in other MMORPG. We speak to the NPC, mission, and we're running, where the arrow points. Not all appreciated this approach, many hardcore players were indignant, they say, it dulls the game. But Funcom is confident that players like that only benefit - they will not waste away the time and instead will deepen in the wilds of the plot.
Another very controversial decision - the separation of the game world on the instances. Every time you want to visit new lands, or go to the house will look longingly at the loading screen.And once in a zone would meet the people more than normal, the game creates multiple copies of location, which spreads all the players. So, if you and a friend decide to hunt crocodiles and an appointment at a gravestone, not a fact that will see each other. Thus Funcom tried to improve the stability of servers, but after a seamless worlds, World of Warcraft and Lord of The Rings Online podgruzki endless annoying.
 | |  | White arrows, surrounding figures opponents indicated direction boards. When they are exhibited in different directions, then to beat - in principle, no difference. | | During the fatalities on the screen get a bloody blob. Trifle, but what effect the presence of! |
Mortal Kombat on swords Combat system Age of Conan sung a lot of praises, and then actually have something to praise. Removed the familiar MMO avtoataki with allocation targets, and introduced its own regime, which was named «Real Combat». It is no longer able to give the hero a team batter the monster and go to the kitchen for tea. Each stroke requires a player to participate. You can even choose which side to attack: left, right, forward. It is not done for the beauty and not for the sake of diversity. All the monsters and characters have the ability to put a block in this direction, greatly reducing damage in an attack on the appropriate side.
It is quite possible to kill the monsters, sword slashing indiscriminately, but to become a cool fighter will have to learn the system combo. This ligament impacts, increasing damage dealt and give an additional effect. For example, the combo may not only deprive the enemy of health, but also to penetrate the armor, cause bleeding, or knock down. In contrast to normal attacks, which are applied by single push of a button, combo - a series of attacks in certain directions. And if the starting pair of chords is enough strikes, then to hold high-level combination, will in turn reap up to 5 keys. Sequence of keystrokes is displayed on the screen, so you can always see in which direction to attack the next time.
If the final blow would be fatal for the purpose, the hero performs a colorful fatalities. Each class of its "crown". For example, the barbarian can easily thrust his sword into the chest of the victim to the hilt and provernet it in or cut off both his hands and then his head. Shaman with a swinging two-handed hammer will drive the skull bedolagi. Each fatality is accompanied by a spray of blood, scattering in all directions, which at first causes a child's delight. True, these magicians pleasures deprived. Gameplay is pretty standard for them - select the target, press a button, shies fireball.
But the work of healers Funcom approached creatively. All three classes of variegated priests have their own ways to heal the wounds. For example, the effectiveness of healing spells shaman depends on the damage they melee damage. And instead of fumble button «Heal» on the sidelines, he has a two-handed swing a club in the thick of battle. The Priest of Mitra has a spell cone treatment which only affects to nearby targets. In general, the developers have done everything to the healers were not bored and took part in battles.
The big plus Age of Conan is able to fight on horseback. At the fortieth level characters can ride a horse, a rhinoceros or a mammoth. Horse - the most playful of all, a mammoth gives a solid increase in their health and can destroy buildings. Unlike other MMORPG, here the hero being in the saddle, do not lose the ability to swing a sword and cast spells. Moreover, animals help him. Frisky horse kicks, rejecting standing behind the Bedouin, and mammoth tusks are operating in a crowd. You can even at full tilt to shower the enemy with arrows, to get the truth in this case the target will be able to mother only snipers.
 | Robert Howard and his work |
Robert Howard was born in January 1906 in the town Pister, Texas. His father was a physicist and her mother took care of TB patients and gave a lot of energy development and education of his son. His first short stories, Robert began writing as early as the age of nine. Since the boy was fond of ancient history, the heroes of his works have become the mighty Vikings and Arab fighters, shed their blood in battle. Howard's first short story in a science fiction magazine «Adventure» was published when he was 15 years old. In subsequent years, he has contributed to various publications, but fame came when Robert invented a new genre of sword and sorcery, where intertwining fantasy, horror and mythology. The writer has created on paper Hyborian era, the "lost century" for ten thousand years BC. The legendary ancient Earth, described them in stories and novels, too, is often called Hyboria.
