The Conduit

Wii review by Craig Nye on 23rd August 2009

It’s been a good few years now since Nintendo opened up the floodgates with the Wii and besides money-vacuuming party games, the genre that was perhaps expected to feature most prominently (and blossom) in this new fangled chapter in videogaming was that of the first person shooter. After all, it’s not exactly hard to see how the Wii’s controller could become an ideal substitute for actually holding a firearm, which is what has made the genre’s lack of quality output since then incongruous to say the least. And it’s that realisation - coupled with its potential to have made pointing at the screen as viable as right clicking or lining up analogue sticks - that makes The Conduit’s relative failure to be an exception to the rule all the more disconcerting.

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Which seems a shame, because the ability to modify and fully customise the controls to such a meticulous degree in real time before the main story, gives off all the vibes of a shooter that’s going to play as smooth as butter. An unfortunate conclusion, it seems no amount of careful, ‘just a little more to the left’ adjustments to find that proverbial sweet spot will stop The Conduit feeling like running waist-deep in syrup. Aiming at anyone and anything not directly in line with your field of vision is a chore as players are forced to drag the camera with the controller pointed out wide in everything but resembling a turn of the head. The auto lock-on helps somewhat but at the same time, completely defeats the point of motion aiming.

These hackneyed controls are weighed down and buried alive by just how generic everything is. There is barely a shred of originality in any area of The Conduit’s shameful five hour campaign; levels are made up of rooms connected by narrow corridors to more rooms that all look the same. Enemies that have seemingly fallen out of every sci-fi B movie since the 1980s come pouring out of nowhere to adopt the same, scripted positions as their last fallen comrade – popping into view like clay pigeons for the player to pick off as and when they choose, with an array of toothless weaponry that pack more punch in their appearance than they do in their bite. And the story, which is supposed to be the driving force behind all the madness, is throwaway conspiracy plot garbage that has been done many a time before with much more panache.

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In fact, High Voltage’s only visible attempt to add variety comes from breaking up the shooting with a handheld device called the ASE (All Seeing Eye); used to scan the environment for hidden symbols around an area which open up locked doors. In truth, it’s simply glorified padding for the next batch of identikit enemies ready to lather, rinse, and repeat the process all over again. Any semblance of challenge or thought required in these sections is swiftly removed thanks to the ASE doubling up as a metal detector of sorts – sounding off when the player is hot and keeping quiet when the player is cold, which begs the question: what is the point?

Perhaps The Conduit’s only shining light at the end of a cramp, gloomy tunnel comes from its online component and even then, that strength is arguably derived from it being one of the only titles on the Nintendo Wii to actually have a functioning online mode let alone one that aims to excel. There are standard deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag modes among others and when you finally get into a game, matches are frantic, perform well more often than not and because everyone is battling with the same control system, it becomes less of a handicap and more of a quirk.

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Which ultimately, is The Conduit’s biggest problem: it seems set with doing the bare minimum (a lot of the time, not even that) and expects it to be acceptable just because it’s splashing around in a small pond starved of enough shooters to hold the flag without it. It’s a first person shooter that wouldn’t even get a second pity look on any other console and quite frankly, shouldn’t do so on the Wii because owners deserve a lot better. But as it stands, just weeks after its release in the middle of the yearly summer drought, The Conduit is already a complete and total irrelevance.

Three out of ten

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About the author

Craig Nye is a Senior Staff Writer at Thunderbolt, having joined in May 2007.

Comments

chad
24th August 2009

3? i can’t take you seriously
Trev
24th August 2009

Having played the Conduit myself, I say you’re right on the money. Terrible game, redeemed slightly by a fairly fun control scheme.
Dr. Corndog
24th August 2009

Three? Okay, now I think people are just starting to give it awful scores because it’s the cool thing to do.
Giuliani
25th August 2009

Only 3?

