The Conduit (Wii)
Manufacturer: Sega Part number: 65022
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Gamespot editors' review
The Conduit (Wii) price range: $27.99 - $29.99
- Reviewed by: Tom Shea
- Reviewed on: 06/26/2009
- Released on: 06/23/2009
As one of the few exclusive first-person shooters for the Wii, The Conduit has garnered a lot of attention. From a technical perspective, The Conduit is an undeniable success. The controls in particular are outstanding, finely tuned to make gunning down enemies while sprinting around the battlefield fun and satisfying. Visually, the game is also top-notch, filling the screen with enemies, explosions, and fancy lighting effects, without the slightest drop in frame rate. However, as entertaining as The Conduit can be, the bland level design and relentless monotony of the single-player campaign create an air of sleepy boredom, and the multiplayer is too unremarkable to entertain for long. The Conduit has an impressive backbone, but it's too generic to capitalize on any of those technical feats.
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You play as Michael Ford, a Secret Service agent with a penchant for gunning down hostile alien forces. Your role changes throughout the game as your supposed allies reveal their true identities, but the cliche story and personality-free characters offer you no real reason to care about these supernatural events. The lack of compelling exposition makes it difficult to get sucked into this world. The plot is conveyed by static dialog boxes before levels, giving the game a stale energy that it is never quite able to shake. However, despite the bland tale this game inexpertly weaves, there is one nice touch that adds a bit of flair to the drudgery. There are radios scattered throughout the campaign with broadcasts filling you in on the backstory of this ravaged land, and catching a bit of news as you mow down enemy forces gives you some much-needed context.
The real draw in The Conduit is the outstanding control scheme. Conceptually, it's nothing special. You aim your gun with the remote, walk around with the analog stick, and perform various moves by hitting buttons or performing specific motions. However, the execution is nearly flawless. You can aim with pinpoint precision, easily lining up headshots from across the screen or spinning around to cut down a critter creeping up behind you. With more than 10 different actions to keep track of, it can be difficult to find the ideal controller setup, but you can customize the controls to suit your play style. For instance, the default setting forces you to thrust the remote forward to perform a melee attack, but that drastically reorients your viewpoint, which makes it difficult to aim your next shot. You can easily map that action to the D pad, though, and use the remote swing for a less important move. Furthermore, the aiming sensitivity and strafing can be tweaked until it's ideal, which makes the shooting in The Conduit satisfying.
If only the rest of the game could have lived up to the impressive controls. The levels are poorly designed, alternating between generic shooter cliches and frustrating enemy encounters, with nary a sweet set piece battle or over-the-top boss fight in sight. Although you travel through a few different environments--including underground government bases, war-torn streets, and stinky sewers--the only difference among these areas are slight visual changes. They all play in exactly the same way, making for a repetitive and ultimately forgettable experience. Every level is comprised of narrow corridors herding you from one alien battle to the next, with dull key hunts serving as the only taste of variety.
This huge enemy doesn't put up much of a fight.
The lack of interesting objectives creates a monotonous feeling, but questionable design decisions make the campaign even more grueling. Your buglike enemies quickly incubate and hatch from fertile eggs, and you must continually hunt down these replenishing wombs to stem the flow of angry aggressors. Although being forced to constantly track down well-hidden nests gives the game a tireless pace, it leads to a number of cheap deaths because you constantly find enemies sneaking up behind you, shooting you from above, or attacking you through paper-thin walls. Furthermore, these nests are often hidden in devious locations, forcing you to risk death to incinerate them. At certain points in the game, you will also encounter nearly invisible bombs that must be disarmed before they blow you to pieces. On their own, they're slightly annoying but hardly life threatening. But when you're forced to travel down a long corridor populated by these translucent explosives while trying to avoid snipers perched above and foot soldiers swarming on the ground, they just pour gas on the flames of frustration.
The Conduit's difficulty is all over the place. Thanks to the superb controls and powerful guns, you'll spend parts of the game vanquishing enemies with style. Entering a room filled with armed troopers and taking them out with grenades and potshots as you move in to and out of cover can be thrilling. But all too often, the game erects a roadblock that will artificially halt your progress. During a few occasions, you'll be swarmed by attackers as soon as you enter the room, but you'll have no cover to hide behind. Other times, enemies will target a door that's still closed, resulting in instant death as soon as you open it. These situations are almost impossible to pass your first time through because you will need to memorize where the threats are positioned before you have a chance of survival.
