Age of Conan: Unchained

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 831 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 536 out of 831
  2. Mixed: 103 out of 831
  3. Negative: 192 out of 831
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  1. TedE.
    Jul 21, 2008
    7
    Don't listen to the haters or the fanboys. The game is neither groundbreaking nor abysmal. I applaud the mature content, active combat, and beautiful graphics (provided you have the hardware). But points have to be taken away for pretty much everything else. Right now, the only thing to do in the game is grind out quests because almost nothing else works as it should. There are no Don't listen to the haters or the fanboys. The game is neither groundbreaking nor abysmal. I applaud the mature content, active combat, and beautiful graphics (provided you have the hardware). But points have to be taken away for pretty much everything else. Right now, the only thing to do in the game is grind out quests because almost nothing else works as it should. There are no social activities to speak of - no real reason to interact with other people unless you're sharing a quest. I started on a PvE server but switched to PvP due to the boredom. And now, I'm getting bored of that as well, as PvP essentially means "ganking" in this game. And as much as they claim to be focusing on PvP rewards and punishments, nothing exists as of yet. I would suggest buying the game and using the first 30 days free to play through the rather enjoyable Tortage Island (levels 1-20) with a few characters. Then cancel your account, because after that, the bad outweighs the good (for now).… Expand
  2. JerS.
    Jul 20, 2008
    0
    You are paying to beta test a 50% complete game. Terrible customer service, really with all the things that make a MMO epic, this game is just boring after the first week. Look elsewhere this games a bust.
  3. DevonS.
    Jul 19, 2008
    2
    This game is terrible. It's not really any different than World of Warcraft or any of the other MMORPGs. It drags its feet right at the beginning, and you have to be a whopping level 15 or so before you can start exploring the world. Even when you get to that point, you get the feeling you're not actually traveling very far when you do move around. There's nothing exotic This game is terrible. It's not really any different than World of Warcraft or any of the other MMORPGs. It drags its feet right at the beginning, and you have to be a whopping level 15 or so before you can start exploring the world. Even when you get to that point, you get the feeling you're not actually traveling very far when you do move around. There's nothing exotic about this game, it just looks different and promises more, and then proceeds to deliver exactly what games that have been around longer (and already worked out all their kinks) have managed to do already.… Expand
  4. MarkL.
    Jul 16, 2008
    3
    The the Meta Critic readers, those who are intelligent enough to do research on a game prior to purchasing it, I'd like to issue a firm and heartfelt warning about this game. The early portions of this game are fairly polished, with plenty to do; and dungeons that work as they should, but as you progress; and as you advance your character it becomes clear that this game was clearly The the Meta Critic readers, those who are intelligent enough to do research on a game prior to purchasing it, I'd like to issue a firm and heartfelt warning about this game. The early portions of this game are fairly polished, with plenty to do; and dungeons that work as they should, but as you progress; and as you advance your character it becomes clear that this game was clearly not what it was hyped up to be by the developers. Those looking for a cut above the average MMO will be sorely disappointed, as this title fails to do anything different from the regular mold; aside from the combat system. But I will give you more information on that later. Let us start with the graphics, which manages to be the most worthwhile, and most detrimental aspect of this title. To put it bluntly, the graphics themselves are amazing, Whether you're traveling through the breath taking conall's valley, or fighting the horrific aberrations of the Field of the Dead, you will be pleased with the visuals. Of course, with these visuals come a very steep system requirement, and even though you may find yourself meeting you exceeding the supposed "recommended" system specs, you may have performance issues with the game. What makes this an even larger problem is that lowering your graphics setting to increase performance has the OPPOSITE effect for no adequately explained reason. The gameplay, as far as Player Vs. Environment is concerned is passable. The combination system works reasonably well; and is a breath of fresh air from the usual MMO fare. But again, this has a huge downside: I of course speak about the PVP ramifications of such a convoluted combat system. Novices and "newbies" alike will have a difficult time