Video Games : Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Collector's Edition

• First Mature rated MMORPG: Savage, bloody, violent and sexy; delivering the true essence of Robert E. Howard’s original vision. Real Combat System: Fight mounted or on the ground. Team up in battle formations
• Diverse Gameplay: Build cities, craft unique artifacts, explore a fantastic world, befriend others and master the use of magic, steel or bows. True Conan Experience: Explore King Conan's amazing universe.
• Conan’s World: Enter a gigantic and savage world spread across the three nations of Aquilonia, Cimmeria and Stygia. Explore jungles, deserts, mountains, valleys, dungeons and cities all depicted in rich, realistic detail.
• Form guilds and lay siege to hostile castles in massive PvP battles. Team up with other players in clans or face the Hyborian dangers all by yourself. Let your imagination run wild with thousands of options.

• Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Strategy Guides)
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• Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures 60-Day Time Card
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• Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Strategy Guides)
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The MMORPG finally matures

A troubled King Conan on his throne. View larger.

Test your metal in close combat. View larger.

Straddle War Mammoths & Killer Rhinos. View larger.

Lead your guild in player vs. player battles. View larger.

Explore the pleasures & pitfalls of the Hyborian Age. View larger.

Set in the later years of Conan’s life, after he has famously become king by his own hand, the game centers around the fragile state of Conan’s rule in Aquilonia. Surrounded by enemies and hostile nations, Conan’s rule hangs by a thread and in the end, it’s up to players, either singly or backed by their guilds to turn the tide for or against the embattled king.

Massively Multiplayer Gaming for the Adult Player
One of the most highly anticipated MMORPGs in recent years due to the strength and familiarity of the Conan franchise across a variety of major media, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is the first of several releases planned for the franchise, all of which are aimed at an adult audience. Firmly rooted in the savage, bloody, violent and sexy Hyborian universe, players can expect a graphically beautiful game blended with gritty gameplay that is true to both the barbarian hero from Howard’s writings and the Schwarzenegger influenced version from books, movies and comics.

Available Cultures and Classes
Although Age of Conan contains a wide range of peoples, its playable cultures are currently limited to Aquilonians, Cimmerians, and Stygians. Within each of these players can choose from a selection of archetypal character classes, although available classes and subsequent subclasses are not necessarily the same within each culture. For example, archetypal classes for Aquilonians and Cimmerians are Rogue, Priest and Soldier, while Stygians are represented by Rogue, Priest and Mage. Further differences exist within subclasses for each. See the basic breakdown of all three cultures below:

Aquilonians: Internally divided, but united against their barbarian neighbors, the Aquilonians live lives on the edge. Their kingdom, with its prosperous cities, enlightened culture and religious freedom, is known as the "Flower of the West." Yet for all this and despite the power of King, Conan I, it is a land where culture clashes and unrest are always a threat.

Cimmerians: As the Hyborian Age comes to an end the northern barbarian clans of the Cimmerians know that the end of their time is drawing near too. King Conan I of Aquilonia is himself a Cimmerian, though not typical of his people. Although his life has been filled with wanderlust, his Kin care nothing for what occurs outside their clan territories.

Stygians: Masters of the magical arts and ruled by their consuming worship of the serpent-god Set, the Stygians excel at occult and diabolic lore. They learned long ago that true power lies in knowledge and in pacts with dark powers. This single-mindedness has allowed them become the only culture to harness the secrets of the Mage class and power that comes with it.

Modes Singleplayer as well as Multiplayer
Unlike most MMORPGs, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures includes a significant singleplayer experience as well as deep overarching multiplayer gameplay. This is an atypical MMORPG feature, but one that has a purpose. Players enter the game as a lowly galley slave with no memory of his/her past, and over the first five to 20 levels of singleplayer action build the skills necessary to survive in the game's multiplayer levels. During this time you will traverse a variety of rich environments including jungles, deserts, mountains, valleys, dungeons and cities packed with NPCs, beasts and monsters, before eventually leveling up and moving back to your chosen culture’s homeland. Because the only character-related choices that players have to make at the game’s opening are their looks, clothing and culture, this singleplayer mode is important in deciding what class and subclass to pursue and thus the level of impact your character will have in greater multiplayer portions of the game.

In-game levels 20 and above are strictly multiplayer. 20-40 introduce players to guilds. 40-60 deal with large scale combat. 60-80 have the player interacting with King Conan and levels 80 and up represent end-game play. Here gameplay changes as social aspects of MMORPG gameplay take over on a large scale.

Real-time Combat That Takes Queues from the FPS
Traditionally MMORPGs have utilized a mix of auto and turn-based functionality in their combat systems, but Age of Conan dispenses with that, instead drawing inspiration from FPS/action games. Firmly rooted in the brutality of the Hyborian universe, game developer Funcom has devised an action-based system that not only provides the sense of actually being in the fight, but also requires the player to participate in it. That means no simple targeted attacks. Players can attack and defend from nearly any position in real-time, whether on the ground or atop a mount, while standing still or on the move. It’s a recipe for carnage and one that fits right into the world of Conan.

The combat system in Age of Conan comes in three forms: drunken brawling, mini games like CTF and massive Player vs. Player battles, which lets you engage in siege combat to defend or attack a city. All are easy to learn, but difficult to master, providing hours worth of play and replay value and are the core of this new cutting edge MMORPG.

