I am a major fan of the work of Robert E Howard, the creator of Conan the barbarian. His stories felt alive and full of sparks that cannot be matched, and this has led many to create works based off his stories. From comics, and movies to video games, there have been Conan adaptations in multiple fields.
I didn’t know what to expect when I started playing Conan Exiles, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. The game is immersive and allows a wide range of creation methods, and allows you to familiarize yourself with the universe of Conan. For a survival game with crafting elements, the game does a very good job and explains things to you well, without getting in the way at all.
It isn’t a perfect game however, but that is to be expected as this is not complete yet. The visuals need a lot of work and feel bland and lacking life. When choosing my character, there were a number of glitches I experience, and the control scheme did not interact properly all the time. That said, I did have a good time playing this. The multiplayer components are well established, and this feels like a much more concise version of Age of Conan, and one that is good for single players as well.
I think the combat needs some work as the hit detection was way off at times, and some elements such as saving, were not exactly smooth. The big issues I have is that the game could have a more detailed start and feel less derivative of other works. There is so much that can be done with the Conan universe that, while they are exploring it well, it feels like the developers are only scratching the surface of what is available.
There is a lot of potential in this game and I will continue to follow it as it progresses, this is early access after all, and the final product will likely be much better. I think it could end up as a major addition to gaming in general if it is polished properly. I just hope the developers take the criticism to heart.
A review code was provided for this review.