The game I’ve been working on for the past 18 months or so at Nihilistic has finally been announced. The game is simply entitled “Conan” and is based on the popular Robert E. Howard books first written in 1932. It is not based on the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie – although I personally am a fan – and the character is much more similar to the roots of the books. THQ is publishing the game and it is being released simultaneously on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this winter.
“Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.” — Robert E. Howard, The Phoenix on the Sword
Not to be confused with the MMORPG currently in development by Funcom – this is the second time I’ve worked on a game with another in the same universe being developed simultaneously, doh – our Conan is an action combat game in the style of Ninja Gaiden and God of War. To say it was inspired by those games would certainly be true but I believe we have also managed to capture the uniquely Conan elements of his world and adventures.
The game is definitely M-rated and there is a lot of gore. Conan cuts enemies heads, legs, and arms off as well as cutting them in half at the waist and vertically from the center of their head to their groin… and any combination of the above. We have a variety of bosses that harass Conan through his quest – a new story in the Conan world – the only one of which has been announced so far is the Giant Squid which attacks you at sea. Here is a preview:
We’ve got a few months to go here still in the development and everything is moving along pretty fast at this point. Were starting to get into the final stretch… there is still a cubic assload more tuning and polishing to do. I’m optimistic that it will turn out well in the end.
Well, now that we are finally announced I’ll be able to speak about more details in the future on this blog. Just remember that my opinions are not representative of my employer or my publisher and should not be taken as such.