Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer Review

Age of Conan was released in May 2008 offering players a much more violent, adult world than the traditional MMO offered. Like most new release titles it was met with a mixture of anticipation and disappointment, as many players felt that the game's hype didn't live up to its rocky start. But it has been a long time since 2008, and there have since been many changes in an attempt to balance gameplay across the board. Rise of the Godslayer is Age of Conan's first expansion, giving players who've reached the end of their experience new zones to explore, quests to complete, and ways to fight.

The first notable feature to Rise of the Godslayer is how complete the game feels from the start. Having personally not played Age of Conan since its initial release I can safely say that those who left the game due to broken mechanics, or general instability, should give it a second chance. Those familiar with combat should find themselves right at home again, however those new to the game shouldn't find anything too complex. Individual attacks are managed not just through selecting abilities, but through directional buttons as well. While not a new feature to the expansion it's definitely the groundwork for the game and new players should find it engaging and different from most typical MMOs.

Most striking about Rise of the Godslayer is its environment, and the amount of detail put into the game. The land of Khitai is very diverse, and filled with some very vivid coloring and never feels out of place. While how detailed the world looks obviously depends on computer performance, anyone with a reasonably decent gaming PC should be able to appreciate the time and energy put into the world's realistic design. This of course, includes the wildlife which ranges from animals that can be individually attacked to creatures that live in packs. Some will run away when engaged, others call for help. It may seem like a small detail but these little facets of the game add to a more engaging PvE experience.

Any new territory added to an MMO must be accompanied by new factions, and this expansion is no exception. Ten have been added to the game, each with their own quests and rewards at the very end of the grind. An interesting twist lets players only select a limited amount of rewards at the end of the factions completion however, which adds a sense of 'uniqueness' to the itemization. Being forced to select only one or two items really gives decisions made a bit more weight, although should players find that they would like another item instead they are free to betray their selected faction and move onto another.