Conan is not the most original brawler, but it uses the pieces it borrows to assemble an entertaining game.
It's impossible to play Conan without thinking of God of War. The developers have borrowed liberally from the hit action series. From the way the controls are mapped to the color of the power up orbs, several facets of this game seem to have been lifted directly from Sony's franchise. Most of the borrowed content works well, though it's never as grand as the game it snakes from. Despite the "been there, done that" feel of the gameplay, Conan still manages to be a viscerally entertaining ride while it lasts.
The story, told to the player as a camp fire tale, follows Conan as he attempts to regain his armor after a mysterious magical accident, and rid it of it's newly acquired sorcery. The story reaches for epic heights but falls flat thanks to oddly placed cut-scenes, that don't tell players why they are at a location until after the level is over. It's an amusing story overall, with good voice acting and above average facial animation, but it's not going to win any awards.
Then again, how much story is required when your main character is a vicious killing machine? Conan doesn't need motivation to chop up his foes. Armed with his trusty sword, Conan has a plethora of moves to decapitate, disarm and disembowel his enemies with. Killing nets Conan red orbs, which can be used to purchase new moves in three different categories: Sword and shield, dual wielding, and two-handed weapons. The weapons, which can be pilfered from enemies, or found on various racks throughout the levels, help shake the action up and keep the game from getting too monotonous.
Visually, there's a wide selection of weapons, but they all function the same; wielding two axes is no different than two scimitars. It really comes down to a matter of preference. Each category has its own set of pros and cons, and though some offer cooler moves than others, since there is no upgradeable super weapon to be unlocked or purchased, using one over the others won't make much of a difference. Conan does gain some magic powers throughout his adventure, but aside from the first one, they aren't very useful.
The game takes place all over Hyboria, a cutthroat world full of bandits and thugs. The enemies come in various shapes and sizes, each one using a weapon from one of the three previously mentioned categories. In the beginning, Conan hacks apart enemies like he was born to do it. Limbs fly off, heads roll, and blood gushes everywhere, this game wears its M rating with pride (the achievement for 100 dismemberments can be accomplished by the second level). As the game moves on, these enemies get a bit tougher, and you'll have to switch up your attacks to get through their defenses. Most levels end in a boss fight, many of which tower over Conan. Though some of them are screen-filling monstrosities, most go down without much effort. The one exception would be the final boss. In attempt to make the final clash as climatic as possible, the developers created a seven-stage boss fight. The half hour or more that you spend fighting him is more frustrating than exciting; the whole experience leaves a foul taste in your mouth that does nothing for the replay value. Incidentally, in his human form, the final boss looks a whole lot like Kratos.
The levels look wild and untamed and reflect the Hyboria seen in Howard's novels. The environments all have a grand feel and often require a bit of climbing to traverse them. The platforming bits are far from the best aspect of the game. The camera frames most of the trickier jumps well enough, but it doesn't help alleviate the poor design and execution. In addition to breaking the pace of the action, the jumping portions also bring about some cheap deaths. On top of that, Conan has the goofiest climbing animation ever created. There's also a scattering of puzzles, though they don't present much of a challenge.
Overall, the game is easy on the eyes. The colors are vibrant, and bring to mind the classic book cover paintings. The characters animate smoothly; Conan's attacks look appropriately savage. The visuals do have a few blemishes, like some bland textures, occasional animation hitches and a few underwhelming effects, but none of them are game breakers.
Like the story, the sound shoots for the sky but falls short. The music has all the orchestral grandeur expected for this kind of game, but it often drops out, or comes blaring in at odd moments. The voice acting is well done, though some may take issue with Ron Perlman's decidedly un-barbaric sounding Conan. The Cimmerian throws out a few quips during combat, which begin to grate on the ears after a while.
Overall
God of War's influence can be seen in nearly ever aspect of Conan. Fortunately, unlike some of the other games that have tried to imitate the winning God of War formula, Conan manages to reproduce it with adequate results. While it may not be the most original experience, it's a solid brawler worthy of a play through.
Purchase?
Unless you can find it at a discount price, the games short length makes it a tough purchase. You can blaze through the campaign on the default setting in less than six hours, making it a great weekend rental.