Aion proves you can take an mmo out of Korea but you can't take the Korea out of the mmo.
I'll be honest with you after, playing WoW for close to 4 years I've never come across a game that could really compare. Aion was the first MMO that had me excited since a long time of playing WoW. Given, a lot of players in the Aion community don't like the endless comparison to WoW. I find it only logical since the game has been so prominent and trendsetting for the franchise.
Aion The Tower of Eternity (Aion for short) is developed by NCsoft. NCSoft being no stranger to MMO's with Lineage I and II, Guildwars, Tabula Rasa and a host of others. Most of those games only achieved limited success on the western markets and with Aion NCSoft set a clear goal to focus on a successful American/European Launch.
Story:
Aion's story is fairly interesting pitting two player races, the "light" Elyos and "Dark"Asmodians against each other and an NPC faction called the Balaur. The story is explained trough the quests you'll be doing while leveling up. Character customization is especially notable in Aion. Countles options ensure no character has to look the same. This also comes with a downside however as it allows players to create ridiculous looking characters from midgets to bobble heads.
Graphics:
One of Aion's most prominent features are its graphics. Running on a modified version of the CryEngine used for FarCry, Aion has some of the best graphics ever seen in an MMO. Especially Characters and game objects look stunning.
Gameplay and Interface:
It's no secret that the developers at NCsoft took a close look at the things WoW did right. As a result both the interface and combat in the game are very reminiscent to WoW. Both work very well.
PVPVE:
Another major selling point for Aion is it's so called PVPVE system that as mentioned above pits two player controlled factions against each other and a third computer controlled faction. The bulk of this fighting takes place in the Abyss a center area in the game with capture able fortresses that can be besieged and taken by all three factions. Sadly the Abyss is relatively small and all the battles i've been in where quickly decided because one faction clearly had superior numbers over the other(s).
A Linear Grind:
The most noticeable downside of Aion is without a doubt the linear path you follow while leveling and the amount of grinding required. In WoW you always had several area's to pick from while leveling, if you didn't like one area you just moved on to another. The few area's Aion has have very specific level requirements and only moderate amounts of quests each. The first two area you visit will turn out fine and doing every quest available will have you level high enough to enter the third. This is however, where the problems start. With only a few quests you'll quickly have to turn to grinding in order to get the necessary XP to level up. Although Aion offers several repeatable quests to give you an extra incentive to go grind this doesn't take away the fact that you'll be forced to kill monsters over and over and over again.
This also has huge ramifications for the replay value of the game. Leveling a second character from the same race simply isn't attractive because you'd have to go over the same grinding content all over again.
Verdict:
I could go on a few more pages about this game but I won't bother you with that. Aion has got a lot going for it both in a positive and negative sense. Great graphics and gameplay provide a solid base for this MMO. However a linear experience combined with a lot of grinding make turn it in to a boring repetitive drama from time to time.
7,0
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LW