Monday Gamewatch Redux

Technically Age of Conan was released in the not-quite-weekly nether space otherwise known as "the week-end" to a handful of customers who pre-ordered the game. The general retail launch actually lands tomorrow, extending Funcom's Hyborian MMORPG with "Real Combat" and DX10 support (not in the shipping version, apparently) to the unexpectedly keen multitudes.

You've probably read about this game somewhere along the way, another combat-heavy medieval-fantasy milieu with notable differences in its combat mechanics and player content creation in the guise of erectable cities and city-versus-city warmongering. Funcom calls its combat system "Real Combat," or marketing-speak for its allegedly more fleshed out tactical melee that eschews D&D's round-based approach in favor of branching, targeted swings and button-driven combos, a setup that sounds a smidgen like what CD Projekt was up to in The Witcher, only with a six-directional (six ways to swing your weapon) angle.

Fore!!!

Age of Conan also counters the stereotype of static vistas by allowing players to cooperatively construct gigantic cities rung round by walls, towers, and catapults to protect player-owned locales like pubs and shops. Protect from other players? Not just your friends and strangers, but AI-controlled groups too. That's right, the AI in Age of Conan will reputedly build its own cities and attack yours if the stars and planets (and algorithmic mathematics) so align.

For more, have a look 'round the game's official site, or keep an eyeball trained on the official forums for the incoming flurry of first impressions.

Re-Play

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