Loosely based on the Rafael Sabatini books that spawned an Errol Flynn movie and possibly a 2011 remake by director Phillip Noyce, Captain Blood follows the adventures of a doctor sold into slavery who later becomes a pirate. Developer SeaWolf picks up the story between the time when Captain Blood is no longer a slave and the time when he settles down with Olivia de Havilland.

What Is It?
Captain Blood is an action-adventure game for the Xbox 360 and PC. Players navigate Blood through linear levels on foot and through open water in his ship, the Arabella. The on-foot parts involve hacking and slashing rival pirates with a series of cutlass combos and occasionally shooting them with stolen pistols or muskets. The open water parts involve aiming cannons at attacking ships and clearing the deck of rival pirates that manage to board.

What We Saw
I played one boss fight about five times without being able to beat it and then quit out to the main menu to play a boat level where the goal is to sink four or five attacking ships.

How Far Along Is It?
Captain Blood is due out this winter. Publisher 1C says the game is still in alpha and there are some significant changes to gameplay in the works. It looks like the major gameplay elements are in place and the graphics look a lot further along than alpha.

What Needs Improvement?
Hack, Hack, Slash, Slash, Rinse, Wash, Repeat: A lot of hack ‘n' slash games get a little repetitive and Captain Blood is no exception. Part of that comes from the weapons Blood had on him during that boss fight; as you progress through the game, you're supposed to be buying better and better weapons which can be upgraded for more combos. Unfortunately, Blood only had the one cutlass with him and just two combos that never quite seemed to do enough damage. Worse, a lot of the animations repeated themselves during the boss fight – like a mini cut scene where the boss pulls a weapon out of his treasure chest.

Blood Falls Backwards: During the boss fight, the bad guy pirate would lob firebombs at Captain Blood. Whenever he'd get hit by the fire, Blood's injury animation would cause him to fall backward into the fire. This would cause him more damage and he'd keep falling backward deeper and deeper into the flames until he died or the fire went out. I hope this is one of those "significant" gameplay changes the developer is still working on.

Rage Mode Doesn't Do Much: There's a special Rage Mode that the player can trigger with the right bumper which supposedly makes Captain Blood do more damage. All it did for me was turn the edges of the screen white and fuzzy and make the controller vibrate.

You Can't Control The Camera. Ever: Boo!

What Should Stay The Same?
The Boat Levels: It certainly sounds repetitive to run back and forth across the Arabella's deck, trying to get to different cannons to fire on enemy ships. However, because the firing of the cannon requires actual skill, it's pretty exciting. Each cannon has a limited range of side-to-side movement and its arced trajectory is realistic. A misfired shot might go over an enemy ship to land harmlessly in the ocean on the other side, or it might graze the sails and render the enemy ship sluggish in the water. Distance and timing are key in this part of the game. Small, fast ships can zigzag up to or circle in on the Arabella and rake her while dropping off boarding parties. In the time it takes them to get there, they rarely present a target for more than a few seconds. Even when they do, it can take Captain Blood a long time to get from one side of his ship to the other what with all the deck clutter and frantic crew members in the way.

The Graphics: The colors in Captain Blood were pretty vibrant and the water looked amazing. Surprisingly, the environments reduced the repetitive feel of the gameplay – and since you spend about half the game on a boat or near a boat, water appearance is all-important.

Dodge Roll: It's mapped to the right stick which is really helpful for getting out of bad melee situations and fire that you might fall backwards into.

Quick Time Events: I actually don't mind them in Captain Blood, perhaps because they're not necessarily required for boss fights or opening doors. If the captain gets knocked off a ledge or a cliff, he'll grab onto the edge and a QTE will determine whether or not you succeed in climbing back up – but the timing is forgiving. Also, instead of just mashing a button over and over again to encourage Captain Blood to try harder when climbing up the side of a cliff face, the sly dog will do cool things like parry a cutlass slash or grab a guy's leg and fling him over the side as he climbs up, making the whole QTE both useful in thinning out mobs and way more entertaining.

