Aion Review:The new MMO soars high.

The MMORPG genre has certainly grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years, with at least two new triple-A titles being launched every year alongside expansions to the successfully established ones. As the market grows, so do the standards by which these games are measured. Players have come to expect features that they have seen in other MMOs, and never mind that these features were released a year after those games were launched. The fact is that they have them now, so these new games had better have them too. Two weeks ago, NCSoft's latest MMORPG Aion launched amid much hype and expectation. By all accounts, the game has so far been living up to these expectations and although the MMO gaming community has proven to be rather fickle in the past, this sustained enthusiasm bodes well for it.

Aion is an MMO that tries to offer something for everyone and succeeds at it, albeit in varying degrees and at different stages. On the surface, you'll find a visually stunning world to adventure in and explore, and this will initially draw the casual PvE gamer. Underneath the pretty wrapping is a familiar layer of elements that MMO gamers have come to expect - questing, skills, crafting, economy, socialization tools - in a highly polished state. At its core both literally and figuratively, is a faction PvP battleground called the Abyss, where gameplay involves Aion's most distinctive feature, the players' ability to fight while flying around on wings.