A new Conan game is on the way, and this one is a barbaric open-world survival game.
Developer Funcom has announced its next game: Conan Exiles. The company previously worked on the Age of Conan MMO, and their new project focuses on "surviving, building, and dominating" in a brutal fight for survival against other players or in a single-player mode.
Here's the first trailer for this seemingly violent (barbaric) game:
Conan Exiles introduces a younger version of the Barbarian than we saw in Age of Conan, somewhere in between the events of pulp fiction writer (and Conan creator) Robert E. Howard's "Xuthal of the Dusk" and "A Witch Shall Be Born." But the game won't focus so much on the iconic character as the world around him.
In an interview with IGN, Joel Bylos, creative director at Funcom, revealed that the game will focus more around the savage world of Conan. Exec producer Lawrence Poe also revealed that the Early Access version of the game's map on PC will be 53-square kilometers in size, a bit more than twice the size of Skyrim's whole map.
“There is no better setting for an open-world survival game than the world of Conan,” said Bylos. “Hyboria is a harsh and unforgiving land where only the strongest can survive while the weak are swiftly cut down. Whether it is hunting animals for food, fighting monsters and other players, or building entire settlements, we want to make sure players feel like they are really fighting to survive and prosper in the most brutal fantasy world ever.”
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There aren't any classes in the game. Players will be able to fight with any weapon they choose, focusing on freedom of gameplay as befits a survival game. That said, players will be able to align themselves to different gods, such as Mitra, Derketo, and Set.
As far as storytelling in the game, players will have to depend more on their surroundings and items than a central narrative. Says Bylos, "I guess the storytelling approach we're emulating is Dark Souls," Bylos says.
It was also revealed that the game will allow you to sacrifice enemy players at an altar to the gods...Which is pretty insane.
"If you're going to be sacrificed, it'll be a quick process," Poe says. "You're not going to be kept in a cage for 10 hours with people keeping you fed."
How humane.
Conan Exiles will be available on PC in Early Access this summer, with a full launch on both PC and console to follow.
