“Conan the barbarian! The king of Hyboria!” People know him by many different ways, and from many sources – comics, the former video games, or even the animated series. Now, he’s back. And he’s here to instigate fellow barbarians against the softness of civilization, to prepare them for the big wilds, to help them survive, and create a legacy of their own. Conan Exiles is a open world survival game from Funcom Entertainment, developers of the Age Of Conan MMOs. This time, you’re the scum of the Earth hanged out on a cross, exiled from the cities, and neatly impaled, when Conan comes, rescues you, gives you his axe, and asks you to forge a legacy using it.
Exiles beginning into the desert are vulnerable to many dangers, including atrocious weather conditions, an ever expanding desert landscape, and ferocious creatures. All Exiles spawn in a desert region, with small monuments (likely destroyed cities) and small amounts of plants, which can be harvested for plant fibre, useful for clothes and twigs and rocks here and there, which help in making tools. Gargoyles frequent the monuments, and unsuspecting players can run into one if they are not careful.
Once out of the desert, there are lush green areas around rivers, and the first thing that comes to the mind of an exile on seeing the river is “Let’s take a dip and replenish that thirst bar!” Trees grow in the grass, with lots of rock, which can be harvested for collecting wood and stone, necessary for building shelters. As time goes, exiles unlock more and more stuff by leveling up their character.
They gain access to powerful weaponry, stronger building materials , and even better clothes for protecting themselves. As easy as it might sound, it is quite time consuming to build up a sizeable base that stands the test of time (and other exiles , who might not be friendly enough to ignore the ‘big base on the cliff’). The game has both PvP and PvE modes in multiplayer, but in the current state of the game, PvE is not a viable game type( as the number of threats the environment poses is not enough for a game in the world of Conan, which is a world of brutality) , which leads to crowding at the PvP servers.
Conan Exiles have many new features different from other games. First is the division of roles among the people in a clan. A person in a clan can forge armor for the people, skin dead animals for pelts, cook food, forge weapons, etc. This adds a role playing aspect to the game. Another interesting feature is the addition of other exiles, controlled by AI (or the computer), who try to attack the player on sight.
These exiles can be enslaved for doing the dirty work of the clan. Most of these slaves are made to move on a wheel to be mentally broken and shattered to prevent rebellion in their minds. One of the important aspects in the game is the religious system, which makes a player dedicated to the worship of one god.
There are multiple ways of appeasing the God, including sacrificing players on their altar, or praying to them. Once players have built up enough fervor, they can call upon the deity, who can assist them briefly in combat. A deity is the strongest entity in the game, and defeating one is nearly impossible (unless you call upon your deity, then it becomes the battle of the Gods). There are four different gods to choose from in early access – Crom,Mitra,Set and Yog. Each religion has its own advantages and disadvantages, which also makes choosing a God an important role playing factor.
The game employs a real time combat system, which means players see lots of gory fights where legs and hands fly off, which makes combat more interesting. Oh, and nudity. One can never be afraid to show off one’s body in the game, with a very accurate replication of boobs and dicks.
One of the worse aspects of the game include the respawn at the same location in the desert, when you die, if you don’t save a spawn point by making a bed. It sucks especially when one has to traverse a whole lot of distance back to the base. It also opens up opportunities for camping near the spawn points, which if not controlled, can drive quite some people off the game. Also, cost of building stuff is a bit on the higher side, which makes building big bases a bit time consuming and tedious. The game has a few performance issues, but they are expected to be fixed by developer Funcom Entertainment in upcoming patches, as they keep adding more content.