Aion is the latest MMORPG from Korean developer NCSoft, and was quick to break pre-order records amongst MMO tiles with over 400,000 pre-ordered. Aion utilizes the Crytek engine and produces beautiful results. Aion takes place in the world of Atreia, and you choose one of two opposing races of humans. The Asmodyians come from the dark, underground world of Asmodae, and are more beast like creatures with claws for fingers and toes. The Elysian race, come from Elysia, which is more of the lighter side of Atreia.

No mater which race you choose, the basic leveling and quests are the same regardless. The only difference comes in the looks of the lands, people, monsters and other items. You begin as a normal human working your way through typical fetch or kill a certain number of enemies quests, which has become the MMO standard. Leveling from one to ten is actually fairly quick and relatively easy. Only a few quests will give you any trouble at all. Most will probably reach level 9 without finishing all the quests available to them. Once you have reached level 9, you begin your ascension quest to learn about your history as a Daeva and gain your wings.

Once you have reached level 10, this begins the real meat of the game and will test players on their dedication. While you could easily reach level 10 and most likely level 12 playing by yourself, you will quickly learn that this is not a game you can merely run through solo. You will have to team up with other players or go the old fashioned way, and grind, grind, grind. This is where many more casual type players looking to level on their own may become turned off to Aion.

Character customization is deep enough that you will have no issues of creating your very own character. No worries of running into an exact replica of yourself. There are a good amount of various types of hair, faces, tattoos and color options. You can also use their sliders to affect many different features of the character's body and face. While playing through the game, you can purchase dyes to change the color of your armor to increase the individuality of your character. You can also keep low level armor to wear later over your higher level gear. This not only helps keep your appearance unique, but will mask what armor you are really wearing to provide a strategic element during PvP.

Character classes are broken down into four primary classes. The warrior class is your typical fighter, with close ranged combat skills and ability to use shields. The scout class is your rogue class, utilizing stealth and ranged attacks. Mages are skilled in attack magic, while Priests are a nice mix of attack, healing, and attribute affecting magic. Once you reach level 10, you will then choose between two specialized classes.

Characters and the world will look amazing with a good graphics card and all setting maxed out. It definitely utilizes the Crytek Engine with excellent results. The soundtrack is also very solid, featuring the works of Ryo Kunihiko. The voice overs could use a bit of work, as they many times lack emotion and just sound like someone is going through the motions of reading a script. Your character's voice can also get a little repetitive when hearing the same grunt, yell, or chant over and over for hours.

One problem I have at this point is the fact your current areas for flight are extremely limited. Until you reach higher levels and new areas, you won't be able to truly utilize your flight much outside of actually gathering certain materials or fetch quests. But the flight is indeed handy especially if you learn the trick to gliding effectively, which will easily help you escape and evade enemies when needed.

This will be my first impressions on Aion, and once I reach between level 30 and 40, I will write up another one based upon my experiences between now and then. While I will not tell you if this is a must play or not, I do feel more of the hardcore MMO crowd will find this game more appealing than the casual side. Aion is definitely worth a try and will keep players entertained for a long time if they have the patience and dedication for it.