|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
CONAN XBOX 360 REVIEW |
|
| |
As the
creator of a highly anticipated hack-and-slash
title for the Xbox 360, Nihilistic will
spellbind you with their masterful effort on
Conan, which has received remarkable attention
for its inspirational cues from PS2's God of
War. What makes this game so unique and
intelligent is that it delivers battles in epic
proportion, showcasing a myriad of bloody sword
fights and countless decapitation, which are
done in bullet time. The game faithfully
captures the Conan experience through a vivid
description of ancient Hyboria, a desolate land
filled with disorder and barbaric traditions.
Some of the game’s attractions include the use
of primordial weaponries and black magic that
make Conan for Xbox 360 an ultimate hero’s
adventure.
Sorcery and subjugating dark creatures of the
underworld surrounds the story throughout
Conan’s quest. He is searching for a valuable
gem. What he finds instead is a resting place of
a dark sorcerer named Graven. Upon accidentally
opening it, Graven strips Conan of his armor and
exiles him into this metaphysical purgatory. The
idea is to leave the Cimmerian warrior for dead;
instead he washes up ashore on a distant island
where he meets an Amazonian-like queen, who is
wiling to compromise in finding Conan’s missing
armor, and eventually cast Graven back to hell.
There is no denying the game is filled with
blood and gore, but those scenes are not there
without a purpose. They're there to inject an
emotional boost to the action.
You’ll soon learn the art of combat is highly
immersive, one that gives you satisfaction for
every kill taken into account. The reason for
that is Conan is equipped with a wide range of
ruthless tactics, from cold-blooded combos, to
excruciating pile-drivers, to devastating
reversals, in which most of these moves almost
always results in huge pile of nasty
disembodiment. One of the most dramatic visuals
you’ll see is when you perform one of Conan’s
special finishers at the height of his combo –
the camera shifts to bullet time, which
exemplifies the viciousness of a kill. The
finishers add drama when battling against
gigantic mythical apes, underwater kraken,
spirits of the underworld, fire-breathing
dragon, and an elephant god among others.
Each encounter is as good as the last. Later on,
you will be given a number of platforming
challenges where you will be jumping from one
ledge to another. One of them has you crossing a
waterfall where you have to maneuver to each
ledge without being tagged by force of the wave
up above. Also, you will be dealing with opening
secret passages in order to gain access to the
next level. There is one stage where you have to
use some wit to get the statue of the lion to
open up a gate through a series of tasks. One of
the reasons the game is easy to pick up is that
developer Nihilistic has created RB as the
universal action button.
You can use it to crack open a treasure chest,
lift-up heavy objects, torch a village, yank out
poisonous arrows that pierced Conan’s body,
rescue topless maiden, and many more. You will
earn three kinds of orbital runes as you bring
about carnage to those who gets in your way. The
green runes let you replenish your health bar.
The blue runes power up your magic collection.
The red runes provide improvements to your
combos. You have an inventory of deadly arsenals
in which you can improve upon, from grappling
techniques to dual-handed swordsmanship. It’s up
to you which upgrade would fit your fighting
style. One of the greatest tools for surviving a
group of stampeding stygians is the ability to
use magic. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
PRODUCT
OVERALL RATING: 8.8 OUT OF 10 |
|
| |
You’ll be
able to turn enemies into stone or cast a spell
to rain down fire from the sky. As you can see
not only is Conan deadly but mystical as well.
Part of what makes the fight scenes so engaging
is to rely on the most important feature of
combat: blocking! Conan can almost block every
hit but if you block an attack right before it
hits you, you’ll trigger a counter move, in
which you have two seconds to press the
indicated button to execute a devastating
finisher. While it’s nice to see this maneuver
in action, the best way to stay alive amid
hordes of merciless barbarians is to dodge using
the right stick. Graphically, the game looks
great on certain levels. It’s not next-gen but
whatever visual amenities it offers are
certainly done in great strive.
We enjoyed the technical subtleties that
surround many of the fight scenes, from the
spewing of blood when enemies are decimated to
the use of slow motion to capture the intensity
of a devastating finisher. Characters looks nice
and monsters appear to be indigenous to that
era. Conan himself looks like a very rugged
warrior we saw in the movie back in the 80’s.
The definition of his physic gives him a
Samson-like personality. It’s amazing how strong
Conan behaves in this game. He can pick up huge
rock to bust open a fortified fence and push a
megaton pillar to its knee. Excellent animation
has made that possible.
Needless to say, the camera is rather clunky
during the jump sequence and has cost us to lose
a few lives in the process. The rest of the
presentation is respectable. The cutscenes are
decent for the most part and the general
lighting effects do their job to emit a Hyborian
climate. Though there are slight nuisances with
the game’s camera, the audio component more than
meets our standard. Every punch and kick has the
right weight to it, while the collision of the
blades exudes the deepest metallic cuts. The
musical score highlights the game’s audio piece,
providing a pounding orchestral beat that
translates into a theatrical experience.
Conan is undoubly an epic adventure,
highlighting what a great warrior should be.
It’s all about immersive combat and the
developer pulls that off thanks incredible
special effects like slow motion sequence and
the right amount of gore to reinforce a deadly
blow or dismemberment. The battles scenes are
enormous, which provide greater depth to Conan’s
epic adventure, while the orchestral cues do
their job to meet the demand of the game’s
immersive killing spree. Needless to say, there
are a few technical flaws that stick out with
regards to camera and certain visual designs;
however, they can be easily overlooked. We would
have loved to see more of Conan’s black magic
put to use as access to magical runes is scarce.
However on a different note, it’s nice that the
game includes some light puzzle-solving and
time-calculated platform challenges; these
provide great variant to the combat-heavy
system. There are combo upgrades and the ability
to wield different kinds of weapons; these keep
the action fresh and particularly engaging. As
you’ll notice, the label is Rated M for violence
and nudity, and they are everywhere; you’ll be
rescuing maidens in distress, stripped off their
clothes, and waiting to be crushed by your love.
Those individuals looking for a strong action
adventure would be pleased with Conan. A
must-have fo hack-and-slash fans! |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
