Amazon.com: Aion: The Tower of Eternity Collector Edition: Pc: Video Games

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3.3 out of 5 stars (35 customer reviews)

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Visually Stunning Dream, February 17, 2010

David Siska-salkin (CO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars

This review is from: Aion: The Tower of Eternity Collector Edition (DVD-ROM)

First off - the graphics are amazing. The graphics engine supports visually stunning landscapes and both the player and non-player characters are crafted with loving care and attention to detail (if you buy this definitely look closely at the monsters you are fighting, the level of detail on each is impressive). Along with this you have such things as fluid cloth animation, physics for hair that moves and depending on wind and movement. What is nice is that this is a very efficient graphics engine as well, and though many people will eventually be bogged down in a large pvp battle, a recent moderate system will run this game with all settings on maximum easily. Don't look too closely though. Circles are actually octagons, the landscape looks like EverQuest from 1990. There's no such thing as "rounded" straight angles and lines on the landscape, everywhere. Oh, and though the armor is amazing, both in design and graphical quality, it is of a sort of anime nature, so the women aren't wearing much and the guys look like mechs. Since the Armor is actually separate models than your character and not just skins it both looks far more impressive than most games (and the pieces match, unlike the clown gear of WoW) and it also suffers from the straight line effect. Triangular breasts and square pants are in store if you don't zoom out after making your initial observations.

But graphics aren't everything, no matter how much the graphics and the customization of character and even equipment might appeal, there needs to be something else. Aion got a couple of things spot on - the skill chains are an interesting way to add some complexity to the normal one-two-three of many games. Note that depending on your class and situation this just means a one-two-two-two-three button press i.e. because of the way the skill chain works, it many times simply activates, the player clicks through, and you move on to your next skill or skill chain.

Crafting is another big point in this game - if you can gather one type of material, you can gather all similar types (i.e. metals, foods, fibers, ect. form one skill) which makes it much more interesting and easy to skill up gathering skills and to support multiple professions. Each character has the ability to master two trade skills and another to a lesser degree. The items made from this process are very useful and often times better than the items that (very rarely) drop in the game. Anyone who enjoys this aspect of games might find Aion a nice home. Also, you do gain experience from tradeskills and gathering, so while it is not a viable way to level, you don't completely give up gaining levels when you tradeskill.

So why the low rating? Because, after having played it for several weeks I can see why people in many reviews talk about a "lack of content". The fact of the matter is that the game space and world is fairly small. You won't notice this until you're at least level 30, but it becomes quite apparent after that. There are limited areas to quest at any level, limited places to get loot or drops, ect. The first instance you have access to is at level 25 with a 18 hour lockout time. Did I mention you'll probably leave with one to two green drops that you can sell for relatively little money? No loot unless you're really, really lucky. You can't come back here after level 28 either. While instances getter better past this point, it's nothing many players of MMOs will be used to.

Quests also practically stop after level 26, at least as a means of gaining gear or experience. By the time you complete most quests you will have better gear than the rewards and usually killing one to two mobs will equal the quest experience reward. Of course, the quests usually are simply "kill 25 of ___" ... and many of these quests are repeatable, over a hundred times. So you can make what people call "grinding" a little more rewarding, even though running back to the quest giver to turn in and reacquire the quest is probably a waste of killing/experience time. If you buy this game with the WoW game mechanic and theory in mind - you're going to be severely disappointed within your first couple of days playing.

There is no escape from pvp. And pvp in this game means being killed while doing the above mentioned grinding. If you don't mind this, it's the game for you. If you want to level up and do it to other people, buy it! But for many this will become a massive source of frustration and annoyance. When it takes you 8 hours of killing individual mobs to level up, and you have two places to do this in, when a higher level player decides you're not going to use that area, it's game over for the day. Seriously, you *will* be killed, over and over again while trying to level up. You will not even have a chance to fight back either since even if the person is you're level (which they won't be) they have come prepared to pvp, so better gear, potions, scrolls ect are at their disposal to ensure that you die and they escape.

***Parents*** If you are considering this game for a child be aware that after level 10 the player enters the one and only channel that connects the entire server together - LFG. This channel is used for chat, selling of goods, and people actually looking for groups. This chat is most times, if not always, littered with racism, sexism (extreme), graphic sexual content, vulgarity, and plenty of complaining, whining and arguing. Since this is the only channel to effectively look for a group in, you're pretty much subject to this no matter what. You will have to read it, you will be exposed to it.

The player base is really an issue, since this is an MMO it's all about the collective experience and a game that is based (aside from all that grinding) on social activity and interaction. I've found most people to be reasonable and many times interesting once you get a legion or a group, but a very large portion of the people that still actually play this game are generally speaking very self involved, unhelpful, aggressive and rude. If you've played World of Warcraft in an Alliance battleground...this is the same thing, all the time, and much, much worse.