Final Thoughts
Captain Blood reminds me a lot of THQ's Conan from 2007 – it's a simple action adventure game based on a popular (if way-old) book series. Oddly, Captain Blood is less bloody than Conan; but it still has this over-the-top violence that makes the linear levels feel more fun. So it's like the pirate flavor of a game that was based on a book which was the barbarian flavor of Sabatini's pirate adventures. Awesome. Go check out that Errol Flynn version if you haven't already.

Howard created a compelling character, decorated him with sex and violence, and threw him into the brambles of punishing adventure, all in order to tell us what he thought of our world. Games can do this, too. They have to do it to justify their cost. Conan the game puts the most technologically advanced form of leisure ever developed into the service of imaginary sword-fighting. Consider how far civilization had to advance to make this barbarism available to us. These are precisely the sort of issues Howard confronted. These conundrums are what Conan is about; they're what make Conan more interesting than any other pulp character. They're also what I'm paying for.

He's got a point, especially in regards to the fact that games could go deeper even with their 'B' material than they do currently. I love a good B-list flick and would cheerfully shell out for a gaming experience that parallels the fun of watching those films. I re-watched the epitome of B-list cinema in my personal collection (Le Pacte des loups) last night, and it's so deliciously bad yet wildly entertaining, how could you not have a good time? But there's more going on than just heaving cleavage, Louis Quinze excess, and anachronistic martial arts sequences, and that's one reason it's so enjoyable. Why can't our gaming B-list go a little deeper?

Conan's B-list Problem - And Ours [The Escapist]

But governor spokesperson Aaron McLear would only say that Schwarzenegger had "no association with this game" after being asked how the governor feels about his ex-character Conan appearing in THQ's Conan. C'mon Mr. Schwarzenegger, you're a politician now. You've got to come up with a better response than that when reporters explore potential hypocrisy. It's your job, man.

Schwarzenegger Distances Himself from THQ's Conan Game [gamepolitics]

If someone were to post naked pictures of me on the Internet, I'm not sure if the word "tribute" would be the first to come to mind. But if that someone were Playboy, and that Internet were Playboy magazine, maybe I would feel differently (don't worry, I'm joking and would never do anything to hurt pornography). See the KSFW but probably NSFW promo pics after the jump (you pervs).

Just Kidding.

Playboy's Annual Girls of Video Games [via n4g]

The Eye of Judgment (PS3)
Battle to the death with cards and a camera.

Zack & Wiki Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)
The great game with a terrible name!

Painkiller: Overdose (PC)
Once a mod, now a for real game.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
Ratchet and Clank return with another outrageous weapons arsenal.

Clive Barker's Jericho (PC, X360, PS3)
Control a team of psychic soldiers against legions of the undead.

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (X360)
Fighting planes are fun!

Mega Man ZX Advent (DS)
Mega Man returns!

Conan (X360, PS3)
The legendary barbarian graces the 360 with his twitching muscles.

Battlestar Galactica (X360, PC)
Downloadable game based on the uber popular TV series.

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties (PC)
Age of Empires III spreads it's reach to the Asian Dynasties.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)
All new revamped Castlevania action!

The other demo, which I simply cannot be bothered to type out again, comes in at a more trim 584.87 MB, but thumbs its figurative nose at anyone not in Canada and the U.S. Sorry, rest of the world. You're going to have to settle for PGR4.

In short, Conan looks perfectly fine, but I won't expect
anything beyond pleasant competence. –Joel Johnson

Somehow I didn't realize that there was a Conan game in development for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. And that's weird, because I'm a huge Conan fan. I've been closely following the development of the massively multiplayer online game for quite sometime, but it wasn't until I was walking around inside SCEA's MoCap studio in San Diego that I spotted it running and did a double take.

