“What do I know of cultured ways, the guilt, the craft and the lie?
I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky.

The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when broadswords sing;

Rush in and die, dogs – I was a man before I was a king.” (Robert E. Howard, 1929, p.35)

So what is with the poem, I hear you asking. Well, my friends, the answer is simple. This week I have been slashing guts, casting spells and unleashing deadly and devastating spells. However, it would not be right for me to start my Conan review, without giving a nod to the man himself. That’s right; Mr. Robert E. Howard was the one who first penned the epic saga of Conan the barbarian. Sadly, Howard left us at the age of 31 after having committed suicide. Thus, it is too this mans great works, I would like to dedicate this review and thank him for all the glorious literature which he left for all as fantasy obsessed fans. Truly, if I were to have one, he would be my hero.

Essentially, Conan is a massive game and rightly so. Taking place throughout the lands of Hyboria, the game’s map and geographical layout holds true to how Howard had described and envisioned the savage lands of Barbarian rule, Ancient Races, dusty ruins and dense jungles filled with cruel tries, mysterious powers, arcane magic and unknowable fiends brought back from the depths of the darkest abyss.

The game, to begin with, is actually separated into two distinct parts. Firstly with the first player campaign, this is of course, still played online. However, it is after this that the real fun begins. After the initial campaign, players become free to explore as they see fit, to train, fight and engage with other players. Though Conan does offer players a lot of freedom to explore the ancient lands, there are still some similarities between this game and many other MMORPGs that we have seen in the past. Essentially, one of the most common themes present in Conan, as well as all other MMORPG titles, is of course grinding. For those of you who might be new to this terminology, grinding is simply the act of killing countless monsters or other AI type creatures in order to gain experience, levels, skill or game currency which is then used to purchase better weapons, armour and equipment.

However, with all that said, I guess the only thing people might be wondering now is; well, is the game any good or not and to tell you the truth, there is no definitive answer to this question. Yet, as a avid reader of Robert E, Howard’s works, what I will say is when you have something as large and dynamic as the Conan concept to work with, the possibilities should be endless. Nevertheless, lets look at some of the features.

Alright, to begin with, I was not all that impressed with the graphics. I mean some of the in game movies and cinema based sequences where great and all. Yet, apart from that, the visual effects of the game were pretty average and I would have to say comparable to recent releases such as Fury. However, though it is no real compensation, the games music score and sound effects were utilized rather well and definitely complemented the game play or what was occurring at the time.

The game play itself may take players a little while to get the hang of. I mean with most of the games I play being either FPS or standard run-of-the-mill MMORPGs, the controls were difficult to learn. Essentially movement is done via WASD and left mouse button to attack and right for alternative actions. Combat in the game is essentially like that of other action RPGs, however, Conan is slightly different with its implementation of combo wheels and attack positions which allow players the choice of stances and what their attack should be aiming for.

Ranged combat, in the context of rangers and mages, is pretty much like other FPS games, yet of course there are extra skills you will need to master and understand in order to be effective in the game.

Some of the battle features I found really fun where trying to kill mobs from long distances and also riding into combat, though difficult to master, is always fun.

Apart from the basic MMO features offered by other titles, Conan also allows players to smith, craft and build in game. That is to say, with the correct skills, you can aid your team in building up a base, so as to repel or help protect you from an advancing force. Apart from this, there is also much in the game to explore and literally, countless skills, weapons, spells and other such things for you to try and master. Players can also improve transport by gaining mounts such as horses, rhinos and very strangely, mammoths, which trust me, is a rather scary sight if charging towards you on the battle field.

At the end of the day, Conan was a very difficult game for me to review objectively, as not only am I a great Robert, E Howard fan, but I am also an avid fantasy lover and to my mind, nothing says epic adventure, like the old Conan stories. I guess at the end of the day, Conan was a fun game and the PvP arenas and dungeons allow some inspiration for players to keep going on and trying to gain that ever elusive title of number one. However, if you ask me, is this game worth paying for and subscribing to, in my opinion, the answer is no. Essentially, if you want to get the true Conan experience and be able to relive the adventures time and time again, go by the books.