I don't really want to say don't buy this game, because I really like a lot of the aspects of it, and I'd like to see the community grow ( and mature) so that the game can continue to develop and expand into a more finished title. At the same time, if you have a tight budget, and realize that this game means continuing to pay each month that you play it, I don't want anyone else to buy it like me, to at first think -"what are all these reviews on various websites and especially the game website about? This is great" It's not. Period. The game is Korean made, and there will not be two versions for a North American audience with different tastes. The game has been out for a year prior to it's North America release, so anyone that says it is a new game is confused. The game has been in a released format for over a year.
Unless you really love "ganking" (getting killed while minding your own business by a player) "grinding" (standing around killing the same things over and over and over again for hours if not days) and a less than supportive or involved community of teens at each other's throats I'd highly recommend that you find a different means of occupying your time.

If your immediate response to this review, that states as clearly as I can some of the most important aspects of the game that a prospective buyer/player might have, is "stop whinging" "QQ" and whatever else you use to describe someone who is dissatisfied or unimpressed with a product, then this is the game for you. You will fit into the community immediately, and probably enjoy the game.

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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very happy with Aion, September 22, 2009

Mark Long (Ashburn, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Aion: The Tower of Eternity Collector Edition (DVD-ROM)

I had preordered the game so I was able to play in the closed beta events as well as the open beta and headstart event. I have played EQ and City of Heros, and I was really looking forward to Aion as I ultimately love a fantasy type setting.

What I like:

The graphics are amazing, the first glimpse of the floating city of Sanctum is breathtaking. I also love the character models. They are very customizable, and everyone should be able to make a toon to please them. Game play also seems to be a lot of fun. I tend to be more of a solo, casual player, and so far I haven't had trouble with that game play style. Now, not every class is going to have it as easy and be as quick. Also, I haven't played a character past level 17 so I cannot comment on the higher end game or the PVP aspect.

What I am not so keen on:

The game, at least in the beginning, is extremely linear. While the story and quests are very interesting, the fact that everyone is doing the exact same thing can cause some trouble. Also, I'm not sure how people will like going through the same storyline every time they create a new character. I will be curious to see how this is tweaked as the game matures. I also have concerns about the PVP aspect; I'm not a fan of PvP, and have not yet experienced that aspect of the game, but I'm hoping that there will be enough content with PvE that I can avoid the PvP if I want. Kill stealing can also be a problem, but not one I have encounted significantly so far.

All in all I have thoroughly enjoyed the game and will be playing for a while to come.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Solid MMORPG, November 28, 2009

Christopher G. Harlow (South Riding, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

This review is from: Aion: The Tower of Eternity Collector Edition (DVD-ROM)

First some background - I've been involved in a moderate number of MMO games in the past (City of Heroes / Villains for a couple of years, World of Warcraft (WoW) for 4+ years, dabbled in Warhammer Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Champions Online (CO), and a few other lesser known games). So this is not a review for the hardcore, but more for a casual, semi-serious player. I've played Aion since open beta and have moderate level (30+) characters for both factions.

Character Creation - Somewhere between WoW and CO. A reasonable number of controls including overall size (you'll see some characters that are very short - usually for PvP reasons), a couple of dozen face and body part combinations with reasonable adjustments that can be made. Not nearly as customizable as CO, but for me that works well since character creation is a smaller part of the game to me.

Introduction into the Game - As an experienced player, this may turn you off a bit, but as a new player, the help system is very nice including screen shots and animations as appropriate. If you take the time to look over the help as it is offered, you will get a very good understanding of the controls and the environment you are in. The starter zones (only one for each faction) have a reasonable variety of missions including collecting items, killing, looting, and traveling. The storyline is a bit light for the first zone that will carry you to level 10 (a couple of hours), but picks up fairly well afterwards.

Capital Cities - There is only one capital city for each faction. I personally like the Asmodian capital better (Pandora), but they are well organized with crafting all centered in one area (so if you decide to have multiple professions, you don't need to travel all over capital cities or across a continent to continue), all trainers are in one area, and storage and auction house system together. The cities are well rendered.

Classes - There are only 4 classes that each branch into 2 specialties. I think this actually works very well since the roles of each class are well defined. If you need a serious healer, you need a cleric...simple as that. No need to argue about whether healing variant A, B, C or D is sufficient or not. You have the Plate wearing Warrior classes (Templar - tank, Gladiator - melee dps), the Chain wearing Priest classes (Cleric - healer, Chanter - dps/buff), the Leather wearing Scout classes (Assassin - melee dps, Hunter - ranged dps), and the Cloth wearing Mage classes (Sorcerer - magic dps/cc, Spiritmaster - magic dps/pets). Each class is fairly well balanced; and I'm very pleased that my cleric (healer) is able to do things solo with no real issue unlike some other games.

