Earlier in the week through the generosity of an acquaintance, I got my hands on a beta key for the upcoming English launch of the MMORPG Aion: The Tower of Eternity. Already a pretty well acclaimed game in the Asian market, I've been looking at this one impatiently ever since I learned it would be coming to the United States. It's developed by the same people who did Guild Wars and the City of Heroes/Villains franchise, and having played it for two days I can say that fans of the former will be extremely pleased; Aion seems more like Guild Wars with better graphics at times than a new setup.
Utilizing the PC-pimp-smacking CryENGINE, the graphics are absolutely stunning, significantly ahead of most other MMOGs I've seen in the US. The eye candy was impressive from the scenes to the effects and even animations. It was so engrossing that I was inspired to take a plethora of screenshots (see below) just to capture the gorgeousness.
The biggest thing I've looked forward to with Aion is its pretty unique backstory to frame the game's conflict. As the story goes, the world of Atreia was once ruled over by a benevolent god and his angelic servants. After a cataclysmic event, the planet shattered in two, held together by nothing more than the majestic tower that was the seat of the god's power. One half of the planet was bathed in light, changing humans to angelic manifestations, while the other plunged into darkness, the harsh environment morphing feet into claws and hair into manes. At the center of the remains of the planet is the dark Abyss where the two factions, each blaming the other for the destruction of their world, fight each other in vengeance.
The game makes strategic use of wings sprouting from players' shoulders, both for a temporary (sadly not perpetual as in other games) mount and a maneuver in combat. Despite having a flying mount in World of Warcraft there was something spine-tingly the first time I spread mine and glided gracefully off a high cliff to try them out.
While I have tried pretty much every MMOG released since getting interested in WoW years ago, I've not really stuck with any of them past the initial month. Aion is the first one positioned to challenge that run. Playing it for two days straight, the only reason I reluctantly put the game away was because I didn't want to have to go over the same content when the live game launches.
Screenshots:
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