It's games like this which make me regret and distrust reviews (to a degree), but again this is MY own opinion
I like Conan, well, from what I had known about the franchise up to that point with the comic books and the movies.. But then I saw the somewhat mediocre reviews from various sources this game received and I thought 'meh', as I'm sure most are aware, the video game market IS somewhat saturated, with many good titles.
Fast forward to present (4 years later). This one weekend I'm feeling disenfranchised, feeling lacking, feeling like I need to man-it-up, and this title just kept scratching at the back of my man skull. Yeah, I'm sure nostalgia had a part to play. OKAY, so I downloaded the demo..
I didn't find something that was abhorrent to videogames, I didn't find a game that was 'half-produced' or was created by my friend across the street. This is a game. Beautiful scenery, voice acting by Ron Perlman, and Conan with lots of the stuff that makes it Conan.. Gratuitous violence, which you choose, as you go along you 'level up' or to be more precise, earn exp. to learn new moves so you can kill your enemy in almost any sadistically innumerable amount of ways..
Yes, I'm talking about you can double-slice their arms off, lob off their heads or just split them straight down the middle. You can grab them and thump them on the ground, something that'll make any professional wrestler drool, you can make your enemies bodies do what they're not supposed to do.
Beautiful designed levels, gore, you get into the Conan feel. Boss fights are epic, and sometimes will have you dying and playing again, and maybe searching the interweb on how to beat them. If there are negatives I'll be straight, ONE the game is on the short side, so for all those fellow reviewers screaming for you to rent, for a lot of people, that might make sense. This is a weekend romper. But, for those dreamers out there such as myself, sometimes, hacking and slashing never gets old, and you don't even have to adhere to the story, you can use your imagination to project why you're attacking who.
Lots of nudity, oh man, I have never seen naked video game babes so, well, I don't think I should elaborate on this part. But it is Conan, it's not all violence, so goes the spoils to the barbarian.
If I could compare the action/fighting to any videogame franchise, I would say it's a cross between Prince of Persia and Assassins Creed. A lot of button mashing, but a lot of 'timely' button mashing, you got to get in-sync with your enemies. Figure out their patterns, rhythms and then strike. There are a lot of different weapons, a lot of different weapon combos you learn a long the way, you focus on how YOU like to fight. With fists, with one sword, with one sword and a sheild, with two swords OR with a double-handed sword.. Each unique, each how you want to do the game.
Anyway, this game on average did get about a 7.5/10, and usually that means, you'll either love it or hate it or, beat it in one day and say meh. But the cinematics, cutscenes, nudity and gratuitous violence will have Barbarian'philes everywhere chugging their mead out of a Viking drinking horn and singing "Crom". Remember, this game is based off the comic, but however, having the movie soundtrack and the movie handy for an all-out weekend adventure, might not be too shabby.. Cheers.