Seriously guy, have you really test this game?
it’s easy to compare others tests and yours,
I think this is only because it’s a wii game…
What a mature behaviour?!
Matthew Wadleigh
25th August 2009

Having played this game, I completely agree with this review. Yeah, it’s a good when compared to what’s on the Wii maybe, but I don’t celebrate a turd just because it stinks less than another pile. This game is the worst parts of Deus Ex combined with shooting mechanics that were abandoned in the 90s. Fuck this game.
Dougy K
27th August 2009

moron. 3? for the conduit? have you actually PLAYED the game? this is a game that is being compared against other wii games ok? since WHEN are we comparing it against other games on other far more powerful consoles???? that didn’t happen with most previous games, how come it’s happening now?

seriously…. the conduit is excellent, I’m so immersed in it the past week that it’s frustrating my wife and kids LoL. I took time off my job to play it yesterday morning. Seriously.

It BLOWS away the fps metroid games for excitement and interest.

It BLOWS away all other wii fps game concepts (except maybe ghostbusters) for being a new-to-wii plot (current sci-fi mixed with futuristic alien invasion combined with the best elements of past greats like the Marathon series).

It BLOWS away the graphics power of every other wii game in existence.

It BLOWS away the voice acting of almost every other game I’ve played on ANY system (by the way, I used to be a game developer at EA).

It’s weak points? the map creators weren’t very creative or original, it’s a little repetitive as a result and not very surprising or open world etc most of the time (but there are occasions of brilliance!).

Seriously, this is the wii here. it’s more photo realistic here than in any other game I can think of on the Wii, wiht great frames per second and lighting effects.

I LOVE the conduit!

moronic reviewers should maybe read the typical customer’s feedback before writing this sort of stuff. It just makes your “magazine” website whatever it is look like it was written by a bunch of 15 year old kids compared to the other sites that actually put time and effort into reading what the consumer WANTS. isn’t that what it’s all about??

cheers
Dougy K
27th August 2009

and to the “turd” commenter…

nice way to rate all other Wii games. there are some incredible games on the wii, mostly third party stuff like mad world. brilliant games. this is right up there with them, and the engine they developed to make this game possible on the wii is absolutely brilliant.

I can’t think of any turds other than the 30 or so odd crappy minigame collections out there. most everythign else is passable to excellent, many being excellent imho.

This game is excellent. I can’t WAIT to see what comes next using this engine!

I hope the license the engine to other development companies…

Cheers
Bart
27th August 2009

“It BLOWS away the voice acting of almost every other game I’ve played on ANY system (by the way, I used to be a game developer at EA).”

Obvious troll is obvious.
Fraser
27th August 2009

It BLOWS.
Dougy K
27th August 2009

“Obvious troll is obvious.”

obvious little kid who didn’t play Marathon and it’s followups when they first came out and hasn’t worked with hired actors in a gaming studio to understand how crappy most of them truly are.

The review in this website is an absolute joke. It’s no wonder I’ve never heard of this site until I stumbled across it by accident.

Without decent reviews, amazing development projects like the 3d engine behind the conduit will lose funding and the wii will never see it’s ultimate potential: to take an engine like this one and have a really top notch experienced fps team from another console say “hey, we can actually start to write some serious stuff for the wii finally, the #1 selling console, and increase our sales dramatically”, and therefore bring what should be the best gaming experience possible to the Wii.

Yes the conduit has problems in it’s game design, but as I noted, compare it to other Wii games and it pushes the bar so high with it’s technology that we now know it’s possible to have some pretty great fps games for this little console.

As with most people, while I own a ps3 and a 360, it’s the wii that gets most of my actual gaming time. There’s nothing like effective motion control to immerse ones self into a game.

Now with a rendering engine that will let us forget about at least SOME of the Wii’s graphical weaknesses, a really experienced fps developer has the capability of bringing us the most immersive games yet on any console.

Maybe I’m strange, but while I really prefer gameplay and control immersion over graphics, I STILL would like to see great immersive images and 3d rendering.

It appears to me that this is what the conduit’s developers have tried to do here, and they did a great job of proving their technology.

I also happen to love playing the game. Is it as good as even something old like Halo? Of COURSE not. but it’s a hell of a start for the Wii.

