Review: Despite glitches, 'Age of Conan' excites

While most the attention in the multibillion-dollar interactive entertainment industry tends to focus on TV-based console games, there are some exciting happenings on the PC front that deserve notice.

Specifically, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) genre is red hot, where thousands of players log on to roam digital landscapes, accomplish missions and "level up" to become more powerful characters.

Based on the works of acclaimed fantasy author Robert E. Howard, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is the latest MMORPG on the scene.

It sold an astounding 400,000 copies in its first week at $50 apiece. The game then costs $14.99 a month after a free 30-day trial.

After playing Age of Conan for six days -- which, for this type of game, is barely scratching the surface -- here's what you need to know about this Mature-rated online adventure.

As with most fantasy MMORPGs, you first customize your character, or avatar, in a number of areas, including gender, culture (Aquilonian, Cimmerian or Stygian), class (Barbarian, Shaman, Demonologist and nine others), voice, body size, skin color, hairstyle, facial features and so forth.

After a name is given to your warrior, you wash up on the brutal island of Tortage, where you'll interact with dozens of NPCs (non-player characters) who help you get your feet wet with many single-player missions that range from finding people and delivering important items to eavesdropping on a conversation and attacking a target.

Eventually you'll make it to the mainland of Hyboria and graduate to the multiplayer component of the game, where you'll tackle quests with other players, increase in skills over time, and if desired, form player guilds based on common beliefs. Or, you might choose to go the other route and play on a deadly "Player versus Player" ("PvP") server, where it's one fighter against the other (or guild versus guild).

Much of the game focuses on real-time combat. You must master mouse and keyboard moves, be it hacking and slashing with swords, using range weapons (such as a bow and arrow), performing magic with spells or summoning pets to help attack enemies.

You can also fight while mounted on horses, mammoths and rhinos. And don't forget to loot the fallen enemy if they drop a parcel, which may include weapons, gold or other items.

While the sheer brutality (and sexuality) is what Conan fans have grown to expect from this 75-year-old franchise, this game also allows for construction rather than destruction. You can pick up a craft -- such as alchemy or blacksmithing -- and produce goods to use or sell to other players. Also, a real-time strategy-like feature lets guilds create their own city by gathering resources and constructing buildings.

While the game has a lot going for it -- hundreds of missions, high-definition graphics and impressive voice-acting from the NPCs -- there are a few issues that need ironing out. For one, the game didn't run very smoothly, even on a PC that more than met the minimum requirements: Some choppy frame rates and stuttering action sequences hurt the overall experience. Secondly, there are odd glitches such as slain bodies that get stuck in the air face down and eerily gyrate on the spot.

Let's hope Funcom smoothes out these technical issues with downloadable updates and new servers added to handle the traffic, because those interested in an epic, open-ended online fantasy adventure will find Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures worth the price of admission.

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