Review: Aion Online

Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of creativecommons.com

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Written by Jonathan Rukes, Advertisement Manager

Blizzard’s World of Warcraft has been at the top of the online role-playing game market for about five years now, beating out any competition that came its way — until now. On the 22^nd of September, NCsoft released Aion Online, a new online game from Korea, steps up to the plate to take on World of Warcraft.

The first thing that catches the player’s eyes is the stunning graphics. Screenshotsand videos showing players in highly detailed ruins and lush forests from the games beta phase left players anxious with anticipation for the US release. The character creation is astounding, allowing players to change almost every physical characteristic of their character, making almost no two players look alike.

The combat in the game is very smooth, and the skill and spell graphics look great. The combat in Aion also features a “skill chain” system, which allows more powerful skills and abilities to be used after certain skills are used. Another feature in the game was the ability for players to sprout wings and fly for a limited amount of time, allowing for aerial combat, skills and bonuses that can only be used while flying, and areas only accessible through flight.

Aion features two playable races, the Elyos and the Asmodians, as well as eight classes. The map is separated into three nations, one for the Asmodians, one for the Elyos, and another area called the Abyss that is a constant battleground between the two races. Players will level up to the maximum level of fifty through quests and killing creatures. The endgame features huge dungeons as well as epic battles for player-controlled fortresses.

Over all, Aion Online looks very promising and innovative. With a winning combination of great graphics and smooth game play, Aion may very well take World of Warcrafts place as the top online role-playing game, or at least give Blizzard a run for their money.