The Conduit Review

By Oli Welsh Published 10 July, 2009

Conduct unbecoming.

Version tested: Wii

If you want to learn something about a science-fiction, alien-invasion shooter before playing it, just pay close attention to how it names its enemies. The single words developers choose to boil their interstellar or interdimensional threats down to often inadvertently reveal the character of the game beneath. Halo's Covenant and Flood conjure an aura of biblical scale and religious devotion. Half-Life 2's Combine suggests seamless integration and sleek, powerful technology. Killzone's Helghast sounds like grim, Germanic warmongering.

The alien invaders in Wii FPS contender The Conduit are called the Drudge.

What does that say to you? Thankless, plodding toil, a dearth of imagination, a dry and dogged adherence to convention? Something grey, unvaried, undistinguished, average? Right on all counts, unfortunately. The rule holds true for this technically sound but desperately uninspiring shooter. Name thy enemy, name thyself.

The enthusiastic self-publicists at developer High Voltage software have long been bragging about The Conduit's format-leading graphical prowess and how its pinpoint controls would consign twin-stick first-person shooting to the bin. This was the game that would finally endear the Wii to gaming's headshot heartlands, and prove those who always suspected it could be a perfect home for the FPS right. The claims were eye-catching enough to earn publishing support from SEGA, and on-message enough to earn Nintendo's namedrop blessing. And to be fair, they were half-true.

'The Conduit' Screenshot 1

A reasonably reconstructed White House is the game's least boring location. Well, it's not a bunker, a sewer or an airport.

The Conduit's pointer control is fast, precise, effortless and finely-tuned, whether by High Voltage in the excellent default setting, or yourself in the sort of frighteningly granular array of options - from deadzone to cursor-lock to motion sensitivity - that you'd expect of a late-nineties hardcore PC game. There's a decent sense of weight to your character, subtly effective camera movements, a useful semi-lock on the Z button that tracks the camera (but not your sights) on a particular enemy, and generally superior responsiveness and head control to previous standard-setter Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

There are a few more commands than there are comfortably accessible buttons - however you configure it, you'll end up with something vital like reload a slightly awkward thumb-stretch away - but all in all, these controls are hard to fault and a joy to use. They really are a watershed proof-of-concept for the Wii's FPS capability, even if the magnitude of the achievement is mostly down to surprise that no-one else quite managed it before. And yes, pad control on other consoles, no matter how well calibrated, does seem a little clumsy after The Conduit.

'The Conduit' Screenshot 2

The ASE fails to find anything of interest.

The problem lies in what High Voltage asks you to do with these magnificent controls: shoot the same handful of clichéd enemies over and over again with poorly differentiated, unrewarding weapons, in repetitive and characterless locations, according to the whim of a meaninglessly threadbare and generic plot, and unburdened by considerations of strategy, tactics, options, or anything that might stir the most wavering half-mast of a raised eyebrow of interest. The Conduit might as well have been designed by an algorithm, it's so resolutely free of creativity.

Helbine (or Comghast?) troopers with glowing goggles, gurgling aliens who look like emaciated Covenant Elites, ineffectual spooks who didn't make it into Perfect Dark (the first one) and a few spindly bugs attack you in predictably stupid patterns from the other end of re-used corridors or across the occasional open space, which only seems large and exciting because of the tight confines you've been in and deja vu you've been experiencing for the previous 10 minutes. That's it, for nine none-too-long levels, before a Z-files conspiracy plot that is shockingly free of incident draws to a close.

It's not the short length so much as the complete lack of depth that disappoints. There's a reasonable number of guns to use, and they do include some charge-and-release energy weapons ripped off from Halo and a novel gadget or two, like the beam gun that fires three bolts along a line determined by how you twist the remote. But there's nothing to choose between any of them for effectiveness in any given situation, and the only reason to switch between your two guns or replace one for another it all-too-frequent boredom. They've had all the life balanced out of them.

