''Conan Exiles'' is a
survival video game
Survival games are a sub-genre of action video games, which are usually set in hostile, intense, open-world environments. Players generally start with minimal equipment and are required to survive as long as possible by crafting tools, weapons ...
developed and published by
Funcom
Funcom Oslo AS (, formerly Funcom Productions AS) is a Norwegian video game developer that specializes in online games. It is best known for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) titles ''Conan Exiles'', ''Age of Conan'', '' ...
for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
. The game is set in the world of ''
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
'', with the custom
playable character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not contr ...
being rescued by Conan, beginning their journey.
Early access
Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...
versions of the game were released in early 2017, leaving early access on 8 May 2018. An enhanced version of the game for
Xbox Series X and Series S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
released on 8 June 2021.
Gameplay
The most basic premise of ''Conan Exiles'' is survival in the fictional prehistoric
Hyborian Age
The Hyborian Age is a fictional period of Earth's history within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, serving as the setting for the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian.
The word "Hyborian" is derived from the l ...
.
Player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
s begin convicted of various crimes, sentenced to death, and are crucified under the scorching desert sun. The player character is rescued by
Conan and as an
exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
must navigate the Exiled Lands, a harsh desert landscape. A later update added a biome called the Frozen North, which added elements to build armors, and a land to explore. It also added Star metal which is used to build strong armor, and better tools and weapons. An additional biome, The Highlands, was added in 2017. A high-level Volcano area followed in Q2 2018 in the northernmost region of the game map. This newest addition added Obsidian, used to create powerful tools and weapons rivaling their Star Metal counterparts. Three additional biomes (The Savannah, The Floodlands, and The Ashlands) were added into the game with the release of the Isle of Siptah expansion DLC in Q1 2021. According to
Funcom
Funcom Oslo AS (, formerly Funcom Productions AS) is a Norwegian video game developer that specializes in online games. It is best known for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) titles ''Conan Exiles'', ''Age of Conan'', '' ...
community manager, Jens Erik, the finished game is around 53km
2.
Character creation
''Conan Exiles'' features a fair number of customization options such as gender, voice, and several physical attribute sliders for both head and body. Many races may be chosen from including,
Cimmerian
The Cimmerians (Akkadian: , romanized: ; Hebrew: , romanized: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into Wes ...
,
Stygian,
Hyborian,
Nordheimer, and more. More controversially, sliders for both breast and penis size are also available, the latter being censored in North America by the
ESRB
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in the United States and Canada. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Asso ...
.
Religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
plays an important role in ''Conan Exiles''. Players may initially swear allegiance to one of seven
pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
gods, Set,
Yog,
Mitra,
Ymir
In Norse mythology, Ymir (, ), also called Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is the ancestor of all jötnar. Ymir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, in the ''Prose Edda'', writ ...
, Derketo,
Crom or Zath. All of the religions can later be learned from NPCs in-game, with the exception of Crom, as choosing this is the equivalent of choosing none at all, and is not represented by any in-game benefit. An additional deity, Jhebbal Sag, may be acquired only by speaking with a
non-player character
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...
(NPC) and completing a certain dungeon. The player may then use any combination of their benefits at any given time, which mainly consists of special crafting recipes. Upon gathering enough offerings specific to each deity, their avatar may also be summoned by the player as a pinnacle form of offense, most commonly against other player bases.
Mechanics
Utilizing natural resources, the player must manage hunger and thirst gauges in addition to warding off hostile enemies, including other players if participating on a
PvP server. NPC enemies include
savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
and
delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
fauna such as crocodiles, hyenas, rhinoceroses, and more. Fictional creatures such as dragons, dinosaur-like "shalebacks", and various
undead
The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...
also populate ''The Exiled Lands''. A number of aggressive human NPCs exist in small encampments, villages, and the small city. These human NPCs may be captured using ''Conan Exiles's''
thrall system. Depending on their profession and rank, captured thralls can provide a number of benefits to the player including faster crafting speeds, reduced material costs, exclusive crafting recipes, and
melee
A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...
or
ranged defense. As of a 2018 update, pets were added to the game, allowing animals to be captured in the wild in the form of baby animals or eggs, and raised as travel companions or player home defense. A mount system was planned for the game, but was not included in the game's release due to console performance limitations. As of 5 December 2019, the mount system has been implemented in an update, which includes both travel and mounted combat.
