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Aion: The Tower of Eternity Collector Edition
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| Price: |
7 new or used available from $47.96
Average customer review:
Product Description
The Aion Collector's Edition includes these in game items, Black Cloud Wing Set and Earring, Special Title, Exclusive Color Dye, and 2 Character Emotes. Also included, a 6.5" hand painted Asmodian Goddess figuirine, Aion soundtrack, and a double sided Aion. Stunning World: Discover a meticulously crafted fantasy world brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets. Innovative PvPvE: Aion introduces a new dynamic to MMOs by combining both PvP and PvE gameplay into an exciting new style. Intense Visceral Combat: Engage in a spectacular and evolving combat system utilizing combos, skill chains, counterattacks, and spectacular aerial combat. Unprecedented Customization: Take individuality to a new level through an incredibly in-depth character creation tool, advanced crafting systems, and extensive item customization.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3160 in Video Games
- Brand: NCsoft
- Model: NC00482
- Released on: 2009-09-22
- ESRB Rating: Teen
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
- Format: DVD-ROM
Features
- The Aion Collector's Edition includes these in game items, Black Cloud Wing Set and Earring, Special Title, Exclusive Color Dye, and 2 Character Emotes. Also included, a 6.5" hand painted Asmodian Goddess figuirine, Aion soundtrack, and a double sided Aio
- Stunning World: Discover a meticulously crafted fantasy world brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets.
- Innovative PvPvE: Aion introduces a new dynamic to MMOs by combining both PvP and PvE gameplay into an exciting new style.
- Intense Visceral Combat: Engage in a spectacular and evolving combat system utilizing combos, skill chains, counterattacks, and spectacular aerial combat.
- Unprecedented Customization: Take individuality to a new level through an incredibly in-depth character creation tool, advanced crafting systems, and extensive item customization.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
| Aion is a visually stunning massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where players ascend to divinity and fight in a celestial war. Here they will wield divine powers and the capability of true flight, to bring deliverance to your people and restore balance to a world shattered by cataclysm. Choose your side, spread your wings, and claim your rightful place among the immortal legions of Atreia. This is the glory that is Aion.
Explore one of the most amazingly beautiful and detailed MMORPGs ever as you fight to save a vibrant world ripped asunder by a celestial war. Choose between two divine factions, the Asmodians or the Elyos, and save your people from an ancient evil that threatens to destroy everything in its path. Over 1500 story-driven quests lead you through a wondrous and expansive world like no other. Experience the Thrill of Flight Engage in Visceral Combat Unprecedented Customization Key Features
Battle for control of valuable strongholds and artifacts within the Abyss, a hotly contested battlefield resting between the upper and lower halves of Atreia. Plan and execute raids against rival factions, earn special ranks and rewards through victory, and prepare for unexpected attacks by the Balaur, an ancient race freed from imprisonment within the Abyss. System Requirements:
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Customer Reviews
Very happy with Aion
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.
AION is Eons Ahead of its Time.
Well, maybe not eons ahead, but it certainly has caught my attention and that of many of my friends both online and off. Aion: The Tower of Eternity was first seen at a sneak-peak during E3 2006. Produced by the company NCSoft, Aion will not go unnoticed in their already large line games including; City of Heroes and Lineage 1 and 2. Korea and China were the first to check out the game, which allowed for a lot of time to beta-test and tweak things for the North American release on September 22nd.
Personally, I think this game is the embodiment of all of the things previous MMORPGs should have been doing all along, it's still not perfect, but it's currently as close as you are going to get with any game on the market. When you begin the game you start out as a "Daeva" which is a magical human enhanced by the use of "Aether", the back story to the game is original and certainly won't deter you from playing it in any way, but so far lacks the depth as many dedicated single player RPGS. However, to compensate NCSoft has created a pretty cool system of questing with a built-in quest tracking system which is nice since they have not yet announced that they will allow UI mods. There is a story-driven series of quests called Campaign quests, completing these will usually display a cut-scene featuring yours truly right in the middle of the screen, which puts you right in the middle of the action. It's a very nice feature since most MMORPGs leave you in the dust feeling like some story is happening but you are just there grinding through quests while the world passes you by in a flurry of instant quest text. Visually speaking the game is very pretty, based on a dumbed down version of FarCry's CryEngine the graphics certainly won't leave you asking more. One of the largest advantages to using CryEngine is that it's so scalable which means that if you are using grandmothers laptop or a custom built gaming rig with frames to spare, everyone gets to enjoy the beautiful scenery. People have told me that Aion has a subtle Anime look and feel to it, personally I can't really tell. The characters do look quite human though so don't worry, you won't be running around as a wide-eyed bobble head, unless of course you want to. Aion boasts one of the easiest to use character generators and one of the most detailed that I have seen since The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, what it does lack is the 2 hour process of designing a character to a perfect T only to still have it look like complete garbage which Oblivion decided to leave in. Your character can either be the most gorgeous elfin looking babe in the world of Atreia or the gnarly looking pirate inspired assassin of your nightmares. That is, if the assassin of your nightmares is a beautiful GQ looking model, the fact here is that most of the characters, no matter what faction you choose, are going to look pretty good if you stay within the realm of normal body proportions (you can go far beyond them if you like though). The factions in Aion are the Elyos and the Asmodeans, with the Elyos being the faux-hawk sporting good guys, while the Asmodeans are the clawed foot and hand bad guys and girls of the land. For lack of a good segway here I'm just going to jump in and say that the sound-track to the game is pretty good, Ryo Kunihiko did the composing, who you might have heard of from the famous anime "Emma" (I haven't, but you might have). Music is laid back and classical sounding, with nice bursts of upbeat fighting music as you progress though battles and kobold brains. Actually, bashing kobold brains and any other creature that stands in your way isn't a bad idea, since they have went ahead and made both grinding out mobs and questing (or both!) viable options for success in getting to level 50. Especially since NCSoft has incorporated a channel system which is reminiscent of Guild Wars where there are 10 playable instanced "sub-servers" which are shared on a single server, the difference here being that you can swap between then once every 3 minutes. In a game like World of Warcraft killing raid bosses is easy since it's all in a single instance, however grinding out those 10 elk hides might be a huge challenge since everyone and their mother wants a set. Problem no more! In Aion you can just do a little channel surfing and appear exactly where you were except now there is no more competition for the mobs. Don't worry though, it's not going to stop you from grouping, since you can chat, group, and interact with players cross-channel. Since so far NCSoft has only improved upon the creations of other MMOs they wanted to add a little flare to the game. Other MMOs have tried to make flying a legitimate option, which they have done and successfully at that. However, the flying system in Aion makes those games look like a little league team at the World Series. Flying in the world of Atreia is easy, smooth, and really fun especially since many of your player attacks and skills are modified or usable only in the air like the sorcerers Comet Fall. Well, you might be asking like I did "So I can just fly over or around mobs I don't want to fight, or zones I want to skip?" NO, but the developers did think about people like me and added a nice feature called "Gliding" which is initiated by pressing the spacebar to jump, then again while in the air. Which is especially useful in zones where flying has been disabled (but don't worry there are plenty of flying zones to spread your wings through).
