Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures

When real life just doesn't cut it...

With a back-catalogue of role playing and adventure games under its belt, Eidos is perfectly poised to take on the unstoppable force of Warcraft. Its contender comes in the gore-soaked form of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

The tone is darker, and more adult than most in the Massively Multiplayer genre. Sprawling landscapes and cavernous interiors look as good as their frankly incredible concept art, and the cartoonish and colourful look of previous RPGs has been cast aside in favour of visceral, realistic brutality. And we do love a bit of realistic brutality.

So it trounces its peers in the visuals department, but it lets itself down in terms of maturity. It's violent, sure, but by fitting every female character with absurdly large breasts and sod-all to cover them, a more appropriate title might have been 'Norks 'n Orcs'.

And it does nothing to dispel the stereotype of MMORPG fans as Dungeons and Dragons-playing, women-fearing loners.

It feels like a natural progression from WoW. The control system is strikingly similar, though battles require you to be more mobile and quick-witted. Some variation has been injected into the quests to make them less repetitive, and adventuring in groups encourages some nifty teamwork.

The tutorial system, however, remains painfully inadequate and little is explained about developing you character. This is disappointing for a game supposedly welcoming for newcomers. Having said that, if you're already a fan of online RPGs then you're likely to have a riotous time with Age of Conan from the get-go. Let the entrails fly...