By Eric Bloom, longtime gamer and lead vocalist for Blue Oyster Cult
I recently entered the 'beta' test for Aion, thanks to our magnanimous editor Doug Kale. The 5 gig + download takes awhile depending on your internet connection. Turns out I sucked the bandwidth out of the whole hotel system downloading while I was playing a concert 2 nights ago. However, the download was smooth, no glitches. My trusty Toshiba Satellite with SLi actually handled the download while I played WAR at the same time. (Yay!, got 2 pieces of Sent gear for my Sorc doing Bile).
There was a tech problem, however. Upon trying to play Aion when fully loaded, I got an error box filled with what looked like cyrillic letters. I tried over and over and kept getting the same box. So I folded up the laptop and persevered again when I got home. The same glitch happened again so I ran a full scan using Malwarebytes and got a clean report, so I read up on the 'help' tab and found a notice about error messages with a 'how-to' fix. Turns out it's a conflict within the security area of Vista. After following the easy-to-follow prompts (if I can follow it, anyone can) YES! the game opened.
Folks, Aion is pure eye candy. Shockingly so at first. Without trying to pidgeon hole it's graphic look, I'd say it's 'anime mature' in that it's not all fairies and wisps, but edgy handsome characters that adults can play without feeling juvenile or 'fruity'. Character creation is similar to other MMO's, but the choices are varied and cool enough to get a look that should satisfy most players. While I've only spent a couple of hours playing, gameplay is intuitive enough for most seaoned players with easy beginner quests, towns with merchants, trainers etc. that will look familiar to most readers. I chose a mage on the 'dark' side and took my time learning the basics, movement, quest taking, gathering, etc. I am never in a rush to the cap. I like to absorb myself in the game's ambience and this game has that in spades. The artwork is just lovely and lush. I advise anyone interested to take a look at the online trailers which are not just cinematics, but actual tours of game areas. I intend to roll a character on the 'light' side as well to get a feel for both. Flying (yes, your character gets wings) arrives at level 11, which should only take a couple of hours of gameplay. I'd say everything below that is a tutorial and nicely done.
So, from an Aion noob, I give it 2 thumbs up with enough curiosity to keep playing beyond the beginner area.
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