Review: The Conduit

Developer: High Voltage

Publisher: SEGA

Anyone remember the hype surrounding this? Yes I thought so. Absolutely hyped to the rafters with comments such as “Best looking game ever”, “You won’t believe it’s on a Wii” and my personal favourite, “This isn’t on a Wii, the console would melt.” I personally couldn’t give a monkeys about graphics with games. Those in The Conduit are good at some points, however, there are some pig ugly moments like the train carriage on the first level which looks like it’s been lifted out of Duke Nukem 64. Whilst most of the graphics get the job done they aren’t as outstanding as claimed, although they are a lot better than the standard of Wii games on the whole.

Storywise it’s the usual. I’m getting bored of writing this but, waking up from a concussed state you (Agent Ford a secret service agent) are instructed through a training mission. Your goal is to exterminate the aliens invading the U.S. which are currently going by the name Drudge and are said to be under the control of Prometheus, a mastermind criminal scientist (formerly working for The Trust) that has stolen an alien artefact called the ASE from them. Instructing you is John Adams, who is the leader of the organisation The Trust. You were chosen as you saved The President and you are the only man they can trust. I’m going to stop using the word Trust now as I’m confusing myself…

How does it play? Very well, not as highly polished as the shooting sections of Red Steel but definitely passable. The controls allow you to customise them to your preferred sensitivity; I thought the default was adequate so left them as they were. You have the usual range of weapons from the human world, pistols, shotguns and rocket launchers (suspiciously GoldenEye like rocket launchers). Whilst on the alien side you have Hive Cannons, warp pistols, shriekers and strike rifles. Everyone will find their own favourite weapon and there’s one for everyone (It’s like being in America!). Also included are a selection of grenades just to round things off.

The artefact that the game is based around is the ASE, or the All Seeing Eye. With this alien technology you can hack computers, disable alien technology, traps and read hidden messages on walls, plus you can open up hidden bonus areas. Some drudge are invisible and need to be scanned by the ASE before they become visible and succeptable to your weapons. This little metallic sphere was said to be what seperated the game from others. It’s a neat idea but I don’t think they made enough use of it throughout the game.

I did enjoy playing through the game but once you’ve finished it you won’t want to play back through it unless you’re a completist and want to get all the data discs and unlockables. There is replayability there, it’s just a question of whether you want to or not. I moved on to the really good online play after the story.

Where this game really stood out for me was the multiplayer online modes. Bizarrely there’s no split screen mode for those of you wanting to trounce you little brother or sister at home and to play this with others you must venture online. As with Mario Kart you can ask for Friends only, regional from Britain or Worldwide if you feel the need to take your bloodrage global. The one thing I will say about the online play is you could be sat in a lobby for a long time, not always, but I usually have about a three minute wait. Obviously having friends on at the same time would be best. Online there’s no lag and no problems, I have never lost connection and the game has never frozen. Plus if you have registered your friend you can speak to them through WiiSpeak, providing of course you have the microphone attachment. You’re meant to be able to talk to people you haven’t registered in several of the multiplayer modes and proximity wise in Free-for-all, however this has never happened to me yet!

Overall it’s a polished effort it just lacks in a few areas. In the single player campaign you will be sick of looking at grey buildings and walls, fighting the same blokes in camouflage gear along with the same five aliens. It gives you the Scooby Doo complex of running past the same scenery sometimes. It’s not going to convert anyone into a FPS fan if you’re not already, but those of you who enjoyed Red Steel (minus the broken swordplay of course) this is a good filler whilstt you wait for a better shooter or the return of GoldenEye. Multiplayer is a must, if only because I had someone shout “Die” at me in Russian and then swiftly be shot from behind by one of my teammates. For me this is currently the best FPS on the Wii.