Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures [PC]

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Yahoo! Video Games: How would you summarize Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures?

Gaute Godager: Age of Conan is a Massively Multiplayer Online Game, or MMOG if you like. It features many unique elements that make it stand out in the crowd. First of all it is a true action RPG in the sense that it features a) hands on and real-time combat and action elements where player skills will mean something b) a single player part at the beginning of the game where the player spends time alone, building his character in a story driven environment c) massive combat in the forms of sieges against other players or monsters d) it is the first mature MMO set in a brutal, dangerous and grown-up world.

YVG: What genre(s) and/or game(s) have influenced its design?

GG: Many games have influenced Age of Conan (Conan) from MMOs to God of War to Knights of the Old Republic. It is hard to mention them all, but we want Conan to play like an Action RPG with more combat depth, as seen in combat games.

YVG: Can you please tell us more about the backstory and the main storyline?

GG: The game is set in Hyboria, naturally, the Universe Robert E. Howard made for the barbarian Conan more than 70 years ago. It is set in the time just after the novel "Hour of the Dragon", where Conan is no longer a wandering thief or warrior, but a King of Aquilonia - the proud jewel of the Hyborian universe. Conan is troubled. His age old enemy, Thoth-Amon, is striving to throw him down from his throne and reshape the world in a darker, more terrible image. To do this the terrible sorcerer not only uses ancient artifacts found and excavated throughout the lands, but also forces humans to be hosts of age old evil spirits.

This process of possession is the background for the player. At the start of the game you will thus find yourself without any memory of his previous life, as a slave on a Stygian Galley somewhere off the coast of Singaria, close to the Barachian Isles. This amnesia, the very soul of the player, and the kinship of Conan are all tied intimately together in a sinister plot to destroy the world. Walk down the path and learn the truth, and you will find yourself not only the acquaintance but even the ally and friend of King Conan.