GameAmp Fansite Network Gamer Shirts, GameAmp T-Shirts
Change Game Sites   
About GameAmp, Inc GameAmp Staff Register for a free account
GameAmp Login GameAmp Password
GameAmp Homepage >
GameAmp Game MapsGameAmp Game ListLatest Video Game NewsVisit the Video Game ForumsGame Item AuctionsFind Gamer FriendsGame Screenshots
Video Games Subnav
GameAmp Information

Aion E3 Review - NCsoft
While standing around the Aion portion of the NCsoft booth I continually heard the same expression uttered by almost every person who took their first glance at Aion; WOW! I think this entire review can pretty much be summed up in that single word. Pronounced ion, this is NCsofts heavy hitter in the making. A joint effort between a South Korean and U.S. team this title was completely unexpected. If you came here from GameAmp’s E3 Awards page you would know this was the Best Graphics winner; hands down. Nothing I have ever seen holds a candle to Aion’s graphics. Visually stunning, highly addictive, and we only got to see a fraction of the game. The story takes us to an Angels vs Demons theme. Only the Angel's side was playable and viewable but that’s all you need to see to know this title is going to be huge.

Aion Screenshot

Graphics

I could keep going on and on about the graphics in Aion for years but I’m sure you would all get bored. Instead I’ll keep it straight and to the point. From modeling to texturing to bump mapping to terrain to visual effects to water to particle systems to character and monster design to anything else you can possibly imagine that involves graphics; you’ve never seen anything better from an MMO. Even the casting progress indicator has been custom designed to look completely unique! This title is a visionary masterpiece brought together by a group of designers who are masters of their trade.

Questing

Questing seems very straight forward with most quests coming from NPCs. Keep in mind Aion is still very early in development and only a very small fraction of what is going to be in the final release can be seen. Questing in the demo already displayed creativity and diversity. From kill quests to an exploration quest searching for an item contained in a piece of terrain. There was a small note to be found inside of a mushroom if you shook it. Shake another mushroom to search it and you may find something different or you may even find that you’ve turned into a mushroom yourself! Very creative and fun I can’t wait to see more of Aion’s quest system.

Aion Screenshot

Gameplay

Aion’s Gameplay is fantastic; tons of fun, easy to use controls, and some really powerful skills. Aion also allows you to chain together skill or spell combinations in order to unlock other skills. Playing the four different classes available I found that the combinations could get very complex if the dev team so decided. They have also added a system which allows you to gain points for each monster you kill. These points are displayed in a progress bar and may be spent by using a special skill that is class dependant; unleashing this skill hits for massive damage to a single or group of mobs. One thing that is common across all of these special skills is that the camera becomes animated and does a fly-around above your character as he or she builds up the energy to release at your opponents…

Aion Screenshot

Character Progression

With a short demo available for Aion it was difficult to tell a good deal about character progression. There are however a ton of spells and skills available with different ranks that may be earned at different levels. There is no doubt that character progression will play a big role in Aion but just how much is yet to be seen.

Gear

The gear in Aion is absolutely amazing. Each piece of armor and each weapon you pick up looks completely different while still keeping within the same theme and look. Epic drops are shown as completely different looking treasure chests which fly out of defeated mobs. These treasure chests are subject to physics rules and can go bouncing down a steep incline to rest at the bottom of a pool of water! Every piece of gear you pick up in the demo makes you want to continue your quest to see what’s next. One can only imagine what top tier gear in this game will look like!

Aion Screenshot

Overall

While still a long ways off till completion and with no demons to be seen at E3 I can safely say this will be a very popular title. Just the graphics alone in this game will suck in players and keep them leveling just to see what’s next. In parts of the game you will even be able to gain wings and fly to new areas. GameAmp will be keeping a very close eye on Aion’s progress and we will be launching our own site very soon. Keep checking back for more information as it becomes available!
GameAmp Footer