PREVIEW – Funcom is a company that dabbles in many IPs such as Anarchy Online, The Longest Journey, The Secret World, and Age of Conan. Now after many years, Funcom has decided to take another crack at the Conan IP, by developing Conan Exiles – a crafting / survival / MMO game. The game will be released in early access on Steam next year February, but gameplay footage and information have been released to provide a general sense of what the game will actually be.

While Age of Conan was a more traditional MMORPG, Conan Exiles seems to be going for a Minecraft/Rust combination. While in Age of Conan the player character was adventuring off in the land after the Conan movies, in Exiles we meet Conan around the age of 26.  However, we only see him in the beginning and after that, we are sent off into the wild to survive as exiles of the land.

Arnold would be proud

As an exile, you’ll need to survive in this harsh land of Hyborian Age. The map is 53 square kilometers and stretches from the Cimmerian highlands to the Stygian deserts. The large map size will be needed, as the players will have the option to create their own, house, small town and even fortress to defend against invaders. There are no skills or leveling options in the traditional sense. You can use any weapon that you pick up, but rather the armor, and items that you craft will provide a unique experience on an individual basis.

The combat sounds okay, a first person hacks and slash affair with some evisceration. Blood, gore, and nudity will be prevalent in this game (just like in the original stories), and the game will even let players capture other players to sacrifice to their gods for bonuses (Or even cut out the enemy’s heart).  The developers are also working on to add mounted combat later down the line of the early access’s timeline.

The villages and fortresses do have their role, as this godforsaken land does get invaded by enemy empires to cleanse the land of “evil”. This event (part of Conan Exiles’ endgame) is called The Purges. In which large number of NPCs will roam the land and attack every player on sight. The players of the world can go up against them, or just let the enemy factions kill each other. It sounds like a much more advanced concept from The Division’s Dark Zone, but here the NPCs are more lively and bloodthirstier. It is shaping up to be a bloody massacre when such events occur, and even castle sieges are not out of the question in the land of Conan.

The woes of Conan

While the concept for the game sounds promising, there are a few problems with it. The graphics while stunning in the preview pictures, in motion they lack in polish (although that is expected of an early access title that will be available next year), and the animation is also something of a mixed bag. The model details are however great looking, but yet again the blood and gore reflect the pre-alpha status of the game.

The world can be maintained by administrators which is a good idea, in theory, but can result in unfair advantage to certain people or even banning of players (ala Minecraft issues). The combat will need some work as it offers skill based tactics, rather than having the best gear, but with the lack of skill trees, I wonder if the combat will devolve into dodge and slashing. The game hopefully will have a thin quest system, to get the player invested in the game world, as while the developers want the player to explore, a small and interesting storyline would raise this game from the usual open-ended survival games.

What is best in MMO Life?

Conan Exiles is an interesting concept, with a huge open world at our disposal. Will it pan out, or will it be a dud? Who knows at this point it is too early to tell whether the game can live up to the concepts. The Purges sound interesting, and the options to build forts, and villages are also great. The graphics do need some work, though, and lets hope by the time early access roles out they’ll be able to iron out the imperfections.

Conan with a twist of Minecraft/Rust. Sounds promising, and the combat also has some neat new ideas. Let us hope the developers can keep their promises.

-Dante-

Publisher: Funcom

Developer: Funcom

Genre: MMORPG / Survival

Relase date: February 2017(steam early access) / 2017 TBA (Full Game)