Funcom recently announced via its website that it is extending the original Free 7-day trial to unlimited if users will register, download and starts playing the trial version of the game before January 1, 2010. So what’s the take away? Perhaps, keen observers might have known it by now. The keyword is on the title –  “trial”, although, you might be enamored by the words Unlimited or Free (which we added) that you missed it. Yes, playing Age of Conan is not unlimited so to speak. You could only play the character from the first 20 levels – that is when the character reaches level 20, you need to purchase the game to continue.

A ripoff?

Well, not really. First, because you would be able to choose another barbarian character once you reached level 20 and start allover again. Let’s just put it this way; you’ll have ‘renewable’ experiences of the game. Second, this offer is better than the previous 1-week trial which was very successful according to Funcom’s VP for sales and marketing. Funcom strongly believes that by the end of your character’s level 20, you will be “coughing” up some money and purchase the game. That, might be true.

In addition, Age of Conan unlimited trial offers complete gameplay experience like player vs. environment and player vs. player modes.

What is Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures?

For the sake of first time readers, Age of Conan is a MMORPG adventure type of game. It was developed by Funcom, a  Norwegian game software developer for Windows and Xbox 360 platform. It was launched on May of 2008 and so far, was the only RPG installment on the Age of Conan series. Players can create their own barbarian characters from three races such as: Aquilonian, Cimmerian and Stygian. From each of these races, players have the option to choose which archetype they want to become a Rogue, Priest, Mage or Soldier. Also, there are classes on each archetype you could further choose from.

The gameplay for Age of Conan is similar with other popular MMORPG you encounter although Funcom most notably distinguish the game’s Real Combat Sytem as unique compared to other online RPGs. There are several places and enemies to explore in this game plus players would be able to enjoy the multi player community and participate on siege operations as a team. On the other hand, players can also engage on a PVP (Player vs. Player) battle mode to test their skill level.

See Age of Conan video trailer below for more details:

In case you want to try out the Age of Conan Unlimited trial for free, you can visit their site and register. Remember, this is offered for a ‘limited time only’.

(story via wikipedia)