Age of Conan demo at CES: gameplay and DirectX 10

Age of Conan and Crysis were able to show off their potential running on DirectX 10 for Windows Vista at the Consumer Electronics Show. With stunning visuals and graphics, the Age of Conan demo didn’t disappoint.

The organizers had the good sense to place the demo in a jungle scene. They were able to showcase texture, light dynamics, and the lush landscape. Moss covering trees and a light fog set quite an environment.

Some interesting gameplay tidbits were also shown. Players will be able to meet monsters of different shapes and sizes. And of course, what’s a Conan game without insanely large swords/weapons? There’s also the innovative combat system and the real-time battles that really sticks players into the fray. The title is to be rated Mature (M) so the devs had a relatively free hand when they added the blood and gore aspects.

DirectX 10 was impressive but it wasn’t perfect. There were some glitches like lagging briefly after new quests are acquired, and some problems with the framerate. The rough edges are atleast minimal.

The nagging question remains: how will the Xbox360 version measure up? The PC version would be better visually. Of course, Vista would be required and a HIGH end PC. Funny that muscle-bound barbarians (who look like they’ve been shooting up steroids since birth) are probably the signal to juice up your PC hardware. There’s still no official announcement regarding cross-platform play between players on PCs online and on Xbox Live. It’s still being considered, and there are several possibilities. The downside for Xbox360 players is that they would need a hard drive.

The PC version of this title by Funcom and Eidos is set for release this summer while the Xbox version is tentatively up within a year (hopefully within this year).

Age of Conan and Crysis were able to show off their potential running on DirectX 10 for Windows Vista at the Consumer Electronics Show. With stunning visuals and graphics, the Age of Conan demo didn’t disappoint.

The organizers had the good sense to place the demo in a jungle scene. They were able to showcase texture, light dynamics, and the lush landscape. Moss covering trees and a light fog set quite an environment.

Some interesting gameplay tidbits were also shown. Players will be able to meet monsters of different shapes and sizes. And of course, what’s a Conan game without insanely large swords/weapons? There’s also the innovative combat system and the real-time battles that really sticks players into the fray. The title is to be rated Mature (M) so the devs had a relatively free hand when they added the blood and gore aspects.

DirectX 10 was impressive but it wasn’t perfect. There were some glitches like lagging briefly after new quests are acquired, and some problems with the framerate. The rough edges are atleast minimal.

The nagging question remains: how will the Xbox360 version measure up? The PC version would be better visually. Of course, Vista would be required and a HIGH end PC. Funny that muscle-bound barbarians (who look like they’ve been shooting up steroids since birth) are probably the signal to juice up your PC hardware. There’s still no official announcement regarding cross-platform play between players on PCs online and on Xbox Live. It’s still being considered, and there are several possibilities. The downside for Xbox360 players is that they would need a hard drive.

The PC version of this title by Funcom and Eidos is set for release this summer while the Xbox version is tentatively up within a year (hopefully within this year).