Conan Unconquered video gives us a first look at the survival RTS

Conan Unconquered, announced in December, pits the beefy Cimmerian and his warriors against hordes of unrelenting enemies, eager to tear down walls and turn all the defenders into grisly, mutilated corpses. Very pleasant! We only got screenshots and a cinematic trailer last year, but the latest video shows off footage from a recent alpha build, along with developer interviews. Take a gander above. 

As it did in the screenshots, it continues to call to mind Age of Empires and Stronghold Crusader, but unlike those RTS games, Conan Unconquered is a survival strategy affair, with the devs name dropping both Frostpunk and They Are Billions as major sources of inspiration. They remain two of the best examples of the burgeoning genre, but Petroglyph has lots of its own strategy games to draw upon, too. 

You'll still need to go out and hunt for resources, research new tech, build up your city and manage your economy, just like Age of Empires, but you'll also need to fend off attacks from waves of invaders. Expect to fight everything from simple human enemies to massive monsters, each apparently boasting different behaviours. You'll have to watch out for other threats, too, from disease to sandstorms. Honestly, I think moving sounds like the better option. 

Petroglyph also broke down the co-op. You'll be able to team up with another player through matchmaking and deal with more challenging waves hitting you from multiple directions early on. It also means you can split the work, however, so one of you can protect the walls, and the other can go off looking for resources or fighting battles beyond the city. I'm usually undone by my impatience in They Are Billions, getting too eager and losing the city because of it, so it would be nice to have someone backing me up when I do something stupid. Or it could just mean double the stupidity. 

Conan Unconquered is due out this year.

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.