Conan Exiles Enhanced Review: A Brutal, Beautiful Survival Game Where Every Death Stings

This Conan Exiles Enhanced review comes from our own time in Funcom's open-world survival game on Steam. Conan Exiles drops you naked in a savage desert and dares you to build an empire, and since the free Enhanced update in May 2026 it looks better than ever. Our verdict: it's a good survival game with real issues, the biggest being how frustrating dying can be. You respawn, trek back to find your body, arrive with nothing and die again. But that's part and parcel of a survival game, and it shouldn't stop you playing. We score it 7 out of 10.

Conan Exiles Enhanced at a glance

What is Conan Exiles Enhanced?

Conan Exiles is an open-world survival game set in the world of Conan the Barbarian. You start as an exile left to die, then gather, craft, build and fight your way up: bases, thralls, pets, purges and huge sieges. Enhanced is the free 2026 upgrade on Steam that rebuilt its visuals, interface and performance. Funcom's four-part Legacy of the Giant-Kings story is adding new content on top, with Part Two bringing Rifts, Sorcery spells and the Mi-Go in October.

What's good about Conan Exiles Enhanced?

A big, savage world to carve out

The Exiled Lands are huge and varied, from deserts to jungles and frozen north, and the jump in lighting and detail with Enhanced makes exploring them a pleasure again. There's always another ruin, dungeon or camp on the horizon.

Building and thralls

Building a base piece by piece, then filling it with captured thralls who craft, fight and guard for you, is still the heart of Conan Exiles, and it's as satisfying as ever.

Plenty to do

Between bosses, purges, dungeons, Rifts and the new story chapters, there's a lot of game here for the price, whether you play alone or with friends.

What's not so good?

Dying is very frustrating

This is the big one. When you die, your gear stays with your body, so you respawn and have to make your way back to find it. Too often you get there with nothing to defend yourself, and then you die again. It's the kind of loop that can make you put the game down for the night. Server and single-player settings can soften it, but on default settings it stings.

There are issues

Conan Exiles has rough edges: bugs, odd moments and fixes that keep coming in hotfixes. None of it stopped us playing, but you'll notice them.

It's part of the genre

To be fair, losing everything and fighting your way back is part and parcel of survival games, and it's what makes the good runs feel earned. It's not really something to deter you from playing.

Is Conan Exiles Enhanced coming to PS5 and Xbox?

Yes. Funcom announced on October 27 that Enhanced comes to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in early 2027, free for existing console owners, with full cross-play with PC soon after launch. Our Conan Exiles Enhanced console article explains what happens to your saves.

Should you buy Conan Exiles Enhanced?

If you like survival games and don't mind a few frustrations, yes. At $39.99 / £33.99 / €39.99 it's a big game with years of content, and the Enhanced upgrade makes it look and run better than ever. It's especially good with friends, who can help you get your gear back. If losing your loot and running back to your body drives you mad, wait for a sale or play on settings that keep your gear.

Watch Conan Exiles Enhanced

The official Enhanced launch trailer and the Legacy of the Giant-Kings trailers play on the Conan Exiles Steam page.

More Conan Exiles on iGame Magazine

• Conan Exiles Enhanced Is Coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in Early 2027: Free Upgrade, Cross-Play and What Happens to Your Saves: Enhanced on PS5 and Xbox
• The Best Survival Games of 2026 So Far, Ranked by Players and Critics: the best survival games of 2026
• Windrose Review (Early Access): Gorgeous Seas, Brilliant Sea Shanties and Combat That Deserves More Credit: our Windrose review

FAQ