My Aion Review Review

I don't have a copy of Aion yet (see previous post). But I think it is interesting how much your idea of what a game is can be shaped by reviews. I haven't even tried it yet, not even in a beta (or as one blogger describes open betas - "prepaid release") but I've gone up and down on whether I think I'll like this game or not.

So this is my review of Aion based on other's reviews or lack of:

1) Flight. This concerns me, as I mentioned before, exactly why is being able to get wings and fly such a selling point for this game?

I've been able to fly as far back as City of Heroes. And WoW has allowed us to fly as far back as Burning Crusade. And with both, yes it made a huge difference when you had to start out crawling across the landscape. But for me in both games, I eventually enjoyed participating in things where I didn't have to travel to them at all (AE in City of Heroes allowed me to do various missions from one entry point, and in WoW if I decide to just raid or PvP I don't really have to travel for that either.)

So I'm sorry flying is not enough to make me want to play Aion. I'm not sure who this is appealing to as a selling point - angel cosplay?

2) Age of Conan curse. Why aren't we hearing anything about endgame. Or forget endgame, why am I not hearing anything past level 10? Is it going to be Tortage all over again? Where after you get done with the instanced tutorial you uninstall the game? Or like Warhammer Online when you find the very thing you purchased the game, spent your time leveling for (RvR) is a flop?

3) It's like WoW in the beginning. This is one of the reasons why I'll purchase Aion. No I don't want a WoW clone, but I want a game to pull me in again. I know I'm setting myself up for disappointment. But I'm willing to take the risk.

4) It looks great. This is a see-saw selling point for me. WoW proved a game doesn't have to look all that great to be good. But after installing EQ2 again, I really was amazed at how awesome a game can look. At some point new players are going to try out WoW and wonder how us old folks enjoyed such outdated graphics.

5) What does Aion have? Where's the beef?!? This is where my review review falls flat. But don't blame me! I haven't read much about exactly what Aion has and what players are enjoying.

Guess I'll have to go get that copy.