Conan's Second Coming

In the last few days, Funcom has even managed to put to rest one of the biggest criticisms levelled at the game, the lack of the heralded DirectX 10 support. It has finally rolled out, albeit in a "test" form which needs to be switched on by the user. It's not perfect, but it does look pretty - the most notable changes are to foliage in the game, with trees and lush grass swaying gently in the wind, but other additions like "god rays" (sunbeams piercing the clouds) and enhanced underwater lighting are also very nice to look at.

Technologically at least, Age of Conan now works - but as frustrating as the game's hitches were, they weren't the reason I dropped my Guardian. To tempt me back, the game's content is going to have to have improved - a lot.

I began my rapprochement by hauling my heavy-armour-clad backside back to Old Tarantia, the game's central and most impressive city, which boasts a fairly large outdoor quest area and a handful of dungeons. It's a good stepping stone to haul me up into the early forties, whereupon I can head off to the Field of the Dead, a huge zone in the mountainous north where should bring me right up to level 50.

I'm a little concerned about this part of the journey. Funcom's headline addition to the content comes later in the game, with the Ymir's Pass zone, which is aimed at levels 55 to 65. If I have to spend 17 levels grinding through weak content to get there, I suspect that I'll be abandoning my Guardian again in a hurry.

A day later, I'm level 42 and I'm wondering what on earth has happened. I've blasted through the Tarantia Noble District, delved into the Outflow Tunnels solo dungeon, and travelled around a little to hand in various quests. In the process I've picked up five levels and, more importantly, I've had a huge amount of fun.

The same pattern repeats itself in the next couple of days, as I edge my way up to the low fifties. The gaping chasm in content which faced players in Age of Conan only a few months ago has been filled - but not by a single new zone or dungeon. It's hard to put my finger on what has made the difference. Certainly, there have been new quest lines and objectives added to many of the areas, giving much more density of content to work through. The game has also sprouted a variety of parallel objectives.

There are more subtle changes here too, though. Content which was already in the game has become easier to find, with more NPCs and quests which point you in the right direction. Moreover, lengthy quest chains seem to have been broken up into distinct pieces, so missing out on a starting quest at level 35 isn't preventing you from accessing a major chain at level 45 any more. They're minor changes, but their effect on the game experience is anything but. I gain 15 levels without ever once having to go off and mindlessly kill monsters for the next ding, or stare at an empty quest log.

And then I hit Ymir's Pass. This icy, frozen wasteland, the home of the Frost Giants, shows Funcom's creativity firing on all cylinders. Perhaps the team knew how much was going to be measured by the quality of this new zone; the pressure was on, and you can almost sense that from the intensity of the zone's design. Ymir's Pass is a stricken, violent and war-torn zone, dripping with atmosphere and Conan lore. It's one of the most visually stunning areas in the game - and it's hopefully an indication of where Funcom is going to set the bar for quality in future updates.