Conan: The Black Pyramid preview – a bloody new addition to the roguelike genre

Résumé détaillé

The most famous barbarian in pop culture is getting a new video game and this one is a Diablo style action role-player with some very impressive graphics.

The most famous barbarian in pop culture is getting a new video game and this one is an ambitious Diablo style action role-player.

Pyramids cast a dark shadow in Conan lore. Various versions of them pop up in the comics, Conan Exiles, and Age Of Conan, but one thing is usually the same: they’re associated with evil, magic, and often a lot of bloodshed.

Conan: The Black Pyramid delivers plenty of all the above. Developed by Games Farm – the Slovakian studio behind games like Shadows Awakening and Jotunnslayer: Hordes Of Hell – and published by Grindstone, this latest game in the Conan franchise (which stretches all the way back to 1932) reimagines the famous barbarian as an old and indolent king, who’s spent the last few decades ruling Aquilonia.

But, because that would be really boring, action soon beckons. Conan starts hearing a voice calling out to him in his dreams; keen on going out in a blaze of glory, the elderly king follows that voice all the way to the mysterious Black Pyramid.

As soon as he sets foot inside, he’s transformed back to the muscle-ripped, loincloth-wearing man of his youth – but every gift comes with a price, and Conan is now trapped within the pyramid.

To get out, he has to battle his way through a series of levels and reach the top, all the while trying to figure out who’s actually trapped him there. That’s right, we have ourselves a dungeon crawler roguelike: whenever he dies, Conan is resurrected at a nexus point, where he can chat to his friends, unlock new abilities and figure out what exactly is happening to him.

First things first: the graphics here look great. Whereas many other titles in the genre opt for much simpler production visuals, Conan: The Black Pyramid has gone all-in on creating as detailed a world for the barbarian to inhabit as possible.

The attack animations are pleasingly gory, the light reflects off various surfaces in a way that evokes flickering torchlight, and even the water looks almost photorealistic.

Despite all the…

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