Overview
When the Wii’s new motion controller hit the scene, it seemed it held the power to revolutionize the FPS genre on consoles as we knew it. Yet almost three years have passed, and for the most part, there has not been any special FPS games on the Wii that stand out from the crowd. The Conduit, developed by High Voltage Software has finally hit the store shelves, and has been hyped up to be everything that past Wii FPS games couldn’t do. However, is that really the case? Read on to find out.
Gameplay
The Conduit single player takes place in the near future in Washington, D.C. having undergone an invasion from hostile alien forces named “The Drudge”. You play as Michael Ford; a secret service agent for the government to find out more about this attack on the USA’s capital. The single player mode consists of a variety of missions, taking on The Drudge as well as enemy humans involved with this attack as well. The levels are extremely linear, allowing very little exploration aspects, but to compensate, there are secrets to collect in each level which are connected to the game’s achievement system as well as to a few unlockables. Most of the segments are designed to not let you continue further unless you have killed every enemy in the area, however there are parts where you must utilize the game’s “ASE” (All Seeing Eye) to unlock doors, among other tasks such as detonating mines from a safe distance, or finding bonus items throughout.
The multiplayer aspect of this game is really where the heart of The Conduit lies. It offers a robust amount of options to connect with friends or strangers over Nintendo’s WiFi connection. It uses a lobby system, supports Wii Speak, includes a ranking system, has quite a number of weapon sets, maps, and modes to play, and even allows you to customize your own character model. The levels are well-made overall, ranging from very tight, closed-in levels to wide open, long-ranged ones. Additionally, it allows you to play with eleven other people in a game at the same time. Each weapon is unique and fairly balanced, although some are a bit ridiculous, such as the Strike Rifle which can be an easy one-hit kill at times. Overall, it’s a lot of fun to play, but it’s not really anything we haven’t seen from other FPS’s on other systems. It also does not support local split-screen, so you can forget about inviting friends over and playing on the same television.
The controls for this game are by-far the best for any Wii game. You can change absolutely everything about how it plays. Turning speed, setting your dead-zone box, and sensitivity are just a few of the customizing aspects. It even lets you map any button to any action that you wish. You will have the controls cemented in no time, and that’s a big help to showcase how an FPS on the Wii can feel like. It really set a new standard for superb controls on the Wii.
Sound Effects/Music
The Conduit does a fine job in this department, including some decent musical pieces playing in the background during the single player segment. The announcer’s voice can become tiresome when playing Multiplayer however, with constant interruptions from it. The sounds coming from charging a certain gun or simply firing a shotgun sound like they should, so there’s nothing much to complain about here.
Graphics
High Voltage Software boasted numerous times about how it built this game from the ground-up for the Wii exclusively, using next-gen graphic effects to the best of the Wii’s ability. For the most part, they weren’t lying, as the game looks pretty good for a Wii game. It’s about on-par with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption’s graphics, which is no easy task. On the other hand, I came across many low-resolution textures and just plain lazy UV mapping on the environment. The developers re-use MANY rooms over and over again in the single player mode, with a few added objects or enemies to make it feel slightly less bland, but even so, it’s blatantly obvious, and as a result, it takes away from the overall experience. It almost makes the single player feel like a chore because of the repetition of environments. Not to mention that this game lacks a lot of artistic value. Basically to sum it up; this game uses some nice effects throughout, but the overall package is fairly boring and nothing eye-poppingly gorgeous.
Replayability/Play Time
The Single player lasts approximately eight hours, give or take a few depending on whether or not the player decides to hunt for hidden secrets in each level, and on which difficulty they play the game on. I wouldn’t recommend this game if you don’t have WiFi, because online is where you’ll spend the majority of your time. It offers a limitless amount of playable hours, so it really depends on whether you enjoy this game’s multiplayer aspect or not.
Editor’s Note
I found that you die way too easily in the single player mode from some enemies, and this is on the default difficulty. Some of the opponents are annoying as well, which made playing some of the levels frustrating.
The Wii Speak is great, but it’s very low in quality of sound, so expect to have a hard time hearing what your friends are saying. I suggest turning up the Wii Speak options to full while reducing the in-game sound effects to hear them more clearly while playing.
Multiplayer is really enjoyable with many types of games to play, but beware that my game has frozen once in the middle of a match, and a strange blank screen glitch happened to me (and to other people I know) while playing WiFi where all you can do is reset your Wii. I hope High Voltage Software can fix these bugs soon. No hackers so far though that I’ve experienced, so that’s good news.
Conclusion
The Conduit is a thrilling experience on the Wii. While it does not revolutionize the FPS genre in any way, it offers a perfect system of controls, some shiny graphics, and a good online experience. It’s definitely a solid Wii title, and while it does have its share of blemishes, it is taking the Wii in the right direction. If you’ve been waiting for a fun online FPS for the Wii, then this is the game you’ve been waiting for.
OVERALL SCORE: 8.O