Conan Exiles was revealed back in January as a survival-crafting game, which was both unexpected—whacking trees with rocks to collect wood for a hovel is a far cry from hearing the lamentations of their women—and perfectly sensible. The Hyborean Age, as we noted, was a pretty crappy time to be alive, and thus an ideal setting for a game in which survival is the central point.
We got our first look at the game—and the mighty Conan—in a February developer diary, and now it's time to check out the first actual bit of gameplay, posted on IGN's YouTube channel. It's very sandy, as you might expect, and there are giant bats, spiders, snakes, and a very sad looking rhinoceros. There are also explosions, and guys nailed to a cross, and an under-dressed lady who gets chopped in half, because sometimes survival means killing a whole lot of people.
It's not the most spectacular trailer I've ever seen, but it is pre-alpha, which is to say not even close to finished, and in theory, at least, it will look a lot better as the work progresses: Developer Funcom announced a partnership with Nvidia yesterday that it said will bring “cutting-edge graphics—including advanced graphical features such as real-time simulated sand that is impacted by everything falling into and moving through it” to the game.
Conan Exiles is slated for an early access launch late this summer. A full release date hasn't been set.
The PC Gaming Show returns to E3 on Monday June 13, featuring game announcements, updates to existing favourites, and conversation with top developers. You can find out what to expect here, and also book free tickets to attend in person at pcgamingshow.com. The PC Gaming Show will be broadcast live through twitch.tv/pcgamer from 11:30 am PT/2:30 pm ET/6:30 pm GMT, but be sure to tune in beforehand to check out The Steam Speedrun, in which one lucky winner will buy as many games as they can in three minutes.
