Frost giants and snow storms in Conan Exiles new region
Frosty reception
Early access survival game Conan Exiles [official site] added a new chilly region called the Frozen North this week. It brings with it new weather types including rain and snow, alongside a temperature system that will affect the whole game: you'll have to wrap up warm in the new area and strip off in the game's desserts.
There's shiny weapons to swing at new beasts, including wolves, bears, frost giants and mammoths, fresh dungeons to crawl and new materials to find and cobble together into shelters and items. Plus, you can now summon an Avatar (Exile's versions of embodied Gods) called Ymir: Lord of Storm and War, who is a giant frosty dude with a big beard, antler horns and a huge axe that can level whole towns.
There's also the predictable list of bug fixes (bugs have been a constant issue for Exiles), as well as more minor changes like a revamped crafting system in which you learn how to use new building pieces in tiers rather than individually. It's all here in the patch notes, where you can also see the known issues with the update. Here's the trailer:
If you haven't played Conan Exiles then it's... well... an early access survival game. Expect lots of gathering materials, crafting, free-form building (you can create some massive structures), and both PvE and PvP combat.
Steam reviews remain mixed (bugs being the main complaint), and John wasn't a big fan when he played it back in January, saying it was "deeply derivative within its genre, feeling more like a result of, 'How can we try to make something else from this Conan license we’re paying so much for?' than of an auteur's genius inspiration". But still, if it's your thing then it just got a bit bigger. I think the new region actually looks quite pretty, too, and could be fun to explore.