What is Aion: The Tower of Eternity?

Aion: The Tower of Eternity is a fantasy MMORPG, chronicling an epic conflict between the Elyos, the Asmodians and a server-controlled NPC faction, the warlike Balaur.

Basic Storyline

In Aion: The Tower of Eternity, players must choose a side between two warring factions: the Elyos or the Asmodians. Once their world was whole; a perfect union joined at the center by The Tower of Eternity. When a great catastrophe shattered The Tower of Eternity, it split the world into two halves - and awoke the Balaur, a warring race exiled within the extra-dimensional Abyss. The Balaur now seek revenge on both of these new worlds, sparking an epic conflict. The part you play, the side you choose and the decisions you make will help determine the ultimate fate of Aion.

Key Features

    * Interactive gameplay systems

The actions of each faction on each individual server will eventually trigger consequences, which will then change each server's live environment. No two servers should ever be the same.

    * PvPvE (Player vs Player vs Environment)

Aion: The Tower of Eternity features an evolving conflict system, which manages the complex relationships and alliances between realms, races and guilds. The system also controls a third NPC faction, the Balaur, who may act as the enemy - or the ally - of players.

    * Free flying and flying combat

Take to the skies and soar over the landscape, with wings that allow your character to access remote areas, travel to different parts of the world - and to engage enemies in aerial combat!

    * Beautiful and detailed graphics

Created using a modified version of the Crytek engine (as used in Far Cry), Aion: The Tower of Eternity is the most graphically beautiful MMORPG yet released. Astounding levels of detail on characters and in environments immerse you in the world of Aion.

Interview with Ju-hyun Jang, Producer, Aion: The Tower of Eternity

At E3 2006, a key member of Studio 5 (Aion's development team) walked unnoticed through the crowds around NCsoft's booth. He watched people's reactions as they experienced Aion: The Tower of Eternity for the first time. Asking a few people what they thought of the game, everyone raved about the incredible graphics and ethereal quality of the characters; there were plenty of comments that the game looked ready to release. He replied, "I can only see the flaws."

His reaction was understandable, given how much work had already been done on Aion, and how much more he knew had to be done to make it absolutely perfect. So straight after E3 the development team returned to Korea, and launched into the next phase of Aion's development.

They already had much more to add to the game, but feedback from show attendees and fans on the internet demanded more. Characters that flew occasionally weren't enough; people wanted free flight, the ability to go almost anywhere in the worlds of Aion. And if you can fly, they argued, why can't we have aerial combat? Clashes between factions in the sky, battling for the fate of Aion... so Studio 5 got to work.

Five months later, both free flight and aerial combat are in the game, and Studio 5 is working to ensure that they are a large part of players' adventures in Aion. But why is free flight so important? Where do you need to go in Aion that would be inaccessible by foot?

To understand the answer you have to understand more about the unique world of Aion, and where the game's two playable factions - the Elyos and the Asmodians fit into it. To find out more, we spoke to Ju-hyun Jang, Producer for Aion.

A vertical plane

Aion's universe exists beyond the normal rationales of science. In the beginning, Aion was a single world, a hollow globe intersected vertically at its core by the Tower of Eternity. After a cataclysmic event that occurs in the game's pre-history, the top and bottom halves of the world are split in two, with the Tower of Eternity reduced to a shattered ruin.

Jang explains further: “The world of Aion resembles a globe, divided horizontally into two halves. The lower half is the world of the Elyos, the upper half is the world of the Asmodians. So basically the world-map of Aion is not on a horizontal plane, like a traditional fantasy world; instead it's vertical. With this in mind, some parts of both worlds can only be accessed from the air - such as floating castles, and islands in the sky. Because of this, all of the player characters can gain wings."

Between the two worlds of Aion is another important location; the 'Abyss', an area of dimensional rifts where gigantic pieces of rocky debris are suspended. Left behind after the destruction of Aion's original single world, some of these rocks are used as military outposts by the Elyos and the Asmodians.

This sets the stage for a unique Player vs Player experience within the Abyss, where free flight will be vital, and where strategic battles will be fought over massive fortresses. PvP isn't all Aion players can look forward to in the Abyss though; instanced missions will also be found here, as well as the server-controlled third faction, the battle-hungry Balaur....