Aion: The Tower of Eternity Reviews
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G4 kicks things off with a 4/5:
Aion is definitely a refreshing looking MMO; online gamers tired of certain other franchises will initially feel like they're really doing something new. Of course, after a few hours it'll become apparent that there isn't much radically different here, but it's all very well polished, very well balanced sameness. It's partially a shame that gamers won't experience the Abyss until they're a fair distance into the game, but that should help to prevent those newbs from rushing in, getting creamed, and signing off in disgust. Overall it's perhaps not the completely refreshing experience some might be looking for, but one worth experiencing just the same.
Then Cheat Code Central comes in with a 3.7/5:
In the end, Aion is one of the best, most well-polished MMORPGs to be released in a long time, which is reinforced by its popularity and hype. It stays within the traditions of an aging genre and makes sure to maximize on it at the same time. Nevertheless, its lack of unique components doesn't help set it apart from the competition, and calls into question Aion's ability to establish a solid, faithful, and long-lasting community. The bottom-line? If you're looking for innovative design concepts and new avenues of gameplay, then Aion won't impress, but if you're just looking for solid gameplay you already know and love, then it's definitely worth your attention.
And after that we move to Voodoo Extreme for some impressions of character levels 1-10 (and a preliminary score of 7.9/10):
So far Aion is a lot of fun. Although I haven't been able to pinpoint anything truly spectacular about the game, it calls me back and continues to be enjoyable. However, having played in the beta and currently with three characters in the level 1-10 range, re-rolling is already becoming stale. For long-term replayability I would need to see new starter zones added.
To sum up Aion's newbie experience, NCsoft appears to have taken many of the good bits from other MMOs and packed them into one tidy package. With that said, something needs to be done about the gold seller spam. No one should be forced to spend the first five minutes in the game blocking spammers.