Similarly, the option to change difficulty level on the fly is welcome, but only possible because it does nothing but alter the numerical values of damage you deal and receive. It doesn't change the enemy's numbers or effectiveness, and can't do anything to conjure intelligent or surprising behaviour from their AI, or interesting dynamics from fighting them. They either run straight at you, or they don't, and you usually only have one avenue of attack.

An attempt to vary the pace a little with the inclusion of the ASE or All Seeing Eye - an orb that reveals secrets invisible to the naked eye - is as transparent as it sounds and as the clues that ham-fistedly remind you to use it. Collectables for collecting's sake, "ghost mines", puzzles without depth or purpose and the same secret bunker with the same unimpressive secret gun in it for the fourth level in a row do nothing to improve your enjoyment of the flavourless blasting. The same is true of the mechanical achievements, awarded for completing levels or shooting X number of enemies with gun Y.

'The Conduit' Screenshot 3

Like so many FPS enemies, The Conduit's all sport convenient, glowing headshot targets.

It's not the visual tour-de-force we've been led to expect, either. Although smooth-running and boasting a high degree of technical polish in the effects, The Conduit suffers from weak, derivative artwork and corner-cutting in the details, and as an entrant in the Wii's beauty pageant it can't hope to hold its own against the sumptuously presented (and, for that matter, vastly more entertaining) House of the Dead: Overkill, for example.

Nonetheless, the snappy, futuristic thrill of the controls adds a great deal of the tactile satisfaction that the guns lack, and the design of The Conduit is so bland that it doesn't do much more wrong than it does right, which is very little. Shooting your way through it is unremarkable but hardly unpleasant. And it does have one notable bonus: very solid, well-engineered and enjoyable online multiplayer.

Let's not get carried away; what The Conduit achieves as a deathmatch game would be considered the bare minimum on any other platform, and it's certainly not without flaws. Matchmaking is sluggish first time, but after that you can play without pause and with little lag, even against distant players. The seven maps are well thought-out, with some devious spawn points, but the game modes are few - basic variants on deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and Oddball - and playlists get old fast, especially if you're unlucky enough to repeatedly stumble on the exhausting and ill-advised 20-minute marathon matches.

'The Conduit' Screenshot 4

There aren't many locations in the game that have enough scale to warrant using a scope, really.

The lack of standout weapons is also a problem. A ranking system adds just enough persistence to keep things interesting for now, but it seems likely that High Voltage won't be able to give the game the nurturing and additional content it needs to survive online in the long term. Still, the lack of any competition on the platform makes this competent deathmatch the Wii's default multiplayer FPS, and it's up to the task.

On any other platform, The Conduit would sink without trace - if we'd ever heard of it in the first place. High Voltage deserves credit for its technology, for its commitment to multiplayer, and for tuning a perfect set of FPS controls on a console that was begging for them. Its efforts shame everyone but Metroid developer Retro who's gone before, and certainly do prove that you can do a great FPS on the Wii. It's just that The Conduit - slender, derivative, mechanical and uninspired - isn't it.

5 / 10

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Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (102) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • muscleblade #1 3 years ago

    Finally a review that dears to tell the truth. Good job Oli!

  • drumbaby #2 3 years ago

    Sooooo....a real treat for those expectant core gamers?

  • figaro7 #3 3 years ago

    Yeah but really, who didnt see this coming?

  • woodyrulesok #4 3 years ago

    Not as good as Halo then.

  • Plewt #5 3 years ago

    Put my Wii up for sale yesterday. This further proves it was the right thing to do. I'll be sad to miss out on MP Trilogy and... oh wait that's it.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #6 3 years ago

    Didn't GamesTM give it the same score?

    Looks like a stinker and one to avoid :(

  • Darren #7 3 years ago

    I think GamesTM gave Conduit 4/10.

  • Nodebug #8 3 years ago

    Not much of a surprise there really

  • UncleLou #9 3 years ago

    Shame, although not surprising. I'll wait for Red Steel 2 instead.

