Aion: Tower of Eternity is a new fantasy MMORPG in development by NCsoft. This one has managed to fly under the radar for quite sometime, as it hasn't gained a whole lot of attention, even in the MMO community. Aion was announced back in 2006, and isn't projected for release until 2009 (earlier for Asia). This title will also use Crytek's cryengine, which was used in the game Farcry. With the game having been in Korean closed beta for the last year, much of the western world has yet to know much about the world of Aion, as even the NCsoft information sites are being extremely tight lipped about how their game will function. However, A bit IS known.
.The game's basis will be PVP and, much like WOW, the player base will be divided into two factions: The Chosen (The Elyos) and The Fallen (The Asmodians). Unlike other fantasy RPGs, flight combat will be a big to-do with Aion as player characters will hae the ability to sprout wings and take to the sky. Its called the Power of the Daeva, and its an ability you receive at level 10 for the duration of a one minute timer, which will increase with level and items. Both player factions will be pinned in combat against an NPC 3rd faction, the Balaur.
The class system is standard RPG, where you have the four base archetypes of Warrior, Scout, Priest and Mage, with the specialization choice of going into one of two final classes off of each archetype, for a total of 8 classes in the game. Those are: Gladiator, Templar, Ranger, Assassin, Spiritmaster, Sorcerer, Cleric and Chanter. However, you don't even choose your archetype until level 10.
There seems to be minimal information on the world environment, only that it is described as dreamlike and ethereal, a feature that can be seen in existing screenshots and video.
There is speculation the game will be 14.99 a month like most other MMOs but I myself am a bit sceptical about that number as NCsoft games tend to be free to play online, with players only paying for the game in the retail store.
Although it's not been made official, the speculated system requirements are as follows:
- System requirements Windows 98SE/2000/XP/Vista AMD Athlon 64 x2 5600+ or Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz
- 1GB RAM or More
- Geforce 6600/Radeon X1550 Graphics Card or higher with DirectX 9.0c
- Sound Card 128 MB compatibile with DirectX 9.0c
- 4x DVD-ROM or 16x CD-ROM
- Hard Disk 20GB or More
- Broadband link with downlink 512kbit/s
You can view two videos from NCsoft at this link: http://www.plaync.com/us/games/aion/videos.html. (will open new window).
And finally, here is the story backdrop to the new game, as based on an interview with Ken Choi recorded in October 2007
In the beginning, the Balaur, a powerful race of servitors created by the god Aion roamed the world of Atreia. However, their own will led them to disobey Aion's wishes and they rebelled against their creator. Aion then created another race, the Daevas, and even though they were less powerful as individuals then the Balaur, Aion gave them a sense of loyalty and worship towards himself so they would obey him in all matters.
The Daevas fought with the Balaur and expelled them from the world Atreia into a different dimensional plane. For a time there was peace. But the Daevas, though all loyal to the god Aion, had different views regarding the Balaur which ultimately led to them splitting into two different Factions. One part of the Daevas wanted to end the eternal war with the Balaur and try to make peace, while the other side wanted to fight until the end.
The Balaur offered a peace treaty but through a betrayal (that has not yet been elaborated on), the Balaur were led to attack the Tower of Eternity, the physical representation of the god Aion, and destroyed it, causing a big catastrophe that brought destruction upon the world and split the Tower of Eternity into two pieces. Now Atreia is separated into two halves with one remaining half of the tower on each part of the world.
The upper part of the world is inhabited by the Elyos and is blessed with sunlight, the lower half, inhabited by the Asmodians only receives a fraction of the sunlight. Because of this separation both factions have become bitter enemies, blaming each other for the destruction of the Tower of Eternity and their world, and each side believes they have to destroy their opposition to ensure their own survival.
Now, a three-sided war is waging between the Elyos, Asmodians and the Balaur, with the main focus for each faction being the control of the Tower of Eternity. Communication between the god Aion and the Daeva has ceased, and while nobody knows what happened to the god Aion after the tower was destroyed, both factions know they have to prevent their part of the Tower of Eternity from being destroyed in order to ensure their survival.
The player is taking the role of one of the leading characters of each faction, starting out as lowly soldiers, eventually realizing their power and potential, becoming more and more powerful and rising in the ranks of their race's military to eventually become Generals of the army they fight for in this three-sided war.
On a personal thought, I think it more resembles a JRPG than the standard RPGs you find in today's MMO genre. However, I would imagine any English speaking players looking to play this title will have to contend with alot of the same language barriers presented in other games popular in Asia (Such as Final Fantasy Online). Being an MMORPG buff, I will probably end up trying this game myself, but whether or not it leads me astray from my western MMORPGs remains to be seen. I also feel NCsoft may be undercutting their own creativity by sticking with the same archetype tree of playable classes that most, if not all, RPGs adhere to. When will we see a title that deviates from this basic structure? Not with Aion unfortunately.
Are you an MMO enthusiast? What do you think about the information presented? Will you play?