managing the excess of hotkeys you must use to be successful in combat; should you choose one of the 5 melee classes. In addition to three manual directional attacks (FIVE at level 40), you must manage an excess of activated abilities, double tap abilities, and in the cases of some classes; both a mana and stamina pool as well as managing shields and the like. Diving deeper into the gameplay subject, those looking for a long lasting MMO experience should look elsewhere at this time, as once you get to around level 50-60; the content dies down almost fully. There are no instanced dungeons to be done, quests are few and far between, and the few quests that you may manage to find are uninspired at best. Those choosing to push into level 80 will find that nobody participates in Mini Game PVP, nobody participates in siege PVP and even the 'contested border kingdoms' lie a muddied ghost town. Facts are facts in the end, and while some may try to defend these current imperfections as typical for the genre, I will state that I have played quite a few of these games in my time; and I have never run out of things to do this quickly. When one combines the patches that seem to introduce more bugs than they fix, sieges that not only have no incentive, but are broken; and a lack of a PVP system this game is only good for about a month of semi casual play. Is 50$ worth a month of game time? That's question you will have to ask yourself; but as this game is now - I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone. Thank you for reading.… Expand
  5. AnonymousMC
    Jul 14, 2008
    2
    The game has it's advantages, but also many weaknesses. One of the bigger problems is that the game is still in development..yes thats right you are paying for a game that is not finished yet. Wait about 6 months or so with buying it, then they might have fixed all the bugs from the beta that should have been fixed before they released it..also the game does NOT support directx10 asThe game has it's advantages, but also many weaknesses. One of the bigger problems is that the game is still in development..yes thats right you are paying for a game that is not finished yet. Wait about 6 months or so with buying it, then they might have fixed all the bugs from the beta that should have been fixed before they released it..also the game does NOT support directx10 as they state on the box....… Expand
  6. Susan
    Jul 13, 2008
    3
    Don't waste your money. I've been playing since the game opened to all players. The beginning island is finished and is fun to play, but the rest of the game is not. PVP, Siege, quests and crafting, something you expect from an MMO, is virtually non-existent. Even though Siege is listed as being in the game - it's not. Funcom's idea of class balancing is to nerf Don't waste your money. I've been playing since the game opened to all players. The beginning island is finished and is fun to play, but the rest of the game is not. PVP, Siege, quests and crafting, something you expect from an MMO, is virtually non-existent. Even though Siege is listed as being in the game - it's not. Funcom's idea of class balancing is to nerf classes and then conveniently forget to put it in their patch notes. After level 35, the game becomes extremely boring and repetitive. There is a complete lack of content, direction and story line after level 35 and to level beyond that, you will spend the majority of your time doing the same 3 level scaling quests. With every patch, performance gets worse along with game play. Simply put, Funcom, even though it has experience with MMO's, (Anarchy Online), has no idea what it's doing with this game. I was a huge fan at first, but after you begin to level, along with the bugs and nerfs, you realize just how much is missing from the game. Funcom released a buggy, machine hog lacking content, direction and story line. The mature themes disappear after level 20 or so, so again - Funcom falls short on their promises. If you spend your $50.00 on this game, you'll get something that's fun to play for about a week. After that, you'll be as angry and frustrated as 90% of the players are. The game forums are no longer an indicator of player satisfaction as each unhappy post or suggestion is merrily deleted by Funcom's "new" moderators. That's the game in a nutshell and from someone who played it to 80. With no end game content, no siege, there is nothing to do after reaching 80.… Expand
  7. CarriganK
    Jul 9, 2008
    2
    Wow another great game from funcom... rather go and play a dead game like diablo 1 wasted 90$ on collectors edition not worth it plain and simple huge let down...was looking forward to time game since it was announced.... Don't buy it don't play it.
  8. KreeB.
    Jul 7, 2008
    5
    Great potential and an amazing first 20 levels on the Island of Tortage are not enough to overcome the lack of interesting, engaging, and challenging content past level 50. This game is broken and should be avoided. If it survives for a year it might be worth another look.