In 1932 in the journal «Weird Tales» there appeared the first story of Conan - Cimmerian great warrior, wandering in search of fame. Howard went on to describe the adventures of his hero, despite the Great Depression, during which the publishing houses and journals were closed one after another, and writers were paid a pittance.
Many years after his death Conan hit the pages of Marvel comics, and cinema screens. Since Howard's work reprinted many times, and the name of a barbarian from Cimmeria is a household, along with the names of Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and Harry Potter.
 | |  | Few games can boast such a variety of settings appearance. We must pay tribute to the designers, the bodies of the characters were very realistic, with all the anatomical details. | | City Tortazh - pirate paradise, pearl islands Barakskih how we communicate in the beginning of a gray-haired old man. In fact, this hole is where hosted gangsters and kill civilians for fun. |
Who keeps the castle? PvP - this is, what to leave the guild in Age of Conan from other MMORPG. Large-scale battles, clan warfare, siege castles and fighting on horseback will stimulate blood network warriors. To cater to all subscribers, Funcom has opened just three types of servers: PvP, PvE and Culture PvP.
On the PvE-servers to attack other players are allowed only in strictly defined zones, which are called the Border Kingdoms. In other places you quietly pumps the character, not fearing that jump out of the bushes evil ganker. On Culture PvP set of rules like World of Warcraft - players can attack anywhere, but only for members of other races. PvP-server - the most hardcore, the only safe place for them - the city. The remaining locations are allowed to wet each other regardless of gender, race, level, and religion. There's even an audience selected special. If the PvP-server you will see how to you run the stranger, no doubt - running is not the time to ask a stab in the back.
All classes are able to hide, disappear or appearing right under the noses of the enemy. Imagine: you're doing a quest, looking around, slowly relax, and then, from nowhere, saber-toothed aggressor with poisoned daggers. Well, if one - is, an army pop up. On the effectiveness of stealth is influenced by many different things: the skill level of Hide, armor, lighting, as developed by Perception at the opponent (this helps the ability to calculate the ninja).Sneak up to the victim in heavy boots, when the sun is at its zenith - a bad idea. However, Rogue-classes and is able to - in the Age of Conan they are masters of camouflage.
While waving the sword under the nose of the enemy's fun killing other players while not encouraged, and little incentive (other than "for fun") to wet all the living there. The only penalty for death at the hands gankera - loss of a few minutes. The victim simply revived at the nearest point "trash." In the future, Funcom promises to introduce "Blood Money", rank, and armor kits, which will be given for the activity in PvP. Here then surely the inhabitants of PvP-servers will not be a quiet life (but not for her there and go).
For those who do not like to scour the hills and dales in search of victims, the developers added betlgraundy to a tee as in World of Warcraft. On the one needed to kill the entire opposing team on the other - to drag the flags (or rather, the skull). Maps battlefields are fairly small, so that they are constantly going on some sort of action. Another interesting PvP-mode - a drunken brawl. Players can pay a visit to a nearby tavern, skip a drink and embed boon companion as it should. Made it as a fun mini-games, and as a way to relax - quite that.
Crown PvP in Age of Conan - clan war and siege castles. Plain city can build any guild, gathering enough resources, but the space for private lock all is not enough. Clan strongholds are located in the Border Kingdoms, and should bear good bonuses to their owners (though at the time of writing, bonuses were not observed. Hopefully, this is a temporary shortage), so are the players for a tasty morsel. But for the clan, who had no time to stake out a place in time, the only way to get a lock - raze and build a stranger in his own place. It's time to connect the siege weapons and mammoths.