Additional items included in the Collector's Edition

• Hand-finished, metal-embossed oversized collector's box with inlay page and individually numbered holographic sticker
• Leather map of Hyboria (faux) 14" x 20"
• The Ring of Acheronia (exclusive in-game item)
• Unique Bonus DVD featuring trailers, behind the scenes, developer diaries, and rich artwork
• Official Age of Conan soundtrack CD
• Art Book (128 pages)
• Five free guest passes giving friends online access to the game for a limited time
• The Drinking Cape (bonus in-game item)

System Requirements:

	Minimum Specifications:	Recommended Specifications:
OS:	Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista
Processor:	Intel Pentium 4 3Ghz or equivalent	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz or equivalent
RAM:	1GB	2048MB Dual Channel DDR2
Video Card:	NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better	NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX or equivalent
Video Memory:	128MB	512MB
DVD-ROM:	Quad-speed (4x) DVD-ROM drive
Hard Drive Space:	30GB of Free Space
Other:	Broadband connection required for online gameplay

 

Customer Reviews

Average Rating:

Rating: - The low price says it all!
I played this in beta and continued for three months following that hoping for improvement - I even went back a few months back hoping that it improved - I guessed wrong.

The game became old very quickly and was released entirely too early. The graphics are pretty and the over all concept is good, but the playability for longer than a month or two is lacking. It lacks content between certain levels that leaves you scrambling for something to do to get to the next level area, also the "end game" is non-existent.

Everyone I know quit within the first month, it becomes repetitive pretty quickly.

The "used" prices listed are for good reason, the game lacks customer service and the players are ignored. For some reason the developers concentrate on odd fixes when there are glaring bugs that need fixed and lack of content. It is as if they concentrated on character looks i.e. "nipples" and nothing else!

If you are looking for an online game I would look elsewhere - this coming from someone who has played Wow, DaOC, AC, ACII, Warhammer online, LoTR, AO, Ultima, CoH, CoV and numerous others that I DID enjoy. There is a reason that the player base calls Funcom "failcom!"

If you decide to purchase this I wish you luck!

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Rating: - The game has aged well
I've been playing AoC since release, but I've noticed all the reviews are outdated and so I figured it was time to get a fresh perspective. Many of the reviews were based on people who raced to get to the highest levels without enjoying the immersion of the detailed world and the quests, or who stopped playing before most of the current fixes were put in place.

When the game came out, there were huge issues with memory leaks, crashes, etc. Those are 99% fixed now and the game is maturing quite well, especially under the leadership of the new game director. There have also been vast improvements to the combat - much more interactive than other games - and balancing the playable classes. New content has been added for some of the slow points while leveling, and existing content has been tuned and enhanced.

Additionally, the PvP system has been reworked to include a criminal system with consequences. People who enjoy killing characters of lower level will find they cannot receive most quests, can only resurrect at criminal camps, and must pay black marketers and smugglers for services that other characters get for free; they can perform redeemer quests to lose criminal status, but until they do they will be attacked by guards stationed near rez points and quest givers. Ganking isn't dead, but it's a lot less common now.

If you're cautious about trying a new game, try looking around gaming forums for people with buddy keys; you'll get a 7-day trial (or if you use a digital download of the game for $3, you get a 10-day trial). Entering a registration key at the end of your trial period keeps your characters intact.

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Rating: - AOC & Conan
always loved graphic novels,Savage sword,Red Sonja.the new Age of Conan MMO has rejuvenated me,I bought the game but haven't played it yet,first going back & learning about Conan & ofcorse R.E.Howard,when I was young it was more about just the superficial content?. just received my copy of Born on the Battlefield & WOW!,so happy to have re-discovered such amazing work.

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Rating: - Beautiful but frustrating
I've been a Robert E. Howard fan for years having read all of his original Conan stories and many of his other works. The enjoyment of this game comes down to which class you pick. For example the Assassin class (a typical rogue class) can be fun but is very frustrating to play since its so easy to die when soloing. A Dark Templar (a dark fighter who leeches health from enemies) is much easier and thus, more enjoyable to play.

Pros:
+ This game visually captures that world in all of its grim beauty. Amazing backgrounds, detailed areas, and characters that all look different and dress in appropriate clothes for their job. Level 80 characters don't 'shimmer and glow' like the 70's in WoW. In fact, unless you put your cursor over them, you can't tell.
+ Interactive combat system
+ Mature rated game giving brutal fatlities, some more adult humor, and a lot less annoying kids like the ones on WoW
+ Guilds can build cities
+ Voice acted dialog. It lessens once you leave the opening area but Funcom is putting more in over time.
+ Each archtype (warrior, rogue, mage, priest) has a slightly different destiny quest line in the opening area of Tortage
+ The collectors edition comes with a cool book of art on the game and a great soundtrack

Cons
- Crafting and gathering are pretty much useless
- There is no economy since quest items are far better than anything you find
- Classes are horribly unbalanced
- Server populations are getting low meaning it can be hard to get a group together for some of the instances
- You travel to areas by talking to people. The world is not seemless - it is a series of instances (with several of each area running concurrently).
- Buggy. The game has some glitches though Funcom is doing their best to patch the game to make it better
- One one starting area meaning every character you play goes through the same area (though with the different destiny quests).

Overall its pretty fun. I plan to run one character to level 80 and then will probably drop the game unless there's more content to see or an expansion planned. This game won't have the staying power of WoW but is a nice adult diversion from being challenged to duels every 15 minutes on a PvE server.

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Rating: - Alot of potential that just falls flat
I was looking forward to playing this for awhile and was glad to pick it up upon release. The graphics, story, art book and combat system I thought was very good and unique but just could not get into the game. I tried to play many times but just keep getting back to it being just plain boring...

So right now it is still on mine and my friends shelves collecting dust and cannot rightly recommend this to anyone. If things change, I may give it another try but with all the options out there, I do not think that it will happen.

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