I quickly sidled up to the dev running the game through its paces and listened in on the pitch. The game is centered around a Robert E. Howard Conan, a young barbarian first setting out on his own to make a name for himself. It has the character's trademark storylines, Conan's lithe fighting style, his savage attacks, the developer explains, even his womanizing.

"Womanizing?" I can't help but chime in.

"Yes."

"Which button is the womanizing button," I ask.

Much to my disappointment, there isn't one. Despite that, the game looks amazing. Instead of just inventing their own art style, THQ made a fantastic call and decided to mimic the look of one of the more famous Conan artists. Interestingly, instead of going with someone like Ernie Chan or John Buscema (two of my favorite Savage Sword of Conan artists), the team decided to go for the darker, more brooding look of Frank Frazetta's Conan.

It was Frazetta's Conan, standing legs akimbo, head down on the cover of the 60s version of the Conan the Ursuper paperback that first really hooked me on the series and the game really hits the nail on the head. Despite being, essentially a hack and slash adventure game, the artistic look of the title, the devilish detail in the way Conan wields weapons and seems to occasional move through a pose taken straight from some of that early artwork, really helps to set this Conan apart from other games of its ilk.

The attacks and their bloody results do well to replicate the way the books and early Savage Sword magazines depicted the battles Conan seemed to always getting himself into . And it's got the Camel Punch as an attack. True, that's from the so-bad-it's-good Conan the Barbarian movie, but it was one of the best scenes in the whole damn movie, and it's great that the developers decided to throw this little Conan pop-culture references in the game. Brian Crecente

"We have been waiting for this day since we started development on Age of Conan, and it will be an epic moment as we see large waves of players charging into Hyboria," said Gaute Godager, founder of Funcom and Game Director on 'Age of Conan'.

You can go to beta.ageofconan.com to sign up, but you'll need your dxdiag.txt, so unless you carry one around with you you'll have to be at your gaming machine. Good luck! Michael Fahey

Age of Conan Beta Signups

Hmm, these new screens showing the city of Khemi, capitol of Stygia, in upcoming MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures look a little to generic for my tastes. I don't know, maybe I'm being unfair, but I was sort of hoping for a look that more closely resembled something from Frank Frazetta or, better still, John Buscema. Yes, I'm a big Conan geek, I can't help it. Brian Crecente

The game rides the waves of the 75th anniversary of Conan's first published adventure, penned by Robert E Howard, father of sword and sorcery and a truly tragic figure. If you haven't read about his life I highly suggest you check it out. Michael Fahey

THQ Announces Plans for Global Release of Conan(R) on Next Generation Gaming Systems

Legendary Character from Robert E. Howard Original Stories Takes on New Challenge in Epic Action Adventure

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 26, 2007—THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) today announced plans to bring the renowned Conan(R) brand to the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system. Conan marks the first product in THQ's multi-year licensing agreement to develop interactive games based on the popular character brought to life in Robert E. Howard's original stories. The Conan video game is expected to make its next generation debut in early 2008.

The Conan video game joins a robust lineup of licensed products for the Conan brand, which is currently celebrating the 75th anniversary of its first published story. In addition to the video game, Conan is also recognized for its brand extensions with popular action figures, motion pictures, collectible trading cards and more than 800 comic books.

"The strength and diversity of the Conan brand lends itself extremely well to the interactive format," said Jack Sorensen, executive vice president, worldwide studios, THQ. "Through intense combat, familiar environments and next generation visuals, we believe Conan fans and action adventure enthusiasts alike are certain to embrace this future addition to the Conan universe."

"The Conan brand has captured the hearts of dedicated fans for 75 years," said Fredrik Malmberg, President and CEO, Paradox Entertainment. "We have enjoyed tremendous success with our brand extensions and look forward to working with THQ to bring this upcoming chapter of Conan's ambitious journey to a video game format."