  • wizlon #10 3 years ago

    I get the feeling that the only reason the press is being so hard on The Conduit is that it was so well publicised. Having played it I'd have to say it's nothing new, but it is an enjoyable romp and the multiplayer is the best thing on the Wii. 5 out of 10 is well off, some of the crappy party games (which are god awful messes) are only coming in one point worse some places. Saying that I'd only rate it at a 7, but that, at least, seems fair.

  • DFawkes #11 3 years ago

    Looks pretty good. I reckon it'll probably be more of a solid foundation for a sequel rather than a great game in its own right.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/11 @ 21:11

  • Aretak #12 3 years ago

    "To be fair, I reckon there isn't a writer at EG that wouldn't have given this a 5. It was always going to get a 5. It'd have read pretty much the same if anyone had written it. I'm still having it though, it looks good."

    Clearly it's the EG reviewers who'd already decided their opinion about the game before playing it then, rather than yourself.

  • DaDon123456 #13 3 years ago

    Dammit..... I really wanted HVS to do well with this game, seeing how much commitment they put towards the wii.

  • kangarootoo #14 3 years ago

    Bit of a shame that.

    Sounds like they nailed the controls, but missed everything else. Like lord said, what is needed now is a sequel that fixes all the bad stuff and then drops the tight controls into the middle.

  • kangarootoo #15 3 years ago

    Or... another dev to analyse and pinch the controls for an FPS of their own.

    This sort of reminds me of Halo, in that once it showed twin stick FPS controls could be done well, no other dev really had an excuse left for not getting it right (its never stopped them mind).

    Any future FPS on the Wii that botches the controls (as so many have done before, CoD I'm looking at you... or was it MoH... who can tell) should be viewed with amplified scorn from now on.

  • TwinFire #16 3 years ago

    Roll on the sequel

  • JahB #17 3 years ago

    unfortunately it was clear from the moment they revealed that cover art that the art direction was gonna be really, really bad

  • andywilkie35 #18 3 years ago

    No surprises here then! If it wasn't for the promise of a new Zelda and SMG2, my Wii would have been sold ages ago

    For now it can stay in the attic.

  • yupyup #19 3 years ago

    Shouldn't this children's game be marked out of 5 not 10?

  • DFawkes #20 3 years ago

    Sorry, when I said it was clear EG would give it a 5, I didn't mean they'd decided in advance. What I meant was EG don't make concessions for system - they review the game itself, and not it's place on Wii. Even the positive reviews all mention it'd have been less a big deal on, say, PS2. I respect EG for that, as someone who owns multiple consoles it's the best way to review games.

    I do hope something positive comes out of this, such as High Voltage allowing other devs to use the engine.

  • Bartacus #21 3 years ago

    This game feels good but plays really badly.

    It's poor graphics are uninspired, the controls are good but its so boring they cant save this. I played it & returned it immediately.

    The Wii dissapoints me yet again.

  • spudsbuckley #22 3 years ago

    Great, another game that makes me wonder why the fuck i spent €280 on my Wii.

  • kinky_mong #23 3 years ago

    @andywilkie35: You don't have an attic.

  • kremus #24 3 years ago

    You can't expect to put Halo 3/Killzone on a refrubished gamecube which is what people were expecting.. thats the problem

    The fact that you can play online without those damn friendcodes is a plus for me, TBH I don't see way the 15+ aged games should be forced to use that nanny system designed to protect kids, irrony is I think most parents already gave in and got them both a ps3 and 360 which unless you actally go into the system it's very much unprotected..

    Nice idea nintendo but friend codes is like giving you a rubber ring in a pool of sharks

  • CaptainScarlet #25 3 years ago

    Oh Dear. That's not so good then.

    Weirdly though, this review is considerably lower than the selection of reviews at gamerankings.com it's average there is about 75%.Most reviews sitting around 7 or 8 out of 10. Hopefully there isn't some kind of "reviewed on a debug Wii" debacle like the EA Tennis review :p

    An average of 75% isn't exactly great but it's certianly within the bounds of making it worth a try if you only have a Wii :D

  • Burkey123 #26 3 years ago

    I can understand the complaints about the story mode, bad AI, repetitive levels, etc
    But the review just gives one paragraph about the online multiplayer. Possibly the best thing about the game! Im buying it for the online and I would of liked a bit more information on that.
    Anyway, the score is a disappointment but I'm still getting it.