  9. MarissaD.
    Jul 6, 2008
    5
    The graphics are great, the music is great, the combat is OK. They have no customer support, in game or out. Missing content, and bugs over shadow the things that are good about this game. AOC had great potential, and so far it has not shown me any of it. Funcom should be embarrassed it took them 5 years to come out with this game in it's current state. The release should have been The graphics are great, the music is great, the combat is OK. They have no customer support, in game or out. Missing content, and bugs over shadow the things that are good about this game. AOC had great potential, and so far it has not shown me any of it. Funcom should be embarrassed it took them 5 years to come out with this game in it's current state. The release should have been put off a while longer. It does have potential, when will it happen, is the burning question.… Expand
  10. Marcus
    Jul 6, 2008
    9
    Having been someone whose computer suffered really badly from the bugs and crashes (they have now been fixed), I am still going to give this game a 9. The graphics are incredible (more realistic than oblivion and it runs smoother too), the combat actually feels like combat unlike other MMOs. For me the atmosphere of the game is amazing. A lot of people are complaining about poor pvp Having been someone whose computer suffered really badly from the bugs and crashes (they have now been fixed), I am still going to give this game a 9. The graphics are incredible (more realistic than oblivion and it runs smoother too), the combat actually feels like combat unlike other MMOs. For me the atmosphere of the game is amazing. A lot of people are complaining about poor pvp "imbalance". I think this is actually a good thing and greatly enhances the atmosphere and realism of the game. It would be a great shame if they changed it. More skill is required this way, hiding in thickets of trees while a group of level 80s rides past etc - I really love the brutality of the pvp in this game - it just makes it feel so much more real and exciting than in other MMOs. As for the instancing, people are already complaining about fps - if it wasn't so heavily instanced, for a lot of people it would be unplayable. Maybe in a few years when people have better computers, they'll change this.... One of my favourite things about this game is the extent to which you can customize your character's appearance and I also love the classes (I have 5 characters all with different classes and I haven't found any big problem with class imbalance ( actually I love all the classes I have played -they all have clear advantages and disadvantages) I do agree that the game is just the skeleton of what it will become - but even in its current form, it is still by far the most fun MMO I have played which is why I won't be canceling my account. It seems people either love or hate this game but for me, it definitely gets a big thumbs up!… Expand
  11. MaxO
    Jul 6, 2008
    1
    Graphics are nice, but should be better for the type of system it requires. Buildings don't look that great. Gameplay new at first for non-spellcasters but gets boring. To much lack of content and bugs, even for a new mmorpg.
  12. JakeK.
    Jul 6, 2008
    2
    Terrible game where the allegedly innovative combat system forces players to press 3 or five buttons instead of one. This game is so bugged that at certain points in the game the higher system settings produce higher fps than the lowest ones. Excluding the often beautiful visuals this game is more of a step backwards for MMO's than anything else. The first few levels are lukewarm at Terrible game where the allegedly innovative combat system forces players to press 3 or five buttons instead of one. This game is so bugged that at certain points in the game the higher system settings produce higher fps than the lowest ones. Excluding the often beautiful visuals this game is more of a step backwards for MMO's than anything else. The first few levels are lukewarm at best, but once someone reaches level twenty they experience heavy instancing and very few opportunities for teamwork except to keep gankers at bay. The visuals are the only thing that keep this game from getting a 0… Expand
  13. Leonardoftpl.
    Jul 6, 2008
    10
    Is the best mmorpg and with your guild you can buil cities and do guild vs guild (a fantastic thing) the grafik is fantastic,and is good than Wow, I love Age of Conan -buy it.
  14. D
    Jul 5, 2008
    0
    My relatively new PC can't get above 10fps, with every option turned down to nothing. There is no tech support. Only an auto-reply. I ebayed my cd key, and cut my losses.