The multiplayer is as technically impressive as the single-player experience, but it lacks the excitement that could have made it something special. Twelve players can compete at one time, and though the game occasionally lags, it generally remains stable throughout matches. Although you can speak to your competitors using WiiSpeak, it only lets you converse with friends, which severely limits its usefulness. The seven maps are based on the single-player levels and suffer from many of the same problems as the campaign. They're all a series of corridors without much diversity, so deathmatch duels boil down to shooting your closest foe without any need to seek out an optimal position or plan a more advanced strategy. Although it can be fun to shoot your enemies, the tactically uninteresting landscapes create a feeling of repetition that hinders the long-term enjoyment of the modes. The capture the flag variants aren't much better because the linear levels don't allow for enough creativity to outsmart your opponents. The ability to rank up by earning experience points in battle is a nice touch, but the multiplayer ultimately lacks depth.
Searching for hidden keys along walls is not fun at all.
Technically, The Conduit is one of the finest looking games available for the Wii. Highly detailed enemies swarm the screen, tossing grenades and peppering you with fancy weaponry, and the game is able to run smoothly despite the chaos. Guns create a brief burst of light on walls as the bullets streak by and explosions illuminate the screen, leaving death in their wake. As fine as The Conduit performs technically, the lousy art makes it an eyesore at times. The levels blend together because they all have the same drab color scheme and no memorable landmarks. The enemies could have been ripped from any number of science fiction stories and are based on an unimaginative insect design that would be impossible to pick out of a lineup. It's a shame the art direction couldn't have matched the impressive technology because what could have been a visual showcase for the system is now just a model for wasted potential.
Wasted potential is the main theme for The Conduit because its technical prowess is overshadowed by misguided design decisions pasted onto a generic science fiction universe. The excellent control scheme is able to save this otherwise average adventure for a little while, but the many missteps of the campaign become suffocating before too long. The multiplayer, too, is entertaining for a few hours, but the seven maps are too simple and predictable to provide a consistently thrilling experience. The Conduit may provide a glimpse at the future of Wii shooters, but it's still largely mired in the well-worn past.
User reviews
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Best Shooting Game For The Wii
by SebDavies on August 7, 2009
Pros: Great storyline and gameplay
Really good controls
Online PlayCons: Bit short single mode.
Summary: Defently think this is one of the best games for the Wii. And defently the best shooting game for it. Has a great storyline and single player mode. The online ...
Summary: Defently think this is one of the best games for the Wii. And defently the best shooting game for it. Has a great storyline and single player mode. The online multiplayer is great and you can play with just your friends if you want.
The controls are great, point with the Wiimote, B to shoot, the numchuck Z to lock on to a foe, the stick to move around.
Must have for anyone who owns a Wii.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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A quality FPS finally arrives on the Wii.
by Video_Game_Critic on July 7, 2009
Pros: 1. Controls.
2. Large variety of online game options.
3. At high difficulty levels the single player campaign is fun and challenging.Cons: 1. Far too much instant death in single player campaign.
2. Awkward check points and no save option in campaign.
3. Frame rate issues during multiplayer.Summary: The Conduit delivers fulfills many of High Voltage Software (HVS) promises.
The first thing I noticed is how much I could customize the controls. I can change the button layout, ...Summary: The Conduit delivers fulfills many of High Voltage Software (HVS) promises.
Typo
The first thing I noticed is how much I could customize the controls. I can change the button layout, what commands would respond to motion controls, dead zone, motion sensitivity and pointing sensitivity. The customization level rivals most PC FPS. The controls for "The Conduit" are faster than any other console FPS, but not as fast as mouse and keyboard. When set up properly, the motion controls add to the game. Almost any command can be mapped to motion controls with the exception of reload for some reason. If you do not like the motion controls, map a more useless command to it and set sensitivity to 0. It is not a necessity to use them like some reviews which will remain nameless say. Furthermore, I think it is fun using the motion control for melee attack, but I agree use a button for grenades. Throwing a grenade with the nunchuck inadvertently moves the opposite head, which changes the aim direction. As a result, instead of throwing the grenade through a window, it hits the wall and bounces back into Mr. Ford. However, once all controls are properly mapped, dead zone set and sensitivity adjusted, the controls are fast and accurate.
The online component works great. I have had no online issues or glitches yet I hear about them from other gamers. Even though I have a weak DSL connection, most games run smoothly. My only major issue is the pathetic frame rate. Sometimes a lag free game seems to have lag because the frame rate is dropping so low. I have a minor issue with how maps and settings are chosen. All maps and settings are voted on before the match can start which often leads to bad combinations. I do not like playing match in a small level with explosive weapons for example. Another minor flaw is with the maps themselves. HVS promised they would make separate maps for each multiplayer option. For example capture the flag maps and death match maps would be setup differently. However, all the maps blend together and this is fine for death match, but capture the flag does not work as well with these maps. Even though I do not like friend codes, they are not needed in this game unless you want to use Wii Speak. I bought a Wii Speak because it was on sale, but I rarely use it. I do not want to hear a game full of whiny teenage brats complaining about their life and swearing at me that I suck. I am just fine with no voice chat, but it is an option when my friend want to play a game. Unfortunately the Wii Speak does not work as well as it should which is disappointing. Even though The Conduit does have some online flaws, I think it is a great overall experience.
