Joystiq

What we witnessed during our brief demo of Conan was violence that would make Kratos himself rise from his throne atop Mount Olympus and say, "Kudos." Announced earlier this week, we got a chance to check out THQ's latest for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Cut from the mold that brought us God of War, it's a straight forward action title that thinks not with its brain, but with its gigantic, barbarian-sized testicles.

Beyond the violence, Conan looks to sport solid, if not uninspired mechanics. Looking past the usual combo and experience systems, interacting with the environments already looks hugely entertaining with tons of hazards in which to torture enemies with. Any weapons they drop can be picked up, dual-wielded and utilized with their own unique statistics and combos. And if giant swords aren't your style, Conan possesses some mean grappling skills that are straight out of the world of professional wrestling. We'll admit it. We marked out when Conan popped some guys head off with what appeared to be the Canadian Destroyer.

Scheduled for an early 2008 release, the developers at THQ seem to be in good shape despite the overall clunkiness we witnessed. It also must be pointed out that Conan is a single-player experience without any multiplayer or online modes to speak of. They may not be reinventing the wheel, but we're looking forward to getting some hands-on time with THQ's half-naked hero.