Every year it seems as though we get that one ultra-hyped MMO that has fans arguing whether it will be the 'the one' to blow industry dominator, World of Warcraft, out of the water. Last year it was Age of Conan and Warhammer Online; this year it's NCsoft's Aion: The Tower of Eternity.  Now, I have to be honest here when I say that Aion was going to be in for a tough time with me, just because it has managed to attract so much hype. Interestingly enough, however, despite the fact that I did go into this with fairly (ok, extremely) high expectations, Aion was impressive enough that I could really understand what all of this hype was about.

For those of you who aren't 'in the know,' Aion is the next stellar MMORPG to come from NCsoft - the developers who brought you games like Lineage I and II, Guild Wars and City of Heroes. In reality, the game has already been released in Korea, about seven months ago, and it is now that we're seeing it being ported over to North America. In this way, Aion is entering the MMO market with a massive Asian following, very similar to NCsoft's incredibly successful Lineage II. Another important thing to note is that, because this game is already so popular in Asia, the Aion team can afford to take the time to make sure their launch is as smooth as possible in North America. Already we can see the huge advantages this team has over the 'predicted WoW killers' of '08', Age of Conan and Warhammer Online - both of which were released too early and to disastrous results.

Currently, there are three major aspects of Aion that are receiving a lot of praise in the industry: the games' incredible graphics, the smoothness of the combat system, and the intense PvP. In this review, ZAM will introduce you the excellent gameplay of Aion and prove you: Aion is more than just good looks.