  • karstux #27 3 years ago

    Ouch, poor sods at High Voltage. I hope they can at least license the engine to other studios with better art direction...

  • MightyMouse #28 3 years ago

    Of course we know from Peter Moore that review scores are a bad way of judging Wii games.

  • schnide #29 3 years ago

    But the Wii has Mario and Zelda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111

    Oh and WiiMusic. And WiiFit.

  • varsas #30 3 years ago

    @Plewt: This proves that you're wrong to sell your Wii since it's possible to execute this type of game well on the console but more imagination is needed in the design.

  • reelbigkris #31 3 years ago

    5 out of 10 is definitely what this game deserves. I am going to take back my copy today and exchange it fr a decent ps3 or 360 game... judging from earlier posts on this site, the wii is obviously a very unpopular console with real gamers. It would be interesting to find out what games you all own for the wii to warrant even owning one. I only own Excite truck and No more heroes for mine.

  • varsas #32 3 years ago

    @kremus: As far as I understand it you don't need Friend Codes to play online games on the Wii unless you want to play particular people regularly; this is certainly the case with Mario Kart DS.

  • Plewt #33 3 years ago

    @varsas

    Problem is no such games are actually being developed, just take a look at the release schedule. Except for Metroid Prime Trilogy there is no reason for me to own a Wii for at least another year. I rather wait another year or so then and get WiiHD or whatever they'll call it.

  • septimus #34 3 years ago

    Hahahahahahaaaa.... surprise.

    Doesn't look good for the future either. I love Yahtzee's take on the E3 Wii showings, sums it up really. Selling mine during the drought was the best thing I ever did. If I hadn't made a profit on it the whole debacle would have been extremely disappointing.
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/09 @ 11:24

  • KDR_11k #35 3 years ago

    If anyone cares, there's a pair of cheap FPSes on WiiWare that control nicely, Onslaught for singleplayer, Water Warfare for multiplayer, both allowing online play for their modes (coop and competitive, respectively).

    I'm a bit undecided on picking up The Conduit, I do find dual analog controls unworkable for most games and clunky for the rest (best use of them was EDF IMO, the large enemies nicely compensated for the controls) and I have a strange reaction towards FPSes in general, getting bored by Half-Life and Bioshock but playing Quake 4 to the end...

    People sure seem to love the multiplayer.

  • miiiguel #36 3 years ago

    I don't understand why Wii needs FPS's PS3/360 style... As I fail to understand why there aren't other stylized games, mainly RPG's or even platformers, like we can see on the DS. Heck, DS even got its own charismatic, tailored just for it, GTA. Wii is a weird system, it could be much more, it does not need to be a PS3/360, it needs to have its own life, and not a "but mini-games" one.
    Edited by 2 at 10/07/09 @ 11:18

  • JediMasterMalik #37 3 years ago

    Completely unsurprising, it didn't even look that good in the previews. The hype for this one completely got away from the reality.

  • spekkeh #38 3 years ago

    This ended up exactly as I thought it would. Sadly.

    I'm also pretty sure the other extremely cliche-ridden game they announced will fare exactly the same. These are probably some IT guys who think they can do everything themselves. I'm all for indie devs taking a shot, but you really need people who focus on what kind of (distinct!) experiences you want the game to convey, before actually making it.
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/09 @ 11:36

  • Sonic_D #39 3 years ago

    Playing and loving Metroid Prime 3 and Madworld at the moment, but what will I play after these games?

  • Toonster #40 3 years ago

    Er, I've been seeing a lot of decent reviews on EG for Wii games recently.

    But when a 5/10 comes along, some of you just go batshit insane, babbling about how you see this review as way to reinstate the fact that you're so proud of selling your Wii.

