Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer Reviews

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Written by Brother None on July 11th, 2010

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The Far East is Khitai's visual and temperamental inspiration. Provided your system is beefy enough to render these lands in their full glory (and, indeed, the game requires a beefy PC), you'll be awed by the scenery. Red poppylike flowers dot the grasslands, and the autumnal hues of certain trees provide a lovely contrast to the craggy mountains in the distance. Once you reach level 80 and can further explore Rise of the Godslayer's new zones, your appreciation will only grow. Somber ambient music (all of it uniformly superb) and deep lighting make Chosain Province's charred villages seem so grim you can practically smell the blood. Sparkling creeks ripple through the northern grasslands, where creatures battle each other when you haven't engaged them in combat yourself. The vistas are vastly different from those you see in Cimmeria and Stygia, but they still capture that special Age of Conan vibe, where pastoral grace competes with the ghastly sight of murdered corpses hanging from gnarled branches.

The storyline isn't too far removed from anything you've played before. But it's not the tale itself, well written as it is that makes it feel special. The pacing is much more akin to that of a single player game in the early going, drawing you into your character and lavishing you with cut scenes and voice acting to flesh out the story before sending you out on any major adventures. It makes a refreshing change from the usual group exploration and makes you feel important in your own right, rather than one of many which makes sense for the character. Later in the game the voice acting and cut scenes disappear but the text is very well written, even if it's for fetch quests and combat missions that would usually feel cliched.

Getting one of those mounts is one of the best quests in the game. Gain enough favour with Tamarin's Tigers and you'll have the opportunity to steal a tiger cub. Like real cats, they're hard to impress, so you'll need to strip naked and beat a tigress to death with your bare hands before they'll follow you. With that done, you'll need to train your loyal cub to fight for you. Then you can craft a saddle to turn your war beast into a truly impressive mount. It's a difficult and lengthy task that builds a bond between you and your creature, turning the best rewards in the game into something more than just another loot drop.

But new forms of character advancement wouldn't matter a lick if there weren't also a slew of new quests and encounters to explore. Rise of the Godslayer is an expansion which takes Age of Conan a bit off track from its original PvP focus, and firmly puts the game in league with other PvE heavy experiences where PvP is more a sideshow. Overall Godslayer seems more about fleshing out the original game and making sure there is plenty of content for all level ranges to enjoy, and to do that PvP seems to have taken a back seat. While this may be a little disappointing to some, the quality of the newly introduced content is of such a caliber that the lack of PvP focused additions should be forgiven.

To some, this may be off-putting, but I feel it's as though Craig Morrison and his staff have identified their strengths and are (at least for now) focusing heavily on the story, solo-experience, and group play for Age of Conan. Perhaps in future expansions Age of Conan will flex its PvP muscle a bit more, but Rise of the Godslayer definitely excels in its ability to give players unique and interesting dungeon encounters as well as new solo quests. I don't wish to spoil too many of the boss fights to be found in the new dungeons, but encounters such as those found in the Celestial Necropolis are exactly the kinds of things that make dungeons such a popular feature of these games. By being about more than just another "tank & spank" loot piñata, the new dungeons in Rise of the Godslayer have managed to become one of my favorite new features and I wonder just how the design of these encounters will show up in Funcom's next project: The Secret World.

Godslayer then, revolves around five new zones themed on an Eastern Empire. As a new player, the first of these you'll encounter is the Gateway to Khitai (aimed at levels 20-40), which is accessible after finishing the infamous Tortage opening. Whilst most will opt to pay for caravan travel to their new destination, choosing the alternative 'free passage' route displays a hint of the effort that Funcom has expended to make Godslayer memorable for the right reasons. One of several solo instanced set pieces can (and frequently does) ensue on the journey, tasking players with fighting off the Undead, battling a Kraken, investigating an island, defending against a surprise attack or several other permutations. It's a neat way to include some dramatic content that may otherwise have ended up on the cutting room floor, and whilst it's a tad gimmicky, it's also a welcome change of pace that at least attempts to illustrate the dangers of a long journey.

Alternate advancement (or AA), which works separately from the feats, gives you points from pretty much anything you do and puts them into its own pool. After you accumulate one million points, either from player-versus-player (PvP) or questing and player-versus-environment (PvE) you gain four AA points to spend on perks. Points awarded for PvP are different from points awarded for PvE and can be spent on perks that improve your character in their respective area. Both PvE and PvP take the same number of points to advance, so if you're on a PvE server then PvP is extremely sparse and you'll either have to use 'mastery' points (one of the four points awarded can be used for either PvP or PvE) or the second method of AA advancement, time. After reaching level 80, players can select any perk and, for each point it costs, it will take 18 hours to train, regardless of whether or not you're playing, a la EVE Online. The system, although slow to get anything out of initially, is simple and easy to use, and earning perks even while you're not playing is a nice addition. The PvP and PvE point distinction works well in theory but in practice somewhat limits the options of players on PvE servers.

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