Conan Unconquered

The world of Conan the Barbarian is a brutal and savage place where might makes right and victory means to "crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." Conan Unleashed attempts to bring this world to life as a survival real-time strategy game. Make no mistake about it, this is a violent game full of destruction. With wave after wave of enemies constantly assaulting your kingdom from every angle, there’s bound to be a high body count. And while the game might be filled with enough blood and battle to make the titular Cimmerian proud, the actual gameplay is frustrating, sluggish, and at times, only slightly preferable to being chained to the Wheel of Pain.

One of the biggest issues in Conan Unleashed is that it feels like things move around at a glacial pace. Whether you’re trying to move forces from one side of your settlement to the other to defend against an attack or you’re trying to carve a bloody path through a nest of giant scorpions, the units take forever to get around or initiate their actions. It almost feels as if the entirety of the game is played at half-speed. Another issue is the game’s co-op two player mode. While it seems like a good idea on paper to have two players work in unison to develop their base and fend off invaders, unless you’re in constant communication with one another, things tend to fall apart into a chaotic mess. Since resources are shared, you often find yourself in need of a certain structure or unit, only to find your teammate has taken the soldiers you just trained and left you without enough resources to refill your ranks. And even when you move together like a well-oiled machine, it’s still such a slow-moving machine that you can’t really rely on each other for support. None of this makes Conan Unleashed unplayable, and there’s actually some fun to be had. It’s just a long and sometimes grueling trudge through mediocrity to get there.