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Funcom's fantasy MMO has plenty to distinguish itself from the crowded and samey massively multiplayer market. But perhaps the most intriguing of its unique features is the mounted combat. Picture this - scores of battle-hardened warriors, each one sitting atop a mighty horse, charge into battle in an explosion of clashing steel and seared flesh. Mount and warrior bring the pain as helpless computer-controlled bad guys are tossed into the distance by devastating front and rear kicks. Opposing mounted players, fuelled by PvP blood lust, charge in, steel clashing in brutal jousting death matches. Sounds good eh? Well developer Funcom is aiming to make this fantasy a virtual reality in Age of Conan. VideoGamer.com scored a trip to publisher Eidos' London HQ to get an exclusive hands-on with a level capped character and his many mounts, not all of them horses, to see how Age of Conan's trump card feels in practice. The results aren't for the squeamish.

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Thrud stops, his dual-wielded blades resting by his side, and surveys his surroundings. The Fields of the Dead, a mountainous, grassy area deep within Cimmerea, the home land of Conan himself, sprawls out before him. There are Vanir encampments in the distance, lots of Vanir encampments, each one home to at least three warriors, each and every one warming their weary bones by a fire. Patrols move back and forth along meandering roads, keeping a watchful eye open for anyone foolish enough to intrude. But this matters not to Thrud, for he is a level 80 Conqueror, and The Fields of the Dead is merely a level 40 to 50 area. In the Fields of the Dead, Thrud is God.

The journey to the encampments promises to be long and, frankly, tiresome. In a fantasy MMO this is considered a good thing. Huge game worlds ensure plenty of content and interesting areas to explore. But, as we know, it can be a bit of a ball-ache having to get around on foot. Luckily enough for Thrud, there's no need to expose his weary feet to the job. He has a selection of mounts that'll gladly do it for him.

He summons an Armoured Buckskin Horse. It appears with a neigh and a click of its hoofs. It bows ever so slightly, almost nonchalantly, and allows Thrud to place one foot in a stirrup and clamber up and onto the ornate saddle. The Buckskin has an air of snobbery about it. It looks like the kind of horse the Royal Family might have perched on had it been a part of Robert E. Howard's barbaric fantasy world. Face armour and an impressive flare adorn the beast. Thrud grabs the reins and encourages it forwards. It trots at first, but soon explodes into a gallop, heading straight for one of the Nadir encampments. Call it a hunch, but we reckon this is going to be messy.

The Buckskin charges straight into one Nadir, knocking it flying. It then kicks forward, and backwards, causing chaos in the enemy group. Thrud himself is reigning death from above, striking with his swords from both sides. The Nadir were dead before they knew what was killing them.

This is what you can expect from Age of Conan's mounted combat, what we think is the fantasy MMO's most compelling feature. For all the blood, sex, gore and Oblivion-quality graphics in the game, it is, for us, the prospect of charging into a group of enemy players on a horse, kicking them about with mount specific attacks and slicing them up with your own weapons that has got us most excited It's the prospect of this, we feel, which may help Age of Conan attract World of Warcraft players to give it a shot.

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