Conan's mythical world comes alive in this fun and brutal fantasy action adventure.
Contains: Strong Gory Violence and Fantasy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Conan is an action-adventure game that puts players in control of the titular hero, Conan the Barbarian, from Robert E. Howard's fantasy literature.
-------------------------------------
STORY - 1/5
-------------------------------------
Howard's short story, "Queen of the Black Coast" has served as the inspiration for the game's plot. In the short story, Conan has a brief romance with Bêlit, a pirate queen. Near the end of the story a demonic creature kills Bêlit and Conan seeks revenge. The creature, however, is stronger than Conan, overpowers him, and is about to kill him when Bêlit's spirit startles it and inspires Conan to kill the beast. The game's story follows a similar theme with A'kanna in the role of Bêlit. Told as a campfire story, cut scenes-in the form of static artwork or animation rendered by the game engine-open and close each level with narratives from an elderly A'kanna.
The story is predictable though, and you can pretty much guess what will eventually happen once you've crossed many of the mythical environments open to you. The plot also happens to be just as boring as it is predictable, which is unfortunate, as following Conan on his epic quest falls short on what should be a riveting adventure through the lands of evil.
-------------------------------------
CHARACTERS - 2/5
-------------------------------------
Conan is the game's protagonist, a strong, shrewd, barbaric, and ambitious man in a primitive world of magic. Conan, as portrayed in many of Howard's stories, will yet again have to overcome a series of obstacles using his physical prowess to defeat the game's antagonist. Its predictable like the plot, but its still highly watchable seeing Conan reflect his immense strength in the goriest manners - dismembering and disemboweling his foes. The game's developer's wanted to show that the brutal killings are considered natural by Conan and not executed out of a thirst for blood.
Apart from Conan, other allies are just part of brief encounters, and the game's villain - Graven - is just an evil wizard intent on killing you (Your the only one that can stop him of course), so you'll feel the same type of hatred towards him.
---------------------------------------
GAMEPLAY - 3/5
---------------------------------------
Once Conan sets his mind on something, he'll accomplish it, and that means destroying anything thrown into his path. For most of the game you'll be tackling pirates, chopping them vertically, horizontally and even ripping out their intestines with your bare hands! Its no question that this game earns its mature rating, but without it, the gameplay would be a boring and unexciting mess. The gore makes up for some the game's flaws, not much in the sense of gripping you into a lifeless story, but providing you with some satisfactory enjoyment.
There are a wide variety of combos that can be unlocked as you progress through the game, and each one is brutal and makes for some disturbing bloodbaths. There are also other ways to divert from repeating the same attacks, and this can be achieved by picking up two weapons to wield simultaneously and use huge one-handed swords, usually obtained by killing a tougher, armored enemy. Not only does it change the entire attack sequence scheme, but it also allows you to execute different counter-attack moves. By blocking an enemy attack at the correct time, you'll be given a brief few seconds to tap the corresponding button displayed on the screen, and you'll see Conan perform a devastating and gory finishing move which will quench your satisfaction for blood.
Combat doesn't feel entirely solid, and your powerful attacks may look and feel a bit weak, but its ,none-the-less, decently smooth. Blood looks great, and many pools of it will remain carpeted on the floor for a lengthy time, and the bodies will mount up pretty high when your trapped in an area with more and more enemies joining (and losing) the fight. Not only can Conan brutally dismember enemies using his raw strength, but he also possesses magical potential to carve a path through his foes, such as turning them to stone, and raining down meteors upon them savagely.
Occasional boss fights also split up the usual sword-fighting, and will take care and precision to defeat, skill to evade, and awareness of the enemy weak spot to gain the upper hand to victory.
------------------------------------------
GRAPHICS - 2/5
------------------------------------------
The cutscenes are a major influence to the game in a negative way. The graphics are simply horrible, and character textures are poor. The action segments in cutscenes are certainly let down because of the visuals, and will lack any kind of intense interaction with what's going on.
During gameplay, the graphics certainly are improved, but are still off the pace with other action games of the genre.
Blood looks nice, combat animations pull off well and environments have the feel of Conan's universe. There are some presentational issues, usually involving an enemy to stick strangely to a part of the environment if you killed them close to it. These aren't major distractions though, and so no fun will be taken away from the gameplay.
------------------------------------------
SOUND - 2/5
------------------------------------------
There is music during gameplay and cutscenes and when navigating the game's menus, but none of it is gripping or entertaining. Many of the sound effects for the duration of combat are noticeably weak too; Swinging a blade doesn't sound fulfilling, and chopping an enemies in various ways doesn't give off a disgusting sense of breaking flesh and bone as you'd expect.
Ron Perlman provides the voice for Conan, but he sounds bored and hardly a convincing battle hardened barbarian like he should do. Other voice acting is predictably dull too, and when topped off with painfully poor graphics, cutscenes don't emit any respectable features.
------------------------------------------
CONTROLS - 4/5
------------------------------------------
As with most hack 'n slash games, Conan has the common - square button for light attacks, and triangle button for heavy attacks. It works fine, and so do all the other button configurations, making for a quick and easy understanding in combat right from the start. There is no delays in button pressing sequences either, and all the counter-attack options pop up on the screen and respond with the finisher when you press the correct button instantaneously.
------------------------------------------
ATMOSPHERE - 3/5
------------------------------------------
The many different looking environments add a nice touch to the fantasy setting in which your placed, and have the feel of Conan's world that you come to expect. Even though the visuals aren't sharp enough to capture a real essence of myth, its the background layers that will catch your gaze more than anything.
------------------------------------------
ENEMY AI - 1/5
------------------------------------------
Conan may be an extremely strong and brutal hero when it comes to fights, but when the enemies are as dumb as they are, its no surprise you'll overcome all the odds, and waves of pirates. Their only made principle is to attack and block, nothing else, since they move poorly, they react too late, and overall are an easy bunch to slice up.
They will be standing dead still in perfect unison until you get to within a certain distance, showing no signs of recognising you until the last minute, nor will they come after you, but wait for you to attempt to go past them.
------------------------------------------
LENGTH - 2/5
------------------------------------------
Conan's flaw-filled mythical journey will approximately take you 7 hours, but its a worthwhile experience, despite a heavy handed, frustrating last boss fight which tests your patience, and also your skill of the controls you've learned through the course of the game.
------------------------------------------
REPLAY VALUE - 1/5
------------------------------------------
Your quest through the lands of evil will most likely only be a 1 time playthrough, since replaying the game a second time will leave a stale feel to the gameplay, and an even less fresh feel to the environments within which the combat certainly will get repetitive. But for the 7 hours of playing time, Conan accomplishes an element that all games try to stay true to - Its fun!
=======================
OVERALL SUMMARY - 7/10
=======================
Good Points: Brutally satisfying combat, A wide variety of combos to perform and experiment with using different weapons, Nicely made environments which have the mythical feel of Conan's world.
Bad Points: Awful enemy AI, Cutscenes consist of horrible graphics and texture issues, Frustrating last boss, Predictable and uninteresting story.