When drawing up a demographic of who plays computer games the most, we all know who they are. Console makers may try to claim that they appeal to all age groups and both sexes, but we know who they are. Nintendo in particular are now claiming that they are opening up new avenues of casual gamers, yet despite this, we know who the majority of gamers will still be - boys/men from 6 to 26. Some games makers embrace this demographic and produce products that appeal to every stereotype that this group lusts for - women, violence and explosions. It has made the likes of 'Grand Theft Auto', 'God of War' and 'Gears of War' massive sellers. However, none of these can compete with the most testosterone game yet - 'Conan', a warrior without shame.


Gameplay

'Conan' is less of a clone and more of a direct rip off of 'God of War'. You play as Conan in a 3rd person action game that contains plenty of fighting and some platforming elements. You are given the task of defeating an evil Wizard, but before you do this you must find your armour. Each section of armour gives you a power that you can use once you have built up your power bar. Orbs are collected by defeating bad guys and destroying chests. These orbs either give you health, magic or experience. After you gain enough experience you can use it to unlock more fighting moves that enhance your combat skills.

Although unoriginal the combat stands out in the game due to its ultra violence. You can finish off baddies in a variety of demeaning and violent ways, from beheadings to limb removal. It certainly earns its 18 tag, but that does not mean that the game is mature. In fact the introduction of topless ladies as bonus treasure chests is unsettling and demeaning. I personally feel that the game is an 18 cert aimed at 12 year olds!

The immaturity of the game is a shame as there is fun to be had here. The fighting elements are repetitive, but fun. The platformer sections also fall into this level of description as they are nothing new, but still good fun. The best elements are probably the old school feel of the boss battles. At the end of each level is a larger enemy who you must figure out and kill. The battle against the dragon is a particularly good one and reminded me of gaming back in the day of the Playstation 2. However, is this all a bit dated for the year 2007? (3 out of 5)


Characters/Story

The character and story in 'Conan' is not actually that important and is merely a way of linking together numerous acts of violence. Despite this the characters are not too bad. Conan is traditionally a sexist and that is the case here. The only other character with any depth is A'Kanna the female warrior out for revenge. By having some sort of story it did drive the game forwards, but not much else. (2 out of 5)


Longevity

It is the lifespan of a game that can determine whether it is a rental or purchase opportunity. With an average gameplay experience and a fun story there needs to lots of these elements to make spending upwards of £50 worthwhile. 'Conan' is certainly not worth this. I was able to complete the game in a weekend making it perfect rental territory. You could argue that I found the game fun enough to complete in 8 hours, and this is true, but I feel that it was not long enough. (2 out of 5)


Online

There is no online aspect of 'Conan' except to compare scores with other people. A co-op game would have worked really well. (1 out of 5)


Graphics

Some people may call 'Conan' ugly, but I would argue that the graphics are serviceable. When playing the game you do not notice the limited polygons or the ugly character models and can play without care. However, when the close-ups are shown during the cut scenes you do notice that in 2007 these graphics are not really good enough. (2 out of 5)


Level Design

'Conan' has a series of levels that are designed to allow the player to fight, climb and take on an end of level boss. I felt that the style of level was old school, but that it was done well. Personally, I enjoyed being funnelled into a pack of enemies then having to scale a giant cliff. There is no freedom of movement like in many modern titles and it does suffer from the dreaded invisible barriers. However, despite this they remain fun and the pacing is kept high by forcing you towards the next action. (3 out of 5)


Sound

Having secured the voice of 'Hellboy' as Conan you would think that the makers would have hit liquid gold. However, like many film/TV actors who voice characters in computer games Ron Perlman has taken the money and run all the way to the bank. I love him in 'Hellboy', but as Conan he is flat and bored sounding. It really retracts from the game. It is made worse by the fact that Claudia Black as A'Kanna sounds like she is doing a professional job and infusing the narrative with feelings and atmosphere. The rest of the sound is various fight noises and the music is ok. Perlman almost does enough to put you off playing. (2 out of 5)



Summary

There is a lot that you can fault about this game, but none can detract from the fact that it is fun to play. The graphics are ugly, Perlman sucks, and it's immature and too short. However, while it does last the game is undeniably fun. The combat and platforming may borrow heavily off 'God of War', but when you are going to copy you may as well copy from the best. There is no comparison overall as 'GoW' is by far the superior game, but as a cheap rental 'Conan' will entertain any lover of old school action platfomers. One last warning before I go, like many older games the end game boss is ridiculously hard - enter at your own risk! (3 out of 5)


Maker: THQ RRP £50
Amazon uk £39.98
Play.com £39.99