Conclusion


Age of Conan has set a new precedent not just for MMORPGs, but PC gaming as a whole. Bringing the world of Hyboria to life with its unique game play features and mesmerizing levels of detail, it is a pity that the full beauty of the world is only available to a certain few. This however, is the trade off for any game focused on graphics quality. Hit games such as Crysis and Assassin’s Creed have been subject to the same criticisms. With DirectX10 support on its way, users are looking forward to expanding the visual appeal, but it is bound to set requirements to achieve the full effect even higher.

In many cases it is very clear where Age of Conan’s performance allegiances lie. We saw a rather noticeable difference between similar priced hardware; with the 8800GT giving such excellent results, and so competitively priced, it leaves little doubt where the bang to buck ratio sits. Keep in mind, with the roll out of the DX10 patch, whether or not the card will retain its position remains to be seen. We also saw the cheaper Intel E6600 dual core processor out stripe a more expensive AMD quad core competitor. FunCom was bang on with their recommendation, especially given that the game still struggles to fully utilize a quad core’s potential. The ram tests results show little difference, we could not suggest that 2GB is ample for a gaming system to ensure flawless gameplay, but it is sufficient. Overall, our findings lead one to see that while Age of Conan does hold some special graphical features for extreme systems, it by no means shuts out the casual guys, still offering gorgeous scenery and the same exceptional realism for gamers with typical gaming systems.