Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures  Is King Conan worthy of your
monthly tribute?  Ah, Conan. The uncouth barbarian who hailed
from the lands of the north, adventured as a thief and a
mercenary, ruled the waves as the pirate Amra and eventually
took the throne of the powerful civilised nation of Aquilonia.
Robert E Howard's tales may be as simple, rough-hewn and crass
as their eponymous hero, but they are no less compelling for all
that.  In crafting an extensive world full of swords, sorcery,
barbarism, brutality, treachery and of course treasure, Howard
created the perfect environment for a videogame. And isn't there
some echo of Conan's own struggle in the story of Funcom's much-
vaunted MMO? A rude and untamed underdog in itself, coming to
the world not with silver-tongued talk of polish and perfection,
but rather with bawdy pledges of decapitations, gushing sprays
of blood, and plenty of bared, bouncing tits - a vulgar
contender from the North, taking brave aim at the throne of a
civilised land.  At least,