Weekday craftsman While Age of Conan is positioned as a PvP-oriented game, fans climb on the crypts and destroy the dragon's lair would not remain idle. For players, the maximum level 80 dungeons are available about a dozen, among which there are both group and raid. It is difficult to say how varied, crafty and strong will raid bosses, but Funcom has threatened that without the gang of 24 people to them is off limits.
Most of the dungeons can be played alone or with a group, if we choose the complexity of the Epic. The idea is that in the second case the monster should be fatter, more generous leave trophies and experience. In fact, with the epic zverushek falls the same garbage, only to kill them longer. Despite all the homeliness of production, dungeons are a great place for fast flow, and investigate them - a real pleasure. Wherever your hero found himself: in the spider caves, pyramids, Black Castle, or catacombs, reigns everywhere has its own unique atmosphere, causing alarm within the spine.
Of course, you can not only fight the monsters, but also peaceful craft to master. In Age of Conan, they play an important role, since, except for sewing equipment, players will engage in the construction of Guild cities, as the case requires a great number of different resources. Learn how collecting can already be at level 20 by doing certain quests, and skills training begins at the fortieth. And the best think in advance who you want to be: a blacksmith, Bronnikov, an alchemist, a jeweler, or architect. Change the occupation will not be easy.
Funcom did not complicate the process of making things. It looks almost exactly the same as in World of Warcraft - go with the ore to the anvil, select the recipe, press the button "Build" and get the miracle sword. The difficulty lies in the accumulation of sufficient resources to create useful things.To erect a castle with domestic buildings, and then improve them, will require the collective efforts of the entire clan. Some bring a timber, others - the stones, the architect overseeing the construction, etc. Although resources are sometimes found in conventional locations, it makes sense to engage in a gathering of special areas where there are rich reserves of timber, stones and iron. Such places can be found next to the Guild of cities and in the Border Kingdoms.
Results Exit Age of Conan - the brightest events in the genre of MMORPG. Even if you hate PvP, an inveterate fan of World of Warcraft and can not live without elves, there is a strong likelihood that the creation of Funcom will not leave you indifferent. Although, sadly, without the ladle tar has not done. Despite the long-term testing, the developers have not had time to completely get rid of bugs. Starting from level 40, more often get broken quests and minor blemishes, the number content closer to end sharply reduced, and the balance of the classes is far from ideal. But, while Age of Conan - not the most well-honed MMO at the time of release, Funcom does not sit idle and daily releases patches. Wait until the creators will bring to mind their offspring, or to accept it "undercooked" and enjoy the world of Conan right now - each decides for himself.
| Unsold chips |
Several years ago, when Funcom just announced Age of Conan, we were promised a lot of innovations. Unfortunately, not all of them were in the release version. For example, developers are going to introduce a system of formations, where players could fight friendly systems under the command of a leader and get a bonus. The effectiveness of the bonus depended on how well everyone knew their place and how clearly carry out its task. Such in MMORPG yet no one did, and the hardcore PvP-guild had hoped that the system will be used in large-scale battles more tactical and will make the battle more spectacular. In the end, Funcom had to abandon this idea, since before the release was to finish the more important things. In the process of developing disappeared prestige classes: Crafter, Lord, Master and Commander. As conceived by the creators, they should play a greater role in the life of the guilds, giving bonuses to the number of harvested resources and the efficiency of buildings. Wizards of the developers wanted to add a weaving spells - something like a combo of melee classes. Several wizards can combine efforts to significantly increase the power of his "spells." In earlier interviews workers Funcom said that netting would be a dangerous occupation, and in case of failure magician risks falling into another world. Although the idea is not completely refused to release her great simplified, and now this feature is only available from six dozen levels. In addition, a couple of years ago, developers have promised that players will be able to establish a reward for killing enemies, seek the help of mercenaries. Such a system would fit perfectly in the game universe, but the release never came.
In the end, Age of Conan has become more simple and straightforward game. This disappointed many fans of hardcore MMORPG, but it allowed developers to concentrate on important elements of gameplay.
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