    Let's say a 7/10 is a good game. If I count the number of Wii games that EG has reviewed THIS YEAR that are 7 or above, there are... [counts]... about 25, including a 10, a 9, and shitloads of 8's and 7's.

    While I'm a bit disappointed that the Conduit didn't turn out to be the great game I had hoped, it's still no reason to go around parading about how there are no games on the console. To be frank, the Wii isn't the problem, but you are (and you know who you are), because you're too busy wanking over how presumably 'shit' the console is to buy any of its games.

    edit: and for the sake of idiots like Plewt, those 25 games I mentioned don't consist of any VC or round-up reviews.
    Edited by 4 at 10/07/09 @ 13:48

  • sneetch #41 3 years ago

    @DFawkes
    Sorry, when I said it was clear EG would give it a 5, I didn't mean they'd decided in advance. What I meant was EG don't make concessions for system - they review the game itself, and not it's place on Wii. Even the positive reviews all mention it'd have been less a big deal on, say, PS2. I respect EG for that, as someone who owns multiple consoles it's the best way to review games.

    Indeed, I was going to just about to jump all over you for mentioning that they don't make concessions for the system and how they couldn't do that because games needed to be reviewed against the current crop of titles regardless of platform. If this was given a 9 because it's an excellent Wii shooter and a PC owner bought it based on that score then they'd be right to be a little miffed with EG.

    Then I saw that you basically said what I was about to in your follow on sentences. So, you win this time, DFawkes! But I'll be back! ;)

    I do hope something positive comes out of this, such as High Voltage allowing other devs to use the engine.

    I hope that's the case too, they started out by showing a very impressive demo of their engine and unfortunately their own game sort of lets that down, it all seems terribly generic and shooters on other platforms have moved on.

    As for Helbine or Comghast, I like them both but Comghast sounds better to me, Helbine sounds a bit like a cigar for some reason. And I always thought the aliens (humanoid ones) were more like Space Pirates than elites.

  • Plewt #42 3 years ago

    @Toonster

    Because counting Virtual Console games sure is fair? Please.
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/09 @ 12:05

  • JayScott #43 3 years ago

    @ Plewt

    Why isn't it? Please explain.

    I'll bet PS3 and 360 owners would point to Battlefield 1943 as an example of why you should the system.

  • secombe #44 3 years ago

    @ Toonster

    I agree, basically. particularly as I like my sports games. The Wii arguably has the best football, tennis and golf game of any system, and all 3 have been released in the past few months.

    These are, however, largely overlooked by the vast majority on here, I guess they can't say too much when Wii games do get 8s or 9s, but a less than subtle dig at the graphics usually keeps them happy for a while.

  • Plewt #45 3 years ago

    @JayScott

    I think you're confusing Virtual Console with Wii-Ware.

  • Salaminizer #46 3 years ago

    "shoot the same handful of clichéd enemies over and over again with poorly differentiated, unrewarding weapons, in repetitive and characterless locations, according to the whim of a meaninglessly threadbare and generic plot, and unburdened by considerations of strategy, tactics, options, or anything that might stir the most wavering half-mast of a raised eyebrow of interest."

    like COD4 then?

  • CaptainScarlet #47 3 years ago

    @ Mappman

    Like yourself I'm one of those people that thinks that 7/10 is a reasonable score and makes a game worth picking up. Where as a score of 5/10 means the game is likely not good enough to warrent my attention. Let's face it who want to play an average game when there are a fair few good ones out there. Reviews at about 7/10 can generally means the game is good but lacks that special somthing to raise it above the rest. From reading most other sites review score statements they are of the same opinion.

    That takes me back to my point which was that no matter how balance or reasonable and accurate people think this review is there are a large number of reviews that put the game firmly in "it's not bad" category. My pointbeing read more than just one review to get a "balanced" opinion and then add a little bit of your own freewill and go ahead and buy a game if you are still interested. Worst case is you have to return it :D

    Anyway, I know I probably wont buy it now as I was expecting better things from the game. Regrdless of the score spread I mentioned, the majority of reviews have given the single player section a rough ride.

