Short Story, Nintendo Power gave it an 8/10.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm43/PDTempest/scan0001.jpg
Does anyone think this is real?
Anyways, here is the review from the picture.
To my mind, one of the great mysteries of the past two and a half years is why there haven't been more first person shooters on the Wii console. No other traditional genre benefits more from the platform's controller, yet you can count the number of quality releases on one hand. Sega and the developer High Voltage attempt to fill the void with The Conduit, and though the results aren't earth shattering, they offer convincing proof of the advantages afforded the category by Nintendo's little white console.
In fact, the game wouldn't be nearly compelling with a standard controller. Don't get me wrong; this is a quality adventure, as you'll read. But taken on its own, The Conduit doesn't measure up to the Halos and Half-Lifes of the World. The story is rote and predictable, the enemy AI fails to impress, and aside from the controls, there's little innovation to speak of. Yet somehow, none of that seems to matter much when the interface between you and the hero is so seamless. The Conduit allows you to tailor its controls precisely to your liking with an unprecedented level of customization. You can tweak everything from running speed to the size of the rectile's dead zone to the motion sensitivity of the Nunchuck controller for throwing grenades. You have full reign over the HUS, as well, right down to the size, placement, and transparency of each individual element. AS a result, there's nothing to get between you and the timeless joy of blasting alien scum.
The site of this extraterrestrial extermination is Washington D.C., and the nation's captial allows for a number of unique and intrguing battlefields, including the Library of Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House. Though the level of detail can be inconsistent at times, these locales look great for the most part, with some of the sharpest texture work ever seen on Wii. More importantly, each space has been thoughtfully built to facilitate a firefight, and offers plentiful opprtunities for cover. It's a good thing, too, because this isn't the type of shooter where can just run 'n' gun. If you're to survive, particularly on the higher difficulty levels, you'll need to use your surroundings to your advantage. I only wish the environments featured some form of destructible elements; the complete lack thereof makes them feel a bit primitive by today's standards.
What does not disappoint is the weapon selection, which consists of conventional firearms, alien weaponry, and experimental armaments from the clandestine Trust organization. Most are pretty satisfying, and though it may be a relatively minor touch, I love the detailed reload animations for each one. Your major piece of equipment is the All Seeing Eye, a device that allows you to detect otherwise-invisible items and enemies. It's a cool idea that's sorely underutilized. Hopefully the developers can find a way to make better use of it in the sequel, which is strongly hinted at the game's abrupt Halo-esque ending.
Fortunately, The Conduit can be compared to Bungie's classic franchise in a more positive way - namely its platform defining online play. Up to 12 people can compete in a variety of free-for-all and team based modes. My personal favorites are Capture the ASE (essentially "capture the flag") and the clever Bounty Hunter mode, The latter assigns each person a target, which appears as a yellow dot on your radar, and you earn points only for eliminating the target; if you kill anyone else, points will be subtracted from your score. Of course, someone is hunting you at the same time, but you;re given no indication of who that is. So while you're trying to sneak up on your prey, you've also got, you've also got to keep an eye on anyone who might be tracking you. My only issue during online play was that would get booted from the lobby occasionally between matches. Other than that, the experience was impressively smooth.
Would The Conduit make as big big an impact on a competing console? Probably not. But it's a worthwhile endeavor nonetheless, especially if you're willing to go online. Hopefully the game enjoys enough success to get that sequel green-lit. Now that the groundwork is in place, I'd love to see if High Voltage can take the next step and forge something truly special. In the meantime, they can at least lay claim to the best pure first-person shooter on Wii.
For Score Comparisons on FPSes for the Wii.
Call of Duty World at War
-Metacritic: 83
-Nintendo Power: 80
Metroid Prime 3
-Metacritic: 90
-Nintendo Power: 100
Call of Duty 3
-Metacritic: 69
-Nintendo Power: 65
Onslaught
-Metacritic: 66
-Nintendo Power: N/A
Medal of Honor Vanguard
Metacritic: 56
Nintendo Power: 60
Quantum of Solace
-Metacritic: 54
-Nintendo Power: 50
Brothers in Arms: Double Time
-Metacritic: 45
-Nintendo Power: 70
Log in to comment