Now I’m tired of trying to change the minds of immature little 13 year olds by using intelligence, experience and knowledge of the industry. This is pointless. Like trying to teach a worm to read.

Cheers
Tel Gage
27th August 2009

Dougy, if you’ve actually read the review you would see that Craig doesn’t complain at all about the engine or tech, so there’s no need to keep defending it.

What he does complain about is terrible level design, absent AI, ineffectual weapons and a dull story; all of which sound like pretty weak elements in a fairly high-profile FPS. And visuals aside, there seems no reason to not compare this game to its peers on the PS360.

I haven’t played the game, but judging by the other couple of reviews I’ve read, this analysis is fair.
Bart
28th August 2009

“obvious little kid who didn’t play Marathon and it’s followups when they first came out and hasn’t worked with hired actors in a gaming studio to understand how crappy most of them truly are.”

Nope, I sure haven’t worked with game actors. Do you know what I have worked with? Cartoon voice actors. Do you know how relevant these tidbits of information are? Not at all. And I’m not a little kid, either; not that it would make any difference.

“The review in this website is an absolute joke. It’s no wonder I’ve never heard of this site until I stumbled across it by accident.”

Ad hominem.

“Without decent reviews, amazing development projects like the 3d engine behind the conduit will lose funding and the wii will never see it’s ultimate potential: to take an engine like this one and have a really top notch experienced fps team from another console say “hey, we can actually start to write some serious stuff for the wii finally, the #1 selling console, and increase our sales dramatically”, and therefore bring what should be the best gaming experience possible to the Wii.”

Yeah, you know what? Developers are already doing that. You act as if The Conduit is the Wii’s last shot at greatness. It isn’t, and there are lots of great games on the console that are miles better than this generic shooter.

“Yes the conduit has problems in it’s game design, but as I noted, compare it to other Wii games and it pushes the bar so high with it’s technology that we now know it’s possible to have some pretty great fps games for this little console.”

We’ve known that for a long time. What we don’t have is many good shooters for the Wii, and this game isn’t helping.

“As with most people, while I own a ps3 and a 360, it’s the wii that gets most of my actual gaming time. There’s nothing like effective motion control to immerse ones self into a game.”

That’s hardly what is ‘with most people’ at all. Unless you’d like to back up your words with facts, but I won’t hold my breath. Effective motion control? Sure, it’s great. It’s been used in far better ways on the console.

“Now with a rendering engine that will let us forget about at least SOME of the Wii’s graphical weaknesses, a really experienced fps developer has the capability of bringing us the most immersive games yet on any console.”

I don’t really understand your argument. The Conduit is good because some day in the future, someone will release a better game? Is this how you feel about the Transformers 2 game? “Man, this game isn’t that great, but the graphics are sure pretty! One day we will have a good Transformers game!”

“Maybe I’m strange, but while I really prefer gameplay and control immersion over graphics, I STILL would like to see great immersive images and 3d rendering.”

We all would, what’s your point?

“It appears to me that this is what the conduit’s developers have tried to do here, and they did a great job of proving their technology.”

Cool, but that’s not really the point here. The writer reviewed how fun the game is, not how big the potential is.

“I also happen to love playing the game. Is it as good as even something old like Halo? Of COURSE not. but it’s a hell of a start for the Wii.”

Well that’s just great for you. The reviewer didn’t.

“Now I’m tired of trying to change the minds of immature little 13 year olds by using intelligence, experience and knowledge of the industry. This is pointless. Like trying to teach a worm to read.”

Aww, after all that, you have to end with some pretentious garbage like that? Trot off, you pissant. Nobody cares how “experienced” you are. Nobody cares about your gospel of how retarded people who didn’t appreciate The Conduit are. You can puff yourself up as a former developer who has worked in the industry before all you want. This masturbatory form of argument will get you nowhere, it just makes you look like an asshole.

If you’re going to come here and try and change people’s minds, insulting them will get you nowhere. Either prepare to debate like a gentleman, or suffer the backlash of people ticked off by your haughty attitude.

