Conan
What was once old is new again.
Tags: Conan Categories: PS3 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox 360 Reviews
Posted by Tracy Erickson on Jan 21st, 2008
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Conan (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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Barbarism must be in vogue, as interest in Conan has resurfaced in the last year. One of the originators of fantasy violence, the bloody franchise has seen many incarnations but none as over-the-top and intense as the interactive adaptation offered by THQ. Smartly borrowing from other prominent games in the action genre, Conan succeeds in capturing the spirit of bloody barbarism with solid hack-and-slash gameplay. A few shortcomings keep it from being anything more than an entertaining diversion for genre fans, leaving Conan more or less a decent game at best.
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Simply put, Conan plays much like a gritty, dirtier version of Sony Computer Entertainment’s God of War series. The over-the-top action coupled with button-mashing sequences match that series perfectly, yet its decidedly darker and more mature themes set it apart. Topless maidens suggest ungodly rewards at every corner, evidence of a script less sophisticated and more sexually overt in comparison. Conan does well to highlight the stereotypes of its namesake, particularly his carnal appetite and borderline dumb-speak. This isn’t the long lost twin to contemplative Kratos; on the contrary, Conan prefers to act out in bloody fashion and it makes for entertaining gameplay.
A mature rating ought to prevent pubescent boys from spending too much time watching topless teases bend every which way. Players need both hands on the controller anyway to get through what is often a challenging action experience. Conan is difficult, although this comes as a result of some imbalances and minor issues with the controls.
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Attacks are executed via the face buttons with light attacks triggered using the X button and heavy ones with Y. Along with straight up attacks, enemies can be grabbed using the B button. Successive presses of these button yield a combination attack, although it must be unlocked in order to execute. This is where things become a problem. The controls configuration works remarkably well and it’s easy to pick up and play; however, the game often doesn’t correctly register combination attacks. It’s a real challenge getting some combinations to work and consequently it ends up being easier to just button mash through fights.
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Defeating an enemy rewards red runes that can unlock new attacks. Since Conan’s moves are only expanded in this way, players must constantly apply runes to new combination attacks. There’s an enormous list and it takes playing through the entire game to unlock them all. Most enemies can be dispatched by mashing buttons, but a few types require specific combos to break through blocks or to avoid special attacks. Things get a little unfair in this respect, since some enemies possess attacks that cannot be blocked or patterns that force a pause in the action. For example, cave apes that appear late in the game go on rampages that cannot be blocked; moreover, Conan can’t attack them during this time. Players are forced to wait until the rampage ends to slide in for an attack, which is not only boring but also stops whatever combo was going.
Like the God of War and Devil May Cry games before it, Conan features a combo system in which successive blows against an enemy add up for bonus runes. The higher you get the combo meter, the more runes are doled out. Too often combos are broken because of imbalanced enemy encounters that force a pause in the action. Fortunately, progress through the game isn’t tied to racking up high combos because only the most talented of players will be able to conjure any substantial numbers.
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Where Conan truly shows weakness is its presentation. Not only are there distinct differences between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, the game fails to maintain a consist visual quality. The camera often pans high above the action, which naturally provides for a pretty view; during cutscenes and special sequences when the camera zooms in however, shortcomings become obvious. Muddy textures, clipping, and blocky character designs pop out. There are moments when Conan looks better suited to an Xbox or PlayStation 2, not their predecessors. Who needs backward compatibility when the games look like their from the previous generation anyway? To its benefit, the presentation isn’t atrocious but it definitely has a difficult time asserting superiority over others in the genre including God of War II.
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Technical distinctions between the two versions of the game are worth noting, namely for their impact on performance. Without question Conan runs better on PlayStation 3 hardware. Higher framerate and increasingly responsive controls make it the preferred iteration; however, it comes at the cost of lower resolution. PlayStation 3 hits a maximum resolution of 720p, while Xbox 360 interestingly enough tops out at 1080p. When viewed in 1080p on an Xbox 360 Conan didn’t look any better, pointing to a simple upscaling of the image instead of having been developed for the resolution. In that sense, the visual quality remains equal between the two versions because the game was created for a native 720p.
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Getting pleasure out of Conan requires either being a submissive female or a hardcore follower of action games. No matter which category you fall into, the going is a bit rough. Putting the presentation ticks aside, the issues with combat and controls prevent it from being the smooth experience offered by other recent entries in the genre. Conan is entertaining since it provides some of the most visceral action in the genre, but it feels too derivative to stand out merely on style alone. A decent buy, but not one that can be widely recommended.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Loads of action + Interactive button sequences well done + Good length |
7.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Lackluster presentation - Imbalances in the combat system and controls |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Barely more than a clone of God of War, Conan manages to differentiate itself with an over-the-top style and mature themes. The action has its ticks, but a hardcore action aficionado will find a lot to like here. | |
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Tags: Conan
Posted by Tracy Erickson on Jan 21st, 2008 and is filed under PS3 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox 360 Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