    Oh by the way....I love my Wii. Tiger woods 10 is Awesome!!!!!!! :D

  • Incarta #48 3 years ago

    Who gives a fuck. It's not like there's a shortage of FPSs.

  • Daryoon #49 3 years ago

    Half-Life 2's Combine suggests seamless integration and sleek, powerful technology

    Nah, makes me think of farmers.

  • Toonster #50 3 years ago

    @ Plewt, "Because counting Virtual Console games sure is fair? Please."

    Actually, I didn't count any of the VC games or round-ups, so please go back in your hole.

  • Plewt #51 3 years ago

    World of Goo was released last year but fair enough, you said reviewed this year.

  • FogHeart #52 3 years ago

    It wouldn't be the first software house to create a great engine for FPS but put it in a bad game. Isn't it true that they want to license this tech to other companies to make games? If so, there is hope of a great FPS for the Wii yet...but if the samey enemies/locations is due to memory demands on the console that it can't meet otherwise, that's a damn shame. In that case we might have to wait for the other console's motion controllers before we can point to some game and say dual stick FPS is dead because we have this now.
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/09 @ 14:22

  • Collymilad #53 3 years ago

    I love all the Wii fanboys.

    You all spout forth about how people don't like the Wii because they are ignorant or haven't given it a chance. Did it ever occur to you that the majority of people ripping it actually have had one/played it and JUST DONT LIKE IT?

    I've had 2 Wiis, since I made the mistake of buying one at the start when I actually thought Nintendo might cater to people who actually like decent games. Then I bought another one when A SMG came out. Sold it again because the number of decent games doesn't justify owning one.

    No-one is arguing that the Wii isn't a capable platform, but you see the problem is it has been bought primarily by people who don't actually want to play the same types of games that come out on 360/PS3 - devs see this and, as another guy said, they don't bother to develop these games often and even when they do only a few are AAA.

    Anyone who seriously tries to argue that the Wii has a larger number of good "traditional" games than either PS3 OR 360 is an idiot and should really stop typing before they make themselves look even more stupid.

    The Wii is lost, it had potential but now that the fanbase consists of people who play games in a 30min burst two times a day and dont actually like gaming - it's a lost cause because devs will make what the fanbase want, and sadly that fanbase wants the gaming equivalent of pop music.

    Casuals can flame me all they want but I really don't care as your opinion of me based on gaming really doesn't matter to me.

  • varsas #54 3 years ago

    @Plewt: How about Red Steel 2? That looks pretty good.

  • siro #55 3 years ago

    PatAU: Since when is 5/10 not a bad score?

  • Plewt #56 3 years ago

    Perhaps, but there's too many must have games coming this fall for PC (my only other platform). I don't find it worth it to hold out just for a single game with such competition.

  • varsas #57 3 years ago

    @Collymilad: Sold it again because the number of decent games doesn't justify owning one.

    I can understand someone saying that there's no justification for buying a console when there aren't enough games they like on it but to sell it? That doesn't make sense because generally you're making a loss on the console and games. I guess you must be strapped for cash. I still have my Saturn and Dreamcast and there are no new games for them but they are both still worth having around.

  • Plewt #58 3 years ago

    @Sniper_Fox

    Nobody here has done that so stop having tourrettes.

  • Dexter2015 #59 3 years ago

    Other crap game for the wii!! There will be no Zelda this year or the next with luck it will be a crappy trailer...

  • Gearskin #60 3 years ago

    Well I've got it and, for what's it's worth, I think it's very good.

    I'll admit, it doesn't hold a candle to the FPS games available on 360 and PS3... but it's not on those consoles. IT'S ON THE WII!

    And the Wii doesn't have many FPS. The Conduit might be basic by any standard, but for the Wii it's impressive. The single player is fast and fun, and the multiplayer is ambitious for a system with such crap online functionality.