“Cheers”

Don’t you dare patronize me.
Josh Kramer
28th August 2009

“As with most people, while I own a ps3 and a 360, it’s the wii that gets most of my actual gaming time.”

Err, sorry burst your bubble, but I highly doubt that - out of all the people that own all three systems - most spend a majority of their time playing the Wii. The Wii is almost a universal joke at this point amongst hardcore gamers (the type who would shell out for 3 systems) because of its disturbing amount of shovelware a direct focus on the casual crowd.
Matt Wadleigh
28th August 2009

GameInformer had a look at that very stat this month, Josh and Bart. Their statistics played out like this (direct quote): “The majority of Wee owners (41.4%) said they play their Wii less than an hour a day on average, as compared with the Xbox 360 (three to five hours: 40.3%) and PS3 owners (three to five hours: 37%). It’s in their “Epic Fail” feature this month on console failure rates. From my own personal experience, most gamers seem to play their PS360s more than Wiis, and these statistics seem to back up that conclusion.
Bart
28th August 2009

Ah, the miracle of facts.
Sam (nerdboy)
29th August 2009

Who are these random gimps anyway?
Hom
29th August 2009

Please don’t call them “gimps”, nerd.
JasonHill
5th September 2009

Three? What a joke, I can’t even take this review seriously. Granted, it’s not the best game in the world, but giving it a three is just ridiculous.
Who_Cares?
17th September 2009

I’m sorry, but this review is just hate-speech.

The AI, especially on the higher difficulty settings, will kick your ass all over town. They effectively take cover, flank you and use their numbers to their advantage.

The story, I’ll admit, is rather bland. But only on the surface, which it seems you have no interest in digging through. If you were to take note of the secret messages on the walls revealed by the ASE and do some research, you would find a deep story which will hopefully be utilized more fully in The Conduit 2.

You said in your review that you had trouble turning. I have to ask: how did you manage to screw that up? There’s something within the game called a deadzone. While your pointer is within this box, the camera remains stationary. When you move it out, you turn in the specified direction. In addition to adjustable turn speed, I don’t see how this game would be hard to control.

In conclusion, it seems to me that you had no interest in giving this game a fair chance. Your complaints are inaccurate, and you’re demoting a great game. Not a great game ‘for the Wii’. Just a great game.
Ben
27th November 2009

Well said, Who_Cares?. Those who hate this game are only going over the surface and saying “eh, what a piece of crap.” If they would actually try to enjoy the game and utilize everything that is offered, they might see things differently. I don’t pretend to know all of the technical stuff about games and development. I am an average gamer like most people. So let’s compare apples to apples when we talk about this. Thus far, this is a great title for the Wii. I do not intend to mix other titles from other systems into this, neither should anyone else unless it is a multi-platformer.

The story line may so-so, but it held my interest. And yes, at the end it did kind of just leave you hanging, but that part makes me want a sequel for it even more. As for the supposed lacking of the multiplayer aspects, I spend most of my time in those multiplayer battles. I couldn’t give two shits about earn new goodies or crap like that. I am just in it for the competitive aspect of it. Trying to one up the guys that are higher ranked is just fun and invigorating.

Also, sorry to say to all the haters, about 85% of the other reviews I have read, from critics and gamers alike, actually liked this game. You are all in the minority. You may have your opinions, but it is what the general population thinks that really matter and make games a success and possibly have developers make sequels.

I do agree that this game isn’t very innovative to the FPS genre in general. It does have, however, a first-rate control concept under its belt. I personally enjoy it. But hey, let’s think about this rationally. Has there ever been a game that was OMFG material in the beginnings of any console with only a few games in the genre? The Wii does have a hard platform to program to. The Conduit is not and should not be the end all be all for the FPS genre on the Wii. Those OMFG games are made with the experiences of past games. They take the good aspects and chuck the bad aspects out when developers look at past games. There is a lot that can be done wrong on a game when there isn’t really much to go one from past games. As for The Conduit, in a very young genre for the Wii, I find it is an exceptional game and will pave the way for future endeavors.

And that would be my two cents on the subject.