Video Review
The Wii hasn't had too many third party games to be excited about, not surprising for a post-SNES Nintendo console, nor has it had many first person shooters that have taken advantage of the Wii remote. For these reasons, along with gaining much E3 hype over the years, The Conduit has become one of the most anticipated Wii titles in a while. Like Red Steel before it, the developers have played their marketing campaign smart by unveiling little and letting the audience's imagination fuel the hype. Like Red Steel, many people will be disappointed once they get their hands on the finished product and discover they've only been waiting on a rather generic fps.
The story of The Conduit is worthy talking about. It's a Halo-esque battle against aliens, but this time it's mixed with a bit of government conspiracy. After the third mission, I think many players will find themselves skipping the mission briefings all together. This is a bit of a shame since this is the rare FPS that grounds a sci-fi story in our reality. You will battle it out in notable Washington D.C. locations like the Pentagon and the White House. Sadly, the game's art direction is as generic as could be and these inspired locations turn out to be nothing more than another boring office building filled with hallways. It's a missed opportunity to say the least, but most people picking up this game could care less about anything other then the action.
The Conduit seemed to be a more cerebral FPS in previews, mostly due to the ASE (All Seeing Eye) device the character has in his possession throughout the game. In truth, it's just an excuse to stop the action and play "go hunt that item" for a minute. It provides a nice break from the action but it shouldn't be considered a bullet point on the back of the box. What The Conduit really is, is an old school shooter in the style of Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and the original Halo. Once you fine tune the controls, you'll have a lot of fun blasting through the first couple of levels. The pace, control, and graphics are a step-up from Red Steel but this is hardly a revolution. It also doesn't help that the game soon falls into some bad level and game design that frustrates me on a level that only Call of Duty: World at War has in the past 12 months.
For whatever reason, console FPS's have continues this trend of endless enemy spawn points and The Conduit manages to take what annoyed us in World at War and Killzone to the next level. The Dredge, the alien species in the game, have these portals that they will continuously spawn from until you destroy them, much like Gauntlet. The biggest problem with this is that the game is so inconsistent that you'll often charge through an area assuming there are portals you need to destroy, but then figure out there are none and you've just cornered yourself. The A.I. also feels cheap mostly due to them having the ability to charge their weapons and throw grenades. It seems like fair game but between the claustrophobic level design, slow health rejuvenation, and Wii controls that make it difficult to move and turn quickly, this can lead to some deaths that feel really unfair.
Multiplayer is another big selling point of The Conduit, but I'd be shocked if it pulled away any Xbox360 or PS3 owners away for long. There seems to be a consensus that The Conduit needs to be reviewed without being compared to FPS's on other consoles, but even when you compare The Conduit to Red Steel, Metroid Prime 3, or even past Nintendo shooters like Goldeneye and Perfect Dark it doesn't hold up. The game isn't bad and you'll get a lot of mileage out of it, especially if the Wii is the only next gen console you own. I just don't think we should applaud a game for being a third rate Halo, whether it is or isn't on the Wii.
