Back in January 2017, Conan Exiles took the world by storm with its initial release on the PC platform via Steam Early Access. Now, with even more content, hundreds of new items, enemies, and a plethora of technical improvements, Xbox One gamers can now pick up this epic survival game. Along with the base game, newcomers to the title will experience the brand new expansion — The Frozen North, a free update expanding the game’s map by roughly 70 percent.
Conan Exiles is a unique, deep, and expansive game. While still being in its Steam Early Access / Xbox Game Preview stage, Exiles excels and already is beginning to feel like a full experience. With beautiful visuals, lots to do, and many challenges, the game shines and leaves me hopeful for future updates. The game begins with a beautiful cinematic that leads straight into the character customization screen, which offers many options for players to make their character feel more personalized & unique.
After the customization stage is complete, players find themselves in the massive world of Conan Exiles, as their epic quest for survival begins. In a desert wasteland, you must fight and gather basic materials necessary to survive, while also managing your character’s hunger, stamina, and resistance to the area’s temperature. While this may seem overwhelming, Exiles rewards players for pushing forward, putting their thinking caps on, and doing their best at keeping their characters in good condition. With a beautiful score, Conan Exiles will be an absolute treat for fans of the Conan the Barbarian license the game is based off. From the opening cutscene to some of the game’s loading screens, Exiles‘ score is loud and cinematic, which helps tribute to this ultimate Conan experience.
There are a large variety of animals and enemy types in this game, which makes things that would be viewed as mundane tasks in other games such as gathering supplies very enjoyable. From the game’s towering beasts to its smallest creatures, Exiles is diverse and unlike other games in the survival genre. I was surprised by the amount of depth in Conan Exiles, from the expansive skill sets to the crafting system. There are many things to learn in the game, and you feel a sense of progression as you pour more hours into the challenging world of Exiles.
Another thing I personally love about Conan Exiles is the amount of customization available in the game. When building your home / base, you feel a sense that this is truly yours, as you can decorate interiors with the heads of beasts that you have killed on your long journey. Using a similar system to 2013’s 7 Days to Die, Exiles provides players with a grid-style placing system for creating their homes. However, there is always the threat of enemies nearby in Exiles, and you can never truly get too comfortable. A blessing and a curse, Exiles is a challenging game where you must learn to adapt to a harsh world full of evil monsters and gigantic beasts.
New for all players of Exiles comes The Frozen North, which adds an extreme amount of content to the base game. For the first time, players can now experience a winter setting where you must adapt your clothing to fit the situation at hand. Similar to the temperature resistance system found in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this game shines in its survival elements. There many new weapons and enemies also added to the game, and hours worth of content waiting to be played. However, I suggest waiting until your player has leveled up a little bit before heading into The Frozen North, as enemies are tougher and conditions are fiercer.
Overall, while still in Early Access, Conan Exiles shows promise between its deep systems, beautiful visuals, and outstanding soundtrack. If The Frozen North says anything about the free content we can come to expect for Conan, then I am extremely excited for the future of this game. There is truly a sense of a living & breathing world in Exiles, and its definitely worth getting into. Conan Exiles is enjoyable & games should give it a look if they’re interested in investing themselves deep into the world of Conan the Barbarian. For more on Conan Exiles and all your entertainment news and reviews, keep it here on NYCityGuys!
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