Progression
Experience point
An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experi ...
s are earned through successful combat, gathering, and crafting, as well as small amounts simply with the passing of time. Though lacking a formal
class system
A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, incom ...
, each level-up allows a degree of customization through the selection of attribute points and crafting recipes.
Backstory
The history of the Exiled Lands is revealed to the player by Warmaker Klael, one of the Giantkings, the ancient rulers of the Exiled Lands. Klael reveals that the humans once came to the giantkings as refugees, and the giantkings offered the humans the frozen wastelands of the North to settle. The humans built a city among the trees and practiced weird sciences and worshiped demon gods. There was peace and trade for a thousand years between the humans and giantkings. However, due to human greed, war eventually broke out. When the war began, the giantkings created the bracelet, adorned by all players to bend the will of the human prisoners of war, allow them to understand the language of giantkings, and to prevent the humans from escaping. They came to rely on human prisoners to fight and labor for the giantkings. The warmaker is now unsure of the bracelets new purpose. Near the end of the war, humans revealed a new weapon, forged of science, smashing through troops and encasing the survivors in stone. In desperation, the giantkings created the ritual that summoned the Sandstorm, which scorched and destroyed everything in its path. This is why most of the exiled lands are now a desert like waste. Now all the giantkings are dead, except Warmaker Klael. After thousands of years, Conan comes to speak with the Warmaker and goes to search for the Serpent Ring of Set.
Voice actors
*
David Sobolov
David Sobolov (born October 23, 1964) is a Canadian voice actor and director, best known for his roles as Gorilla Grodd in various DC media, Drax the Destroyer in various Marvel media, Shockwave in ''Transformers: Prime'', Blitzwing in ''Bumblebee ...
- Arcos the Wanderer, Warmaker Klael
*
Robin Atkin Downes
Robin Atkin Downes is an English actor known for his work in animation and video games.
Early life
Downes was born in London. He earned an MFA from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Career
Downes has voiced characters in animated films s ...
- Mek-kamoses, The Archivist
*
Neil Kaplan
Neil Charles Kaplan is an American voice actor, audiobook narrator, entertainer, and comedian.
Biography
Kaplan got his start as a comedian doing impressions of presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. He also impersonated a little-k ...
- Nunu the Cannibal
*
Benjamin Diskin
Benjamin Isaac Diskin (born August 25, 1982) is an American actor who was affiliated in Studiopolis, Bang Zoom!, SDI Media, Funimation, VSI Los Angeles, and NYAV Post.
Early life
Diskin was born in Los Angeles County, California to a Jewish fa ...
- Gilzan the Treasure Hunter
*Bill Millsap - Petruso the Sandstorm Maniac
*Matthew Waterson -
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
*
Dawn-Lyen Gardner
Dawn-Lyen Gardner is an American actress. She is best known for her leading role as Charley Bordelon West in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series ''Queen Sugar''.
Early life
Gardner was born in Los Angeles, California. Gardner is of mixed her ...
- Jamila the Pirate Queen
*
Karen Strassman
Karen Strassman (born June 5 is an American stage, television and voice actress who has provided English language voices for Japanese anime shows, animation, and video games. Some of her major roles are Kallen Stadtfeld in the ''Code Geass'' seri ...
- Muriela the Artisan
*
Fryda Wolff
Fryda Wolff (born May 25, 1982) is an American voice actor.
Biography
Wolff attended Las Vegas Academy of the Arts High School during the same era as alumni Matthew Gray Gubler, Rutina Wesley, Baron Vaughn, and Ne-Yo. They identify as queer an ...
- Razma of Shem
Reception
In the first week of ''Conan Exiles''s
early access
Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...
release on
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
, it sold over 320,000 copies. Within the first 28 days, it had sold over 480,000 net copies (after returns and chargebacks), which was 7,000 short of the amount Funcom had projected to sell in the first year. As of July 2018, the game has sold 1.4 million copies, making it the biggest and fastest selling game in Funcom's history.
''Conan Exiles'' received "mixed or average" reviews on all platforms, according to review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Funcom
2018 video games
Action-adventure games
Early access video games
Funcom games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Open-world video games
PlayStation 4 games
Survival video games
Unreal Engine games
Video games based on Conan the Barbarian
Video games developed in Norway
Video games with Steam Workshop support
Video games with customizable avatars
Windows games
Xbox One X enhanced games
Xbox One games