Developed by Nihilistic Software, Conan is an action adventure video game featuring a story of epic brutality, sheer evil and visceral combat. Players will follow the journey of Conan the Cimmerian as he fights a vicious battle against a variety of enemies and an elusive power that threatens to consume the Hyborian world. Playing as Conan, players will take advantage of a deep and gratifying combat system that offers a variety of deadly weapons, fighting styles and interactive environments to battle hordes of enemies. In addition, the Conan video game will harness next generation hardware to deliver a cinematic game play experience, complete with special effects, lighting and a powerful, epic soundtrack, to capture the essence of the Conan universe.

More information about the Conan video game can be found at www.thq.com.

About Paradox Entertainment AB

Paradox Entertainment AB owns, develops and licenses numerous character-based properties directly through its various subsidiaries. The company owns rights to the writings of pulp fiction author Robert E. Howard, including works featuring characters such as Conan(R), Kull(TM), Bran Mak Morn(TM), and Solomon Kane(TM). Paradox also owns the self-created property Mutant Chronicles(R). Industries exploiting the company property portfolio include film, TV, book, comics, videogame, Internet/mobile/wireless, toys, apparel, and more. The business is mainly conducted through the subsidiary Paradox Entertainment Inc., based in Los Angeles, USA. Paradox Entertainment AB is being traded on the NGM Equity list (PDXE, SE0000598054) in Sweden.

About THQ Inc.

THQ Inc. is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers and wireless devices. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ sells product through its global network of offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about THQ and its products may be found at www.thq.com and www.thqwireless.com. THQ, THQ Wireless and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.

Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, the Xbox logos, and the Xbox Live logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

"PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION", and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

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Late Night host Conan O'Brien battles it out with tennis superstar Serena Williams in Wii Sports. And man, Conan kicks her ass. Brian Ashcraft

Thanks dean0130!

I've been keeping an eye on the new Conan MMO, my little Frazetta-soaked innards clenching rhythmically with each new screenshot or news of the coming bloodshed. Even if I don't end up playing, the mere presence of the game will soothe some open wound in my soul that responds only the balm of barbarians.

Check out the PVP system in Age of Conan:

Blood Coins are effectively the currency of combat in the Border Kingdoms, tokens taken from the dying corpses of your foes. These Blood Coins are a mark of victory amongst combatants that will serve as bragging rights, status symbols and also a very useful currency in itself.

When you travel to the dangerous and blood soaked Border Kingdoms your passage there must be paid for. When you first enter the Border Kingdoms the coin that would be used to pay for that passage is not taken away, but is converted into Blood Coin. Blood Coins is effectively a separate currency to your normal coin.

BLOOD COIN. That is so hardcore I could plotz. People with higher PVP scores carry more blood coin, so killing successful PVPers will pay off. The better you get, the more hunted you become. That is a damn cool system. Eliza Gauger

More Here [Age of Conan, via Joystiq]

Along with the rather dull industry news that Eidos picked up publishing rights for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures comes more depressing word that Funcom is also pushing out the MMORPG until 2007.

Despite the fact that Funcom took the path of least resistance when taking Robert E. Howard's vivid but politically incorrect fantasy world and translating it to an MMORPG, I've been looking forward to this one. So bummer. But to take some of the depression off, it looks as if console versions of Age of Conan are planned... the 360 being the most strongly rumored contender.

Videogamesblogger.com has more. This detail gave me pause: "The first 20 hours of the game is single player, before you head out online for the rest of the game." Twenty hours? God, we hope that's optional... making an alt just got twenty hours more tedious. Florian Eckhardt

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures picked up by Eidos, delayed till 2007 [Videogamesblogger.com]

THQ and Paradox Entertainment announced what we've we can't get enough of - the Conan franchise. Funcom is working on an Age of Conan MMO, and now a host of Conan games and media are in the works for the "major relaunch across all media worldwide." It's been awhile since we've had some swelling man-chests in video games, and there's no heaving breasts better than Conan's right? Tell that to Itagaki.