Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Preview

YouGamers has put together a two-page preview of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, based on a demonstration Funcom gave during the Edinburgh Interactive Festival.
Combat, in general, is a bloody, "hands-on" affair - due to the nature of MMOs, real-time swordplay would be fraught with problems but the alternative, "click-to-attack-sit-back-and-watch", can be just as frustrating. Funcom have aimed for something in between - one can select a range of different attack directions, linking them up into combos which result in the ubiquitous cranial launch system so fond amongst the barbarian horde. Magic gets a good look in too and although the spells are nothing unique, one can chain them up in a spell pool, unleashing them later to chaotic effect. Overdo it though, and one runs the risk of soul corruption, a quick sojourn to Hell and lengthy battles with demons and their horned friends.