  15. Karhu
    Jul 5, 2008
    7
    This could have been "the WoW killer" and a great MMO. Too bad it fails, as previous reviews say there are tons of bugs, big performance issues and PvP is surprisingly pretty f'd up at the moment. This is fun game to some point but then the frustrations sets in. Crash, server crash, lag spikes, bugged quests, FPS drops, priest class' overpower... There's a lot of work done This could have been "the WoW killer" and a great MMO. Too bad it fails, as previous reviews say there are tons of bugs, big performance issues and PvP is surprisingly pretty f'd up at the moment. This is fun game to some point but then the frustrations sets in. Crash, server crash, lag spikes, bugged quests, FPS drops, priest class' overpower... There's a lot of work done in Funcom but I'm not renewing my sub soon. But I hope they get their stuff fixed and maybe we get to enjoy excellent MMO in future.… Expand
  16. PMF
    Jul 3, 2008
    4
    It feels somewhat unfair to rate the game in its current state since I expect (assuming it survives) it will feel like a whole new game in a year or two - but by the same token : it is probably unfair to sell the game in its current state and charge a subscription fee to play it. Personally I just do not find it ambitious enough to excite me, but down the line I expect AoC will become a It feels somewhat unfair to rate the game in its current state since I expect (assuming it survives) it will feel like a whole new game in a year or two - but by the same token : it is probably unfair to sell the game in its current state and charge a subscription fee to play it. Personally I just do not find it ambitious enough to excite me, but down the line I expect AoC will become a thoroughly competent MMO. One word of warning though : the combat system is indeed more interactive than in other MMOs and akin to an old keyboard controlled beat-em-up - but this is still an MMO and it still has grind, so if playing a keyboard beat-em-up for hours of a time sounds more than you can bear you should consider your purchase carefully.… Expand
  17. JohnLivingstone
    Jul 3, 2008
    9
    I was very pleasantly surprised by this game, which I've read a lot of varied views on after launch. A friend recommended I try it, and now I'm joining the Conan fan club!
    I've now reached lvl 34 and Ive been enjoying the ride all along. My guild is a bit too casual for building cities and such, but just the combat, immersion and general feel of the world is enough for me    I was very pleasantly surprised by this game, which I've read a lot of varied views on after launch. A friend recommended I try it, and now I'm joining the Conan fan club!
    I've now reached lvl 34 and Ive been enjoying the ride all along. My guild is a bit too casual for building cities and such, but just the combat, immersion and general feel of the world is enough for me to stay hooked.
    Yes, there are a few rough edges, but the makers of the game have been fairly diligent in getting out patches and updates, and the improvements in the game are noticable.
    I won't cancel my WoW account just yet, but I'll definitely spend more time playing AoC in the weeks and months to come. For my two cents this is the best alternative experience to WoW currently on the market.    … Expand
  18. Nick
    Jul 3, 2008
    0
    Plain Terrible, agreed with all the other 0-2's out there. Waste of money and very old generation gameplay. Combat was ok, but it should be brought to a battlefield and not an instance maze.
  19. nts
    Jul 1, 2008
    10
    Genius game, better release than AO and WoW in the start. Everyone is complaining about bugs, but WoW and all MMO games has ALOT of these in the start. In fact, many people is calling this the most bug-free release of any MMO, so my score is 10 because of the killer graphics and insanely good combo/battle system. Great game, in a year it will be bug free for the "normal" player. And they Genius game, better release than AO and WoW in the start. Everyone is complaining about bugs, but WoW and all MMO games has ALOT of these in the start. In fact, many people is calling this the most bug-free release of any MMO, so my score is 10 because of the killer graphics and insanely good combo/battle system. Great game, in a year it will be bug free for the "normal" player. And they are already adding a lot of content, and the game can only get better from this point!… Expand
  20. PierreC.
    Jun 30, 2008
    10
    It's been a long time since I've been this riveted by a new MMO, but Funcom's latest foray into the genre is a breath of fresh air. I find myself laughing and amazed, and I genuinely get excited in combat. The game really shines no modern PC hardware, and should be added to the collection of any true PC gaming aficionado.
  21. JoeM.
    Jun 30, 2008
    0
    Played till level 80 and then threw it in the trash. Unimplemented features, a cornucopia of bugs and stability issues completely ruined the game for me. Had most of the reviewers played past level 20 I'm sure that their average score would be much, much lower. It shocks me that Funcom would release such a game in it's current state and have the gall to charge people a monthly Played till level 80 and then threw it in the trash. Unimplemented features, a cornucopia of bugs and stability issues completely ruined the game for me. Had most of the reviewers played past level 20 I'm sure that their average score would be much, much lower. It shocks me that Funcom would release such a game in it's current state and have the gall to charge people a monthly fee for what is essentially beta testing. I will never buy a Funcom title again.… Expand
  22. GaryP.
    Jun 30, 2008
    10
    I broke the wow addiction to move to Conan and I haven't regretted it. It's fantastic and I love that I'm able to play in short bursts and still accomplish things.
