Editor’s note: click on screens for the super huge colossal version

Age of Conan in spite of its initial success, is a game that has been rife with turmoil since its auspicious debut. I joined in about a week or so after launch, which spurred on a massive computer upgrade for me, and I promptly fell in love with the game, just as everyone else on the web turned violently aggressive and stormed the official forums with torches and pitchforks. I played my first character, an Aquilonian Dark Templar named Asselar, into the low 40′s before I hit the “content chasm” and a general sense of malaise set in, no doubt compounded by the oncoming rush of new console titles last fall.

Approaching the game’s first anniversary, with Direct X 10 support now implemented for even prettier visuals, and upon hearing about many of the additions and changes that have come, and are coming in the very near future (including a COMPLETE overhaul of all of the game’s weapons and armor) I’ve decided to fire up the old account, blow the cobwebs off, and reacquaint myself with the world of Conan. Rather than pick up where I left off after about 8 months absence, I decided to start fresh. I’ll be keeping a journal of sorts of my experience with the new, and hopefully improved Age of Conan.

A face only a monther could love.

First came character creation: After some debate, I finally settled on an Aquilonian Conqueror named Ciranno. The game’s detailed character creation system is still a definite plus at any rate, and Ciranno wound up being a pretty unique looking character.

The amount of options present gaurantees a unique looking character.

Within minutes I found myself marooned on the Pirate haven of Tortage, after my slave ship had gone down in a sea storm. Dazed, remembering little of my past, the old Priest of Mitra, Kalanthes, set me on my path. I must kill Saddur, captain of the ship that carried me and my fellow slaves, before he reaches the city and my role becomes known. Within minutes I’ve met with Casilda, a captured girl from one of Tortage’s brothels, and I’m off into the jungle.

Saddur, slaver bastard.... Soon to be late of this world.

Even after a run through or two previous, the opening scenes of Age of Conan are still as fun as ever. Within minutes you’ve got the basics down, and there seems to be much more of a purpose driving you forward than most other MMORPG’s. Killing Saddur and dueling Pict savages in the early areas is a satisfying experience all around, and by the time you hit Tortage city for the first time you should have accumulated enough junk to get some decent coin for basic gear. My conqueror is a master of two-handed weaponry and dual wielding, so I chose to outfit him with a large claymore and two Iron Cutlasses as backup. Some rawhide armor should keep me in shape for the first 10 levels or so.

My game face!

There’s no shortage of quest threads to follow in Tortage – you can easily expect to spend your first 20-25 levels working to rid the Isles of the Red Hand, and their tyrannical ruler, Strom. You’ll meet a colorful cast of characters, including some who appeared in Howard’s original stories, and you’ll see more than a few quests inspired by classic tales.

In my first few hours, I managed to grab some junk about town for a few of the local denizens, sought out the seer, Nadini, in the hopes that she can lead me on the path to re-discovering my shattered memories, and fought off a bunch of dead beat pirates and gathered some payment on their behalf for Sancha, the local madame.

Sancha is one of many characters who appeared in original Robert Howard stories.

Another unique feature with Age of Conan is the instanced “day and night” scenarios. You can switch between day and night in Tortage by talking to the barmaid, Tina at the Thirsty Dog Inn, and each changes the way you play. During the day, Age of Conan is just like any other MMO, you’ll see other players running around, and you interact with the game world accordingly. At night, the game becomes a solo affair, and your character’s central plot unfolds. This mechanic adds a significant degree of narrative flow to a genre that’s typically devoid of all narrative drive. You’ll also get some wonderfully voiced characters to interact with. After rescuing Arias, an agent of King Conan’s from White Sands isle (and dinging Level 8 in the process) I decided to call it quits for the first evening.

Tortage at night is just as good looking as during the day.

Having been away for so long, it was great to return to the world of Hyboria, and I foresee myself in this for the long haul. With regards to changes made, the engine definitely runs more smoothly, though Direct X 10 takes a significant performance hit (on my quad core AMD with an Nvidia 9600 GT it was practically unplayable in DX10 mode, while I was averaging 35-40 frames per second with all graphical settings cranked in DX9). The game however still looks absolutely beautiful (as you can see by the accompanying screens). As far as most gameplay tweaks go, I haven’t really hit anything new as of yet, as many have said the first 20 levels in Tortage were pretty much perfection from day one anyway, it may be some time before I hit any areas where significant changes have been made.

Stay tuned for more from Hyboria. I’ll be updating as I play!