Review: The Conduit (Wii)

Ever since The Conduit was announced, and early footage of the game's Quantum3 Engine was seen, it was clear High Voltage were on a mission. A mission to create a hardcore FPS for the family-friendly Wii. The console has shown that it's ideally suited to the genre, and the effort put into creating the perfect control system has paid off. Using the Nunchuk to strafe and turn, and the Remote to aim and fire is incredibly intuitive, and although not a new concept on the console, it's the customisation that sets The Conduit apart from previous shooters on the Wii. From button mapping to the size of the dead zone, almost all areas of the control system can be tweaked and changed to suit your style of play.

The default controls themselves are extremely good, and Gamestyle only found themselves having to make one change (assigning the scope function to the C-button on the Nunchuk, rather than the Remote's D-Pad) to have the ideal set up. The pointer's precision means that picking off enemies is easy, and using the Nunchuk to throw grenades works exceptionally well, even if getting them to land in the right place takes some practice. Gamestyle's only complaint is that the accurate controls make dispatching enemies a little too easy, and this isn't helped by the game's lock-on system. By holding down the Z button on the Nunchuk, you lock onto the nearest enemy in view, and the camera follows their movement. This momentarily gives The Conduit an on-the-rails shooter feel, as your only concern is shooting the target. This is of course optional, and Gamestyle only really found it of use for fast moving, and hard to spot enemies, such as the flying bugs that appear later in the game.
 
The variety of enemies and their attacks help compensate the ease in which you can take them down. Whilst there are standard peak-and-shoot foot soldiers, there are fast moving and explosive minions who sneak up on you when you're trying to snipe from afar. Several areas that you enter house "Conduits" that act as portals for alien soldiers to come through. Until the Conduits are destroyed, the legions of enemies will keep entering the arena in waves, and this means frantic battles as you attempt to close the Conduits whilst trying to stay alive. It's a good system that makes the game challenging, and although there's the odd occasion where the difficulty spikes through the roof (we're looking at you, Jefferson Memorial), the game manages to maintain interest throughout.

The story itself, whilst nothing new or original, does just enough to keep you playing. You play as Secret Service Agent Michael Ford, who gets embroiled in an assassination attempt on the President involving a secret agency known as "The Trust", and an alien race called "The Drudge". Gamestyle couldn't help being reminded of Perfect Dark when playing The Conduit, and the games are similar in plot and style. As Perfect Dark is one of the best games to be released on a Nintendo console, this is no bad thing, but it does leave you longing for a bit of originality. The weapons available are fairly standard, compromising of pistols, shotguns, rifles, and machines guns, and there are three variants to choose from (human, Trust, and Drudge). The game adopts a health regeneration system that now appears to be standard among FPSs, but you only get this perk after you have acquired the Trust Armour. Before you get given this, you must collect health packs to heal yourself. Gamestyle doesn't know if this is intentional or a glitch, but once you pick-up a health pack, it disappears for good, even if you die and continue from a point prior to it being collected. This means that you rely on packs dropped by enemies, and if you are struggling to get past a certain point in the game, it potentially becomes harder to accomplish after each continue. This is only an issue when you don't have the armour, which is (thankfully) for a small section of the game.
 
One unique aspect of The Conduit is the All Seeing Eye, or ASE. This torch-like device uncovers objects that cannot be seen with the human eye. Not only does this include invisible mines and enemies, but also secret messages and rooms, which contain more powerful prototype weaponry. It's a good feature that adds another level to the game. There are dozens of secret messages and data disks to discover, meaning that there is an incentive to replay each mission. The Remote starts beeping furiously when you get close to most things that the ASE can see, but the messages and data disks will require some in-depth exploration of the levels to find them all. The linear nature of the levels means that this isn't like looking for a needle in a haystack, however, and the missions take a straight route to the objective, with little deviation from the path.

The Conduit is very pleasing on the eye, with some impressive graphics and lighting effects. Whilst most levels tend to comprise of office blocks and hallways, there's a good deal of variety in the design, and the game runs very smoothly. There's minimal load times, assisted by periods of empty corridors and rooms that disguise the loading of the next action-intensive section in the background. There are a few (but not enough) puzzle elements, and some memorable boss fights and set pieces. The single-player campaign will take around 10 hours to play through, but this doesn't include unlocking all the secrets and achievements the game has to offer.

The online multiplayer is a disappointment, however. The maps available are good enough, but there's a rather simplistic approach to creating games. The awkward lobby-system means that it can take up to five minutes for people to join before the games actually start, and then the map and type of weapons available are determined by vote. You select the map and type of weapons you want, be it close combat, explosive, or long-range, and then one person's choice is picked at random. If you've played Mario Kart on the Wii, this will be familiar as a similar system is adopted for selecting tracks. You can create your own matches with your friends, but this falls foul of Nintendo's Friend Code system, although this is made easier by an ability to invite friends who have the game using your global friend list. There's not a great deal you can do to customise the matches, and although there is a ranking system in place, it offers little by way of reward. There's the usual fair of game modes on offer, with team death match and capture the flag variants making an appearance, but after all the promises of a great FPS, to have such a lightweight online offering is frustrating. Not that it's not enjoyable, however, and there's no evidence of lag in the frantic 12 player battles. There are some novel game modes, and whilst playing Gamestyle was again reminded of Perfect Dark, and happy memories of late-night multiplayer sessions. That was nearly 10 years ago, however, and The Conduit does feel a little dated, especially when you consider that games like Medal of Honor Heroes 2 offer a much more in-depth online experience on the console.

The Conduit has the best controls of any First Person Shooter on the Wii by far. It would be unfair to say that this is not supported by a decent single-player campaign or online multiplayer, but The Conduit is certainly lacking in these areas. It is great fun to play, however, and whilst it may lack any real longevity, the time spent eliminating the Drudge or fragging your friends is a blast. We're not sure about The Conduit being the definitive First Person Shooter on the Wii, but if this is a taste of things to come from High Voltage and their Quantum3 Engine, Gamestyle is hungry for more.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Chris Thornton