Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures (PC)

Time to get our hands dirty with a live 24-man Age of Conan raid.

With our bellies filled with prawn cocktail sandwiches and our thirst quenched by ice cold bottled coke we return to the darkened cinema for part two of Funcom's Age of Conan launch presentation. We've already brought you impressions from the morning session, where we detailed the combo, DDR-esque combat, guild city building and the climactic meeting with the big man himself. In part two you can expect a report on a live 24-man raid with members of the team back in the office, a sneak peek look at city sieges and why we think Conan's apprentice system might be more important than all of that put together.

First off, the live raid, our first glimpse at a properly coordinated, high level Age of Conan raid. 24 players are divided into four groups - that's six men for the mathematically challenged or simply lazy of you. We see everything from the perspective of a level 80 games master mage. Players, we're told, will have designated roles, tanking, DPS, healing, for example, and each boss drops two pieces of raiding gear, which are divided up into three tiers of quality. "It's a ballet performance," says Jorgen. So far so very MMORPG.

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The raid is in the instanced dungeon Black Ring Citadel, hidden somewhere in the Stygian desert. Each mini boss has a gimmick, Funcom says. The first, a tall, spindly-legged monstrosity that rekindles memories of the monster from CGI Viking flick Beowulf, spreads AOE poison as it moves around the chamber. Since all the players in the raid have GM invincibility, the boss is mince meat in mere seconds and the next wing of the dungeon unlocks. Here another boss encounter awaits, against a Succubus and Incubus pair with fire and ice abilities. The gimmick here is that if the two bosses get close to each other, something they will always try and do, then bad things happen. We see the mage fire a powerful AOE spell called Shockblast, which fills the screen with lots of lovely damage numbers. Another spell, Waves of Flame, delivers even more pain. There's isn't much balance to the raid - being a GM means you don't have to worry too much about tactics. But we get a feeling for how things will play out.

"There are around 18 or 20 different raid encounters located all over the world," says Jorgen as he's describing the on-screen events. Most of these will be 24 man, which sounds, once again, like a sweet spot for experienced MMORPG players. The raid shows off AoC's collision detection - players will have to be mindful of their position in relation to the enemy as well as each other. Not only can players be boxed in by multiple enemies, but good strategy might involve forcing a particularly powerful boss into a corner and keeping them there. We reach the dungeon's main event, a sorceress who summons countless enemies from her chamber deep within the Citadel. After plenty of damage dealing our mage turns his attention to the sorceress herself. Soon enough she's down and out, and the show is over.

Instances can be saved for up to a week. So, when it's two in the morning and you're eyes are bleeding don't worry, you and your guild mates will be able to log off safe in the knowledge that you'll be able to start again right from where you left off. "50% of the end game is raiding. The rest is PVP and crafting," says Jorgen. Raiding isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's an essential part of any MMORPG offering. From what we've seen the foundations of what makes up an Age of Conan raid share obvious similarities with other MMOs we've played. The fighting will be different, for sure, due to the combo combat system, but the overall raiding experience looks like a familiar one.

You'll need all the power of your mount for a city siege

With the live raid out of the way our attention turns to a video of a city siege in action, captured using Fraps by Funcom's Q&A team just days before the presentation. "It's like Braveheart or Kingdom of Heaven," enthuses Jorgen. "This is going to be a big part of the end game, part of the politics of a server." We see War Rhinos and War Mammoths descending on a keep. Catapults rain fiery death down on burning structures. On foot players do battle with undead defenders. It looks intense and, crucially, lots of fun, so much so that we're predicting that Conan's city siege gameplay will make getting to level 80 worth the blood, sweat and tears it's going to require. You can check out the city siege video for yourself right here on VideoGamer.com.

Wow. With our heads hurting from Conan info overload we began preparing to make our way to the nearest bar for some Norwegian beer. But Funcom began taking questions on the floor and, in response to one, talked about a game feature which we reckon could end up being the most important of all. The buddy system allows low level players to play at level 79 when they become a level 80 player's apprentice. When you get "boosted", as Jorgen puts it, players will essentially get all their abilities buffed beyond imagination. While you won't be able to accept quests as an apprentice you can go into high level instances as part of a group, which should ensure players who don't have much time on their hands will get a chance to see most of what Hyboria has to offer. The best thing? Any powerful equipment you earn can be kept and sold for heaps of in-game gold back at level 20. Impressed, we wondered, could Funcom be underestimating AoC's casual potential?

Casual isn't a word we hear often from Jorgen and Erling during the presentation. And, admittedly, most of the game is designed for hardened MMO veterans. It'll take two or three hours to gain a level, up to 60, after that it'll take longer. With the levelling curve it has in place Funcom predicts it'll take about 250 hours to reach level 80. Expect the cap to be further extended in future expansions, something Funcom will be talking about very soon. Be under no illusions. You will need to pump hour after hour into Conan to get the most out of it.

Which is something we can see ourselves doing when the game comes out in a week's time, at least until other MMOs and high-profile expansion packs hit store shelves (we know you know what we're talking about). As we make our way into the beautiful Oslo sun for a beer by the sea, we struggle to ignore the validity of some of the innovations Funcom has come up with for AoC. Questions remain, as they do with all MMOs before release. The game will live or die by its community as much as its virtual nuts and bolts, a complete unknown at this stage. But, from what we've seen so far, Funcom should feel confident in its virtual realisation of Robert E. Howard's Hyboria. We certainly are.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is due out for PC on 23 May.