Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Preview
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Characters begin their journey as escaped slaves, and the first 20 levels of the game focus on establishing the story your character will follow for the rest of his career. This was originally intended as a solo-only section of the game, but based on player feedback an innovative way to move between solo and group play during these early levels was added - if you sleep in an inn you can switch between the two types of play. During the day you can play with others as you like and pursue side quests. At night, you can complete the solo storyline elements. After level 20 characters are transported to the home area for their respective races and begin the next stage of their adventures from there.
When we took control of the character, the amount of attention that's been paid to development of the combat system in the game quickly became apparent. The developers consider action to be a key element of the Conan source material, and feel it is equally important that it be a significant and enjoyable part of the game. The combat system seems very tactical and took a short time to get familiar with, but was more engaging then the standard click and wait combat systems of some other MMORPGs. Targeting in combat is determined by the character's facing, not by tab selecting or clicking on a target in combat. The character will aim for and strike enemies in a cone-shaped area in front of himself. This also allows the player to practice (or show off) combat attacks and skills without any target nearby.