The single player campaign is a great experience if you set the difficulty to High or Severe because the AI adds so much to the game. The enemy does have a brain and uses it. For example, I was hiding behind a poll and so was the enemy. I ran over to attack, but the enemy anticipated this attack and took a better cover. Lower settings dial down the AI and the game becomes pathetically easy and feels too short. I completed the game on High in just over 14 hours, but this does not include all of my deaths. In reality I probably spent 18-20 hours playing the single player campaign and I still have to finish all of the events like find the data discs and hidden messages. I normally do not complete challenges in games, but The Conduit includes fun cheats that unlock when you beat the game. This is similar to the hand cannon in Resident Evil 4. I plan to play the game again with every cheat turned on and destroy everything in site. It is a lot of fun running through FPS with cheats turned on after you beat the game. Unfortunately this game does have automatic heal, however the first few levels lack this feature which makes them much more challenging. I am not a fan of dividing the game into clear cut levels, but it is not that annoying. The amount of instant death is extremely annoying. I had to cheat through a small part of this game because I could not get past it. Every enemy has the ability to kill Mr. Ford with 1 hit and you cannot keep track of all 30 of them at all times. Other flaws include check points that appear random and are not always conveniently located. This would not be so bad, but the game lacks any kind of save option which is further made worse by random health kits that can disappear. All health kits look alike, but some re-appear after use and others do not. Despite its flaws, the single player campaign is a lot of fun and adds 20+ hours of good game play.
I do not have much to say about the story or graphics. If you want a great FPS that delivers hours of solid game play buy The Conduit. If you want a long story with good graphics, look at another FPS.
I highly recommend The Conduit to anyone looking for a solid FPS. It is comparable to almost any FPS on any other console.
Updated on Jul 7, 2009
Throwing a grenade with the nunchuck inadvertently moves the opposite HAND, which changes the aim direction. -
A good start to a possible great series
by Maxwelllorow on July 4, 2009
Pros: Good controls that provide better interaction for a shooting game.
Cons: Reminds me of The Matrix, provides one good angle and does it over and over again.
Summary: I like this game as the Wii needs to step it up. This is a good step in the right direction but a very small step at that as there ...
Summary: I like this game as the Wii needs to step it up. This is a good step in the right direction but a very small step at that as there is much need.
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A good FPS Made better with good controls
by hoops5000 on June 27, 2009
Pros: The game has great visuals for the wii. the online mode is also something that you don't see a lot on the wii which includes 17 different modes and voice chat support. the controls are completely customizable, from turning speed to button mapping.
Cons: The single player game is rather short (about 7 hours if you go through and collect all the secrets. The game also feels very repetitive with linear maps and little to do but "run and gun". there are few boos battles or puzzles.
Summary: If you only have the wii, this is a must buy. it rivals any online mode of any other game on wii and uses voice chat which is unheard of ...
Summary: If you only have the wii, this is a must buy. it rivals any online mode of any other game on wii and uses voice chat which is unheard of on the system. it is definitely a revolutionary step for Nintendo little white box. but if you have multiple systems, then really, the only reason to get it is great control. the graphics are really nice but still wont knock your socks off and the online mode can be found on many Xbox or ps3 games. one other thing the should be taken into consideration is that High Voltage Software (the developer of this game) took a big risk in creating it. they are planing on making other even better games for the wii but they need to see support first. Bottom line, this game is really good but not a giant leap in the genre.
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great FPS experience for the wii.
by mbraswell3 on June 30, 2009
Pros: Great controls, great multiplayer, sign of a new kind of game for the wii.
Cons: Somewhat repetitive campaign, no splitscreen play
Summary: I absolutely love the controls for this game. I have always avoided console FPS games in favor of PC, but The Conduit was intriguing enough to give it a go. ...
Summary: I absolutely love the controls for this game. I have always avoided console FPS games in favor of PC, but The Conduit was intriguing enough to give it a go. I have loved playing the online multiplayer so far. Playing through the single player campaign is the only blemish in this game, but it is still enjoyable. My only real gripe with the game is the lack of splitscreen play for online or just same system multiplayer.
0 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
Manufacturer info
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