Now, if you ask me, this is one of the most fun MMO games to come out in a very long time. I've tried many of them over the years, and it is rare that a game keeps my interest for a while. I don't look for what the usual mainstream market does when it comes to MMOs. I usually want something a bit grittier, a little more hardcore. But at the same time I also tend to look for a game that can be played casually, without forcing a huge time investment from a single play session.

If you are still unsure of the game then give them another month or two to hammer out the bugs. Funcom has been staying vigilant so far in patching up the problems, and I only see this getting better as time goes on. All in all, Age of Conan is a lot of fun and at least worth a look. The company finally adding it to Direct2Drive makes it so you don't even have to go outside in order to feed your MMO addiction. I'd love to give Age of Conan a Gamer's Choice Gold, but too many bugs at launch prevent that from happening, although only just barely. A Silver Award is definitely earned, however.

Score: 1.   Theme-9 2.   Learning Curve-8 3.   Replay Ability-10 4.   Fun-9 5.   Sound-7 6.   Graphics-8 7.   Gameplay-9 8.   Price-9 9.   Availability-10 10.  Originality-10  Total: 89