In December 1932 a man, who had written about many heroes within his life time, created a legendary hero that has survived through the many years, even to the present day and is still set to make a mark on the history of the world. That man was Robert E Howard and the hero he created was Conan. Now, after these long years, more of his works were published, other books were written, comics drawn and films were made, the unstoppable warriors moves into the new age and has been created in the form of a computer game.

Created by Cauldron, the new game simply titled as “Conan” has come to the gaming world with a brand new adventure. Although it has all been inspired by Howard’s works, taking different locations, parts of stories, enemies and the overall theme of the legend, This is a brand new quest that no one has ever ventured on. Grasp the Atlantean sword firmly in hand and prepare yourself to go to the very limits of your strength and soul.

The story of Conan is known by many, especially due to the film that was released in 1982 starring the very famous Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a young boy, his village was destroyed by riders who killed many of his people and burning down all of the buildings and homes. From then on he went on a mad search of revenge against the one man responsible and to avenge the death of his people and more importantly, his parents.

The game takes you forwards into the many years after this event. Now he is older, within his thirties, and is returning to his village to visit his uncle. Few survived the attack of the riders but the village was rebuilt. Whilst making his way through the land towards his home, riders come charging past him and his horses whilst he drinks from the river. Fearing for the worst, he leaps onto his horse and hurries as fast as he can to the small mountain village.

There he finds all of the buildings burnt down once again and all of his people killed. Looking through the ruins, he comes across his uncle who has been crucified. Talking to him with his last breath, his uncle tells him what happened. A man had come to their village with a sacred mirror like object and pleaded with the people to keep him hidden. When the riders arrive, the people resist but are over-powered and killed---the object taken.

Watching his uncle’s life leave him, Conan is filled with anger and rage and sets off on a quest to once again have revenge against the murderers of his people. However, this time, he stumbles into an adventure that will determine the fate of the world.

It is now that you control Conan and take him through the wondrous kingdom of Hyboria with sword in hand to battle your way through the game and create yet another stunning record in the history of Conan.

As with such a game as this, there are always so many audiences to please. Because of the many years that it has been in existence and also the many mediums in which is has been created in, a hero such as Conan has produced a massive gathering of all different types. However, the one thing that this game does do perfectly is that it keeps in with the theme and glory that is Conan.

Also, in many other aspects, Cauldron have done a splendid job on the game but as with everything, there are faults but shamefully with this game, there are quite a few.

As a game in itself, Conan is amazing, the story is very enthralling, the enemies and creatures that you come up against are gruesome and bloodthirsty, the swords and other weapons you use are solid, all of the locations and surroundings have been created wonderfully to fit in with the fictitious world and even the narrator of the game sounds very much like that of the one in the movies---the magical monk who follows Conan’s journeys.

The graphics of the game very, depending on which console it is played on, but overall it is of a good quality.

Conan himself is done well, in a graphical sense. The design of the warrior could have been a bit better though. His hair is cut on the most peculiar angle and fits on his head like Cher’s wig. His lips are huge too and his overall face looks pretty much like a drag queen. However, the rest of his body is designed perfectly, with his huge bulk and different array of clothes from chain mail vests to fur suits to keep him warm in the colder regions of the world.

All of the other enemies and creatures have also been designed very well and are of a good graphical quality. Each one of them has been paid attention too and fit in great with their surroundings. There are many enemies that you must face from wolves at the beginning of the game and then riders later on, not to mention the bosses that you must defeat at the end of each level.

Speaking of which, all of the locations and terrains that you take the great hero across are all done to a high standard and most definitely fit all of the descriptions within the books written by Howard. There are so many places to visit within the world of Hyboria. At the beginning of the game you start off within a land of mountains with snow and caverns of ice. Progressing on there are vast cities with tall buildings of all different architectural designs that all reflect the lost age. There are also deep jungles to venture through and ruins that lie within them with traps and creatures.

Where this game gets better and better, an area where there is not really much room for excitement, is the sound of the game. For one, all of the cut-scenes within the game have voiceovers for not only Conan but also the other enemies and characters that you come across within the game do too. All of the characters with their different accents to fit in with the land that they live in; it gives the game so much of a genuine feel and continues to give off the feeling that it was an actual event in history.

To second this, a lot of the soundtrack on the game, which is amazing and gives you an added feel for the environment or the thrill and rush of ancient battle, has been taken from the film itself. Basil Poledouris wrote the songs within the film and it is an inspiring and fantastical sound track. They have either been added or in edited a little to fit in with the areas of the game, which they wanted to place them in. The rest of the sound track, although not written by Basil, fit in well with the theme of the game and also match well with those of the film to create a great environment and atmosphere whilst playing the game.

The sound effects of the game are just as good. There are too many sounds used within it to list but they are all of good quality and just make the world all the more real. With the sound of snow or rain falling about you or ice cracking underfoot, wood being torn apart by your blade of fires burning within a camp, it is all perfect.

It is in the gameplay department where the game falls short, badly.

Firstly, when you begin the game, the sword fighting is very basic and although you earn experience to buy more moves, many of these are very similar and as many have labelled it, it is a ‘hack and slash’ game. When you fight against enemies, especially the wolves or other low lying creatures, there are many times when you swing your sword and it actually misses them completely, swiping through them yet not causing any damage. A lot of the time when you block, you are also hit anyway and although it works roughly most of the time, for the rest of the time when it doesn’t, it seems as though there is no point in having the block button at all.

The next problem is the movement of the game itself and the flow of character frames and environment. As soon as the game starts off and you see the mighty Conan riding on the back of his horse, it looks terrible and the motion of the horse looks very rigid as it plods along the trail. All of the actions of Conan and the other characters themselves, at times, look poor and show up the game very badly.

Lastly, the control of Conan is very poor and become frustrating at times. When you turn the camera and try to steer him at the same time or even when the camera swings around on its own, Conan can all of a sudden swerve and start walking in a completely different direction. Temporarily, this can cause you to become disorientated within the game and worse, within a battle it can cost you to take a lot of cheap blows in the unguarded back and sides.

Conan is a legend; there is no doubt about that. Since the burly, invincible and great warrior was created by Howard, it became vastly popular and the tales began to spread and flourish. From that came many more books, comics and films as said. There are not many who have no clue of who this Cimmerian is.

The story of the game is another event in his history that will never die with the legend. After watching interviews with the creators of the game and how they repeated over and over that they wanted to get the game as authentic as they could, it is evidently clear that through the story, enemies, locations and Conan himself that they have done a very excellent job of it.

It is the game in itself, as a game, that has let it down. It is appalling for the expected of today’s games and more time and attention should have been spent on it to make it more of an enjoyable and comfortable game to play. Because of this the story of the game has been hampered and people will not be able to get the enjoyment out of it that they deserve.

If you are a Conan fan then this game is most certainly for you. I am and I loved it. However, do not judge the story itself by the bad quality of the game. Bare with it and if you look past it then you will be able to get the same enjoyment and thrill out of the books and films you have grown to love.

However, if you are new to Conan, then this is most certainly a good place to start but be aware of the bad quality of the game itself. It is a very good adventure game, full of battles, puzzles and everything else you would expect in this type of platformer. A good buy but patience and a love for adventure is needed. TR