  23. TaleS.
    Jun 29, 2008
    9
    After 3 years of playing WoW this game has most certainly grabbed me, and continues to impress as Funcom irons out a few quirks and adds even more content. Don't listen to all the bashers, pick it up and give it a try, it's well worth the price of admission even if you don't decide to stay. I've fallen in love myself.
  24. NoahS.
    Jun 29, 2008
    10
    Excellent update to the MMO genre with lot's of cool locations, visceral combat and some of the best immersion I've seen in ANY RPG in a long time. It's also quite friendly for those of us with a more casual playstyle, and is very easily consumed in small pieces when time allows. A huge recommendation from an 'older' gamer.
  25. KevinR.
    Jun 28, 2008
    4
    The excellent opening, leading into 20 levels of fabulous solo gameplay was great.... then I found myself in the actual game world. I could write more on that, but feel that much has been covered already. I uninstalled, and will not be re-subscribing. Maybe next year I will check it out again. I went and bought (brace yourself) World of Warcraft. Now as a vet of Everquest, Ultima Online, The excellent opening, leading into 20 levels of fabulous solo gameplay was great.... then I found myself in the actual game world. I could write more on that, but feel that much has been covered already. I uninstalled, and will not be re-subscribing. Maybe next year I will check it out again. I went and bought (brace yourself) World of Warcraft. Now as a vet of Everquest, Ultima Online, and Vanguard, I was expecting what most people say about WOW.... a childish, kiddie, "noob" environment, and for the most part they are right, but the skilled expert players are there however, you just have to find them. I was fortunate enough to find an excellent guild (after many frustrating random groups with un-skilled players) and now I am having a BLAST!! More fun than I ever had in EQ or Vanguard. As far as people saying WOW is "too easy" well... I can say from experience that Conan is not any "harder" than WOW. World of Warcraft is indeed easy if you have a high-level character walk you through the instances, but if you don't "cheat" and actually run through the dungeons at their intended levels , for example: running the DEADMINES with a level 14-15 group (Yes... it's possible) You will find that there is plenty of challenge in it. Again, maybe I will try CONAN again sometime next year after they fix things, but for now, I will enjoy my new-found-friend... World Of Warcraft!!!!!!!… Expand
  26. JG
    Jun 28, 2008
    2
    This game is simply awful. I played up to level 32 on my assassin character, and then promptly uninstalled the game. The quests are either mind-numbingly easy and thoughtless or frustratingly impossible, based on you level. While the game does indicate quest difficulty in respect to your level with a colour-coding system, all one has to do is wait to achieve a certain level and then plow This game is simply awful. I played up to level 32 on my assassin character, and then promptly uninstalled the game. The quests are either mind-numbingly easy and thoughtless or frustratingly impossible, based on you level. While the game does indicate quest difficulty in respect to your level with a colour-coding system, all one has to do is wait to achieve a certain level and then plow through them. This is because once you are a certain number of levels above the non-player enemies' levels, they will completely ignore you unless you hit them for damage first. So a level 30-something character can run through the quests in the Cimmerian region in a matter of hours, breezing past enemies that anyone else on a lower level will have to slog through on their way to the objective (dying repeatedly of course). I never played in a single group the entire time I was in-game because none of the few people in my area would accept my "join group" offers and I quit bothering to try after so long. I would have to say this is just a really pathetic single-player fantasy. I was so appalled with this half-hearted attempt of a game that I didn't even bother to see whether or not the PvP could have salvaged the experience for me. The visuals are...underwhelming. It's performance is terrible on a system that can run Crysis smoothly on maximum settings (although I believe this may have something to do with the Age of Conan's half-finished state). Just a terribly conceived aesthetic. You have to see it in action for yourself (screenshots just don't do it justice--mostly because all of the screenshots I saw came from Funcom and were taken to show the best the game has to offer). Character animations are goofy, and goofiness is something that tends to alienate me from a game that is trying to be a tough sword-and-sorcery epic. The drunkard NPC's (abound in every city or town setting) make these ridiculous, gibbered grunts that had me rolling my eyes every time I heard them. Although I came across some amusing situations with the NPC's, it's mostly all too campy. And the voice-acting is