‘Conan Exiles’ Begins Testing Purge As Launch Trailer For PS4, Xbox One, And PC Released
Conan Exiles has been in Steam Early Access for 14 months now and part of the Xbox Game Preview program for a few months less. A new launch trailer released Friday signals that the open-world survival game is closing in on a release date, but developer Funcom is still packing in some last-minute features, like the Purge, new areas, plus other new mechanics.
Funcom has set May 8 as the date Conan Exiles will move from early access to an official release on the PC and Xbox One. This will also be the title’s debut on the PlayStation 4 as Sony has much tighter restrictions on allowing a game to be released early on the console.
The official launch of Conan Exiles will see several new features currently not available, especially on the Xbox One version which has not seen an update in a while. However, the “testlive” version on Steam is where Funcom is testing out the new Swamp and Volcano biomes, along with the new combat system, the new perk system, new gear, warpaint, the god Derketo, farming, and more.
“We wanted to make sure leaving Early Access is something more than just removing the Early Access label and saying we’re done,” Funcom CEO Rui Casais said in a press release.
“Besides being the first time it’s available on PlayStation 4, the launch of Conan Exiles brings with it a massive expansion of the game world, game-changing new features such as monster invasions known as the purge and an entirely new action-oriented combat system, as well as many other major additions that truly makes this the ultimate vision of Conan Exiles. If you were ever on the fence, or you are just discovering it for the first time, May 8th is the time to join the adventure.”
The Purge
The latest addition to the Conan Exiles test on Steam is the Purge system. This was one of the many promised features Funcom discussed when the game was first announced. It has changed from an invading army that sweeps across the land to a horde of NPCs that will attack player bases when the player or clan has antagonized the land too much.
Players will be able to view a “Purge Meter” for their base that will increase based on the number of animals and NPCs killed along with the number of resources harvested. The player’s base will be attacked once the Purge Meter fills and the type of attackers will be based on the biome the base is located in.
As Funcom explained during a livestream last week, the desert will feature relic hunters, hyenas, and other beasts attacking while the swamp will have hyenas, gorillas, and residents. Building on top of a mountain will offer no safe refuge either as the undead will rise from underground to attack during the Purge. The only safe-haven from the event is the starting area in the southern-most area of the Conan Exiles map as the Purge will not happen there.
The Purge will send waves of enemies at a player’s base and conclude with a boss fight. Some of the attacking NPCs will drop legendary loot when killed and there will also be some potentially valuable Thralls to capture.
This new feature adds additional depth to Conan Exiles for PVE and solo players. Meanwhile, PVP players will have another area of concern when protecting their base valuables. Either way, it will encourage the acquisition of Thralls and the building of strong walls for defense.
Those who play Conan Exiles on Private Servers or locally by themselves will be able to adjust the Purge Meter plus the length and intensity of Purges.
Steam PC players who want to try the feature out now can do so by right-clicking on the game in their Steam library and selecting the “Properties” option, then select the “Betas” tab, and choose the “testlive” option from the drop-down box.