Flying - Once you reach level 10, you get your wings. You are limited in what areas you can use them (very restrictive in the PvE areas), but are available in the most important area (Abyss). Flying is actually pretty easy to pick up (game defaults to 'R' and 'F' keys to control climbing and falling)...especially if you use your mouse to steer (right-click to turn in any direction). You are limited to 60 seconds initially, but will find additional items and potions that can extend that time significantly.

Continuing Zones - The zones after you hit level 10 are limited in number, but are pretty large zones with a lot of variety throughout. Unlike some other games, you won't find yourself running for long periods of time to get somewhere...most quests involve activities that you can walk to within a minute of where you got the quest. You don't have a mount, but you aren't going overly far most of the time anyways, so the lack of mount currently (NCSoft is apparently looking at adding mounts soon) is not that big of a problem. There are some areas with elites that will require you to team up with other people in the game.

Campaigns - In addition to moderately generic quests, there are campaigns that have a reasonably strong story line. About 1/2 the time, each step of a campaign contains a nice cutscene. Completely a campaign usually results in a nice reward. Regardless of class, the reward is something useful due to the nature of the reward (e.g. potion that extends flight time) or due to choices (e.g. choice of gear type that fits your character).

Instances - You won't run into your first instance until level 25. The instances I've been in so far are relatively short, with several interesting bosses. You will want to have a balanced team (up to 6 people) including dps, cc, tank and healer. This gives everyone a roll, and if you develop other characters, a chance to do something different even though you've been in that instance before. The instance can be challenging if you don't understand the things that your character can, and probably should, be doing.

Abyss - This is the central focus of the game. NCSoft has labeled the game as PvPvE. While questing in the Abyss, you can be attacked by the other faction (this can occur in some other zones as well) which adds an interesting dynamic. The classes are balanced enough that you will not be one-shotted (unless the other faction includes a very high level character which is not to their benefit) or stun-locked to death (potions to avoid some of this are relatively cheap).

Crafting - Rather than making an explicit limit like some games, you can pick up as many crafting professions as you can afford. The problem is, you probably can't afford more than 2 professions initially. So if you decide to farm enough Kinah at level 50, you could have all professions. As you level, keeping your profession relative to your level (10 points for every level 10 and above) actually allows you to craft level appropriate gear. Rather than have you gather tons of materials and use those materials to level your skill, Aion has a work order system that lets you spend some money to level your skill and gain some rewards in the process (additional materials or designs). This saves your gathered material for actually making useful items for yourself (or to sell at the trade broker - Aion's auction house). I've had no issues keeping my skill level up appropriate to my character's level.

Interface - The interface comes packed with plenty of options. Not quite to the level that you can get with WoW add-ons, but pretty close overall. There are some add-ons from WoW I kind of miss, but I think NCSoft did a very good job putting in the majority of options that casual to serious (but probably not full hard-core) players are looking for.

Customization - The primary method of customization in the game begins in the 20s with the use of Stigmas. You will get a quest to understand the use of stigmas as well as a standard (for your class) stigma. Additional stigmas drop throughout the game and eventually you'll be able to equip 8 of them. The stigmas act as additional powers, so every stigma is another spell that you can cast. You can exchange stigmas fairly easily, but do have to have stigma shards (obtained by questing in the Abyss mostly). Additional customization comes in the form of manastones, enhancements, and godstones. Manastones are basic buffs to your stats (defensive and offensive), enhancement stones can be applied to weapons (for damage boost) or armor (for defensive boosts). Godstones have more unique properties. By the time you get to 50, you can have a very different character from the person next to you.

Overall - This is an enjoyable game that hearkens back to the better days of WoW (the easiest to compare to). It's not particularly innovative (neither was or is WoW who continues to steal ideas from other MMOs), but what it does do, it does very nicely. The graphics are a nice step up from WoW(but doesn't stress the video card as hard as you'd expect), the environment has some nice backgrounds, the mobs are some interesting and different designs, and the PvP is pretty well balanced. I've found the game to be a reasonable challenge so far (which is a very, very nice change from how WoW is currently set for easy mode). The options available on the interface are actually very good without any add-ons (could always use a few more options). The biggest struggle the game seems to have today are the bots. NCSoft is taking steps, and we'll see if they go far enough (of course, anything short of instantaneous action results in complaints from the masses).

If you are looking for a decent MMORPG with a bit of challenge and some PvP action, this is a good game to try out. If you are annoyed by challenge or PvP, I wouldn't recommend this game for you. The penalties are not steep (pretty much non-existent if you die in PvP), but I know some people take dying pretty harsh.

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