bad. Really bad. I was actually okay with the fact that it stopped altogether after the Tortage region (although it is a jarring change in terms of the game experience). Oooh lawdy, are the trees and vegetation just down-right ugly! Bloody ugly! AoC uses a similar foliage system as Oblivion, but for some reason the AoC foliage textures look like they came out of a 16-bit Super Nintendo system. I'll say it again: ugly! Combat is...well, how could the developers possibly think they were on the right track with this nonsense?! The classes are unbalanced for starters, a fact that seeps its way even into the "single-player" quest portions of the game, where spell-casting enemies can stand thirty feet away from you and pound your health while you waste your invaluable stamina racing to their position to engage them in melee combat! And then you usually find that two or three more enemies will respawn in the vicinity (because the PvE areas are instanced) and outnumber you while you're still working on that first spell-caster. Second of all, the targeting system bites the bag. Tab is supposedly for targeting the closest enemy. Yet, every time I used it to focus on the next enemy in line for a healthy serving of my wrath, the game would choose some enemy a half a mile away, leaving my character swinging into the air! I only have two hands Funcom, one's on my mouse, and the other's on my keyboard! So don't put the combat keys all over the place! Speaking of combos, boy what a good idea for an MMO, but executed in the worst way! You just better hope you live close to a server is another thing I'll add to the combo business. Well, I'm out of time, but there are so many other things I'd love to whine about here. The bottom line is this: the game feels like a beta (and, yes I can attest to the abundance of glitches and bugs still present there), so I'll be waiting another six months before I even think about looking at this game again.… Expand
  27. RaJ.
    Jun 27, 2008
    0
    Everything bugged in this game. The more patch it comes the more bug it shows.
  28. PolarisM
    Jun 26, 2008
    4
    Funcom had a few things done well in the first 20 levels, but unlike the vast majority of the "professional" reviewers, I actually played past that and into level 55+. I found the game to be far too buggy to play without recurring frustrations, and Funcom's customer support is very poor. Hopefully the game will improve in the next few months, but I am not terribly optimistic Funcom had a few things done well in the first 20 levels, but unlike the vast majority of the "professional" reviewers, I actually played past that and into level 55+. I found the game to be far too buggy to play without recurring frustrations, and Funcom's customer support is very poor. Hopefully the game will improve in the next few months, but I am not terribly optimistic considering Funcom's recent patches where they put in worse bugs than the ones they fix.… Expand
  29. MichaelZ
    Jun 26, 2008
    4
    If your a Pervt or Pedifile and like nudity, this is the game for you.
    Graphics are on par with EQ2 however Game play is tedious with its Attack/defense combo system. The nudity has gotten out of control in the game. The old addage, just because they can do it, doesnt mean they will, doesnt apply here...
    Putting a "MATURE" rating on the game has not stopped children in the    If your a Pervt or Pedifile and like nudity, this is the game for you.
    Graphics are on par with EQ2 however Game play is tedious with its Attack/defense combo system. The nudity has gotten out of control in the game. The old addage, just because they can do it, doesnt mean they will, doesnt apply here...
    Putting a "MATURE" rating on the game has not stopped children in the slightest. The game has drawn pervs and pedifiles from arround the world. It was fun during the beta, but once opened to the public at has turned rotten.    … Expand
  30. MagisterG.
    Jun 26, 2008
    8
    It has its issues, but it's a welcome and refreshing addition to the world of MMORPGs, and is gobs of fun despite being buggy and incomplete.
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Awards & Rankings

33
#33 Best PC Game of 2008
9
#9 Most Discussed PC Game of 2008
45
#45 Most Shared PC Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 44 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 44
  3. Negative: 0 out of 44
  1. GameZone
    94
    This game marks the next generation of MMOs in many ways. It looks good, is very entertaining and plays very well. This is a journey well worth taking.
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  2. AtomicGamer
    92
    It won't put WoW out of business, but then again, nothing will for a long time, and that doesn't mean this isn't a great game with tons of appeal and a hopefully more mature audience
    Read full review
  3. GameSpy
    80
    Age of Conan going forward should become a delightfully savage second home for plenty of howling on-line barbarians.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »