Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures E3 Preview

The folks at Hooked Gamers have dished up a two-page preview of Funcom’s Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, based on what they saw of the RPG at this year’s E3.

When fighting a melee combat with another character the player actually has to do more than just press a button to make the character attack. There are six different attack angles for weapons that the player has to control and the attacks can follow each other fluidly to form different kinds of combos. The ranged combat is more traditional, offering a view over the character’s shoulder to aim and fire at the enemies. However, what makes the game truly stand apart from others in the genre is the mounted combat. You need good timing and practice to be truly effective in it; it is not just about riding at the enemy with a weapon raised high and clicking on an attack button. First, you must approach the enemy at a good speed in order to gain the full effect of the speed of the horse behind the attack. Then, you have to swing your weapon just at the right moment to hit the enemies as you pass them. This is naturally harder the faster you ride and is also affected by the weapon that you wield (anything from swords to lances).