Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game in which the developers have this game have no qualms about including violence and sexual content in this game. Females are shown topless. And most quests require the player to kill others. Blood will spray from wounds and heads can be lopped off. This world is a dark savage place where society is so primitive that despots perform human sacrifice as a form of religious piety. Human life is cheap and slaves used in arena sporting events. Magic in this world is linked to demons and inhuman gods. In addition to the initial cost, players must invest $14.99 per month to explore this online world. As with all MMORPGs, players can get sucked into this world and end up spending a tremendous amount of time playing.
Community Reviews
FIne for older teens.
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What’s It About?
AGE OF CONAN: HYBORIAN ADVENTURES is based on the world of Hyboria, created by Robert E. Howard, a classic American pulp fiction writer who created Conan the Cimmerian in the pages of the Depression Era magazine, Weird Tales. In a departure from the light hearted fantasy of many MMORPGs, this is a dark violent world full of beefy warriors, evil sorcerers, demons, and half-naked women.
Like many MMORPGs, the world is vast, filled with enemies for you to kill and quests will take you around this world. The landscape is beautiful and models are well animated and detailed, if gruesome and savage with graphic depictions of corpses with missing limbs, gaping wounds, and blood trails. In this brutal world, your life depends on your ability with sword or magic.
Is It Any Good?
In a departure from many MMORPGs, combat is not automatic, but requires the player to choose his swing and angle of attack, providing an almost realistic and engaging feel for the combat. The same is true for ranged attacks, magic spells, and mounted combat as the game is designed to engage the player in the action. Players are required to quickly seize the situation and make decisions for each movement and combination thereof, for attacks as well as defense.
Close communication will be required for groups to work together effectively to coordinate their efforts and use of their minions (pets) which assist them in combat. The end game promises greater depth and complexity as groups of players known as guilds will be able to build player cities which are beneficial to all, and battlekeeps which can be invaded and taken from other guilds.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about historical facts of human sacrifice and slavery. Which nations participated in human sacrifice? Which nations used slaves in sporting events where they killed each other? When was slavery abolished? Did demon worship actually exist? How important is cooperation in this game?
Game Details
- Platform: Windows
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Eidos Interactive
- Release date: May 20, 2008
- Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG)
- ESRB rating: M
- Last updated: November 4, 2015
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