Conan

"THQ and developer Nihilistic showed off an early version of their upcoming action game based on Conan at a press event this evening. The third-person action game drops you in the animal pelts of the famous barbarian and promises to offer ample opportunity to hack and maim. Though the game wasn't playable, we were given a guided demo that offered an overview of what's possible when the fledgling generation of current consoles meets a surly barbarian."

Derivative as it is, Conan is still a viscerally satisfying adventure.

"The game will contain an estimated fourteen levels, and the developers predict that Conan will take between eight to twelve hours to complete. But before we end our preview, we'd like to mention one more tidbit of information: maidens. According to the developers, there will be over twenty maidens throughout the game that Conan can rescue in order to prolong his quest. And while, as of right now, they have no importance for the overall narrative, their (lack of) clothing will likely motivate gamers to seek them out. The developers insisted that two main elements made Howard's stories stand out back in the day: gore and women. It seems they've included both elements in abundance."

Oh Conan, you had me at topless girls and promptly lost me when the Cimmerian started using magic. This is as unashamedly a God of War rip-off as I have seen so far in gaming. That solicits a comparison between the two games; Conan doesn't fare well. God of War is a superior game in all facets. Even without the direct comparison -- even if you can pretend GoW never existed and this is somehow all new -- nothing is done exceptionally well. The graphics, the combat, the design, the sound are all just okay. With a final boss battle that is as painful as a trip to the proctologist, Conan is a game best rented for a one-day lark. It's certainly not worth spending $60 on.