Review: Conan Exiles

(Watch our video review of Conan Exiles above!)

Conan Exiles is an MMORPG, an open-world experience (online, single-player, or Co-op) incorporating action-adventure and survival mechanics, including resource management. The game also features village building, thrall acquisition, and side quest completion. The premise holds considerable potential: Robert E. Howard’s iconic barbarian hero originated in pulp fiction comics in the 1930s and was later immortalized by Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose portrayal of the Cimmerian catapulted him to Hollywood stardom. Funcom, a Norwegian developer, undertook the ambitious task of creating Conan Exiles. However, the scope of the project appears to have presented challenges, resulting in a game that feels somewhat unrefined, plagued by bugs, and exhibiting questionable design choices. While various developers have attempted to revive the franchise for decades (with Amazon now potentially considering a new project starring Schwarzenegger as an older Conan), recent adaptations have yielded mixed results, ranging from the mediocre 2011 Conan The Barbarian reboot (which at least provided a breakthrough role for Jason Momoa) to the underwhelming Age of Conan game.

Despite a year-long period in Early Access on Steam, the console version of Conan Exiles still exhibits characteristics of an unfinished beta. Built on the Unreal 4 engine, which offers significant graphical capabilities, the game’s visuals appear primitive and low-resolution, resembling a title from the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 era. While the expansive game world reflects ambitious design, the title struggles to deliver a polished experience. Even on powerful hardware such as the Xbox One X, the game suffers from frequent frame rate drops, sometimes approaching near-standstill performance, in stark contrast to the optimized performance of graphically superior titles like Witcher 3. Character models can become stuck, collision detection during combat feels inconsistent, and the constant management of stamina can detract from the overall enjoyment, despite being a core gameplay mechanic. This aspect is somewhat reminiscent of a more balanced version of Metal Gear Survive.

The technical shortcomings are compounded by questionable attempts at humor. The original Conan film features the hero crucified as punishment. Conan Exiles opens similarly, allowing players to customize their character’s appearance, race, religion, and—most notably—genital endowment (both male and female), all while the character is suspended on a cross. Beyond the immature nature of this customization, the setup can be perceived as tasteless and potentially offensive. While the freedom to satirize religion is a tenet of democratic societies, the execution here feels clumsy and alienating. The base game utilizes animal hides and loincloths for censorship, but, as with the PC version, mods can be installed to display explicit nudity. The decision to permit nude mods on Xbox while simultaneously restricting DVR recording of such content presents a paradoxical situation. Interested players can find numerous examples of uncensored gameplay clips on Youtube. The character customization options appear to prioritize attracting attention rather than impacting gameplay.

*Sigh*

Aside from the technical issues and questionable content, a primary concern is the lack of immediate engagement. Conan Exiles suffers from a slow and arduous initial experience. The early hours are characterized by resource grinding, coupled with the hope of discovering new respawn points to avoid repetitive traversal of the same empty desert landscape after each death, a frequent occurrence inherent to the survival genre. While the expansive world is a positive attribute, it requires meaningful content to populate it. Online players must also carefully manage their server selection; maintaining a presence on a specific server allows for continued progression, whereas switching servers necessitates starting anew. Despite the large game world and the eventual introduction of mechanics such as thrall acquisition, dungeon exploration, and clan warfare, Conan Exiles is not entirely without merit. However, the unpolished implementation risks causing many players to lose interest and abandon the game before it achieves a satisfactory level of enjoyment.

It gets better later, but can you be bothered?

Moving forward, it is hoped that the Conan developers will draw inspiration from titles such as The Witcher, God of War, or Devil May Cry (the reboot), rather than relying on outdated design paradigms reminiscent of early World of Warcraft iterations.

(The trailer below showcases the PC version with maximum graphical settings. For console expectations, refer to the video at the beginning of this review.)