If you pick up Aion you aren't going to be disappointed, you aren't going to be surprised either. The game is very playable, and if you've played any other MMO (or if Aion if your first) you should be able to start right up and have a really good time playing it. NCSoft has really done a great job with this one (which is saying a lot since I was not a fan at all of City of Heroes or Lineage) Really the game shines with all of the improvements that it has made on many other MMOs without going too far out into the realm of experimental. If there is any selling point I can make for it, it's the smooth details of the game that make it worthwhile. Take it easy and have fun, and watch out for my next review, and say hello to Grundy in game!
Well I just cancelled
Well I am posting my review on this game. I know many will not agree, but as it is my review, it is my opinion. I have played online games since the text-based MUD days and have played pretty much every MMO release since UO. I have played UO, Everquest I & II, Shadowbane, EVE, City of Heroes/Villians, Age of Conan, Warhammer, Tabula Rasa, Matrix Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Asheron's Call I & II, Horizons, Star Wars Galaxies, Lineage II, and World of Warcraft. As well as many of those Korean free-to-play mmos.
I felt that Aion is nothing new at best and just a Korean grindfest repackaged for the U.S. which it technically is at worst. There were two main selling points of the game: Flight and PvPvE. Both I found to be sub-par in their implementation. Flight is limited in both location and duration so I did not find much enjoyment there. PvPvE has been done countless times in other online games and has been done better in games like Dark Age of Camelot. Nothing like going out to grind exp and then get ganked over and over again. The answer to this seems to be, just find a group, but due to the way the class system is designed as well as grouping mechanics, people want groups with one of each class, and from my experiences, rarely double up. So if you play a popular class your are screwed, same situation happened in World of Warcraft if you played a rogue or hunter. Not to mention the minute you group you can pretty much kiss your exp gain goodbye due to the penalty involved in grouping.
Crafting was poorly designed as well. Crafting is extremely expensive to raise your skill in. I know, I got 200 skill in every crafting skill in the game. To do things you must constantly grind out work orders (repeatable crafting quest) over and over and over again for hours spending loads of money at the same time. Work orders do not grand you an exp or monetary reward. They do give you a random crafting component or recipie. People will say that at least you get exp from crafting things...you get like 500exp a craft, killing one mob that takes about 1/4 the time yields 4-5 times the exp and does not cost you money. Crafting brings back the days of clicking craft, then finding something else to do for 10 minutes to an hour depending on how many items you are crafting. Also, to craft an actual piece of armor, weapon, or jewelry, you have to get rare mob drops in the form of fluxes and you need anywhere between 2-6 of them to craft a single item on top of any other rare mob drop you may need for example "Azmodean souls". Add onto that, the making of "well crafted" items is entirely random, your crafting level does not effect the chance of producing one and it just plain is not my cup of tea.
Also the leveling curve is insane in the sense that 1-10 fast and fun, 11-20 still fun, but slows down, 20-30 still some quest and slows down considerably, 30+ kill yourself. At 30 the game seriously increased the amount of experience needed to level by a factor similar to the old EQ1 days as far as leveling speed is concerned. At this point it became a constant search for groups due to the pvp element and doing highly uninteresting instances with elite enemies. I grew tired of instance grinding in EQ1 and have never become interested in it since.
Zones are designed to provide an extremely linear experience. The problem with this is that put about 10 people in an area and they can literally clean the area of mobs creating a competition for doing quests and gathering crafting materials that can at times be incredibly frustrating. Add to that frustration the increasing amount of enemies you have to kill to level and it gets even more frustrating. Also note, the ability to switch to a different channel, instance of a given area, is extremely limited or non-existent in higher level areas and you end up spending a lot of time running around trying to find something to kill. People would address this critique by saying just group up. This would be nice, but most quest items that drop are exclusive to one person in a group so if you were grouped up with just one other person, that means you now have to kill at least twice as many enemies than if you were to go solo. Note that mobs do not drop quest items every time. Also note that exp gain is cut dramatically when groups so there are many negatives associated with grouping.
In conclusion Aion is a pretty game that has been out for over a year over seas in China and Korea. At its core it is still an Asian MMO with a Western MMO white wash. Some people will like it some will not, I did not. In closing, at least they did not nerf the game the day of release like Champions Online did.