    To score it a 5/10 because there are better options available on other systems misses the point entirely. The Wii crowd should eat this up.

  • Plewt #61 3 years ago

    That's a poor argument. And why bother compare to another platform when you can see it's poor just by comparing it to Metroid Prime; a game that would be great no matter which platform it was on.
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/09 @ 16:11

  • Gearskin #62 3 years ago

    That's one game though, without any online functionality.

    I have two mates specifically with Wii consoles and nothing else. I tell them about the matchmaking and online fun to be had with Halo 3 and the concept of online multiplayer blows their minds. As if it's some kind of voodoo. These guys are casual gamers.

    If I show them the Conduit... online... with 11 other people from around the world... they will piss themselves.

    The Conduit isn't bad.

    It might be generic and very retro in its approach, but it's still fun. Great controls, solid visuals, fun albeit short solo campaign and a really good online component with a ton of options to mess with. You can't really argue with that. It'll be £20 in a couple of weeks. A steal for Wii owners.

  • FogHeart #63 3 years ago

    The argument about the Wii not having the target audience for this game has been addressed recently by Bethesda - you may recall the news article.

    There's no denying that a proportion of Wii gamers are looking for games with high production values and long play times. I mean, here we are typing out these posts. The question is, if all the potential customers of a game like this actually buy it, will it profit? Is there mileage in developing these games, or is there a slow net trickle of these players to the other consoles as they get disillusioned by the paucity of third-party titles with high production values?

    We are STILL waiting for a third part game that we can use to say 'Look, other-console-owners! The Wii can do it too!' This game does it from a tech perspective, but I just wish they went the extra mile with story and artwork and what have you. Like I've said, if those missing elements could not be included due to limitations of the console, like memory, then the game is lost.

    :(

  • rarehobo #64 3 years ago

    How can Conduit score 5/10? When Red Steel scored 6/10?! Surely Conduit cannot be worthy of such a low score for just having a bad single player, considering Red Steel had nothing going for it at all.

  • FenderMaster #65 3 years ago

    exactly what i expected

    + good controls
    + nice textures
    + decent multiplayer

    - Awful art direction
    - derivitive
    - very simple level geometry
    - dull repetitive single player campaign

    Overall, good enough by Wii standards, but doesn't hold a candle to other current gen fps's

  • KDR_11k #66 3 years ago

    I'Ve seen a few "maybe the Wii isn't capable of more" comments, please keep in mind the thing DOES outperform all last generation consoles. I doubt the lack of enemy variety is a result of memory limitations since the Wii has more RAM than even the XBox and that had some pretty varied games. I think any inadequacies in The Conduit can be attributed to developer failures. HVS hasn't been much of a quality developer in the past and everyday architecture simply doesn't look good in videogames (hell, it still looks like arse on the 360) because it doesn't lend itself to interesting sights. Doom 3 had a scifi environmnt where every surface was a demonstration of normalmapping, The Conduit has boring boxy architecture which consists of tons of flat surfaces that aren't improved with any amount of shaders. Same problem FEAR had which also looked like arse IMO.

    For anyone wondering if it'll sell, IT WILL. Why? There's a significant demand for a Wii FPS. Red Steel sold 1 million units and that was near launch! Whenever an FPS is released on WiiWare it shoots up to the top of the sales charts almost immediately.

  • smelly #67 3 years ago

    Its funny.

    All the complaints made in this review could be made against halo 3.

  • Gearskin #68 3 years ago

    I dont see how it can be a failure on the developers part when it's technically the most well rounded third party game on the system.

  • smelly #69 3 years ago

    >Other crap game for the wii!!

    Why do 360 owners always rush into threads like this to proclaim "another crap game" for the wii... while blatently ignoring all the crap games on their platform?

    >but doesn't hold a candle to other current gen fps's

    Well that's going to be hard isnt it.. considering the other platforms seemingly ONLY have fps games...


    Am I the only one in the world who finds fps games boring btw?

  • Plewt #70 3 years ago

    Well, there's the Half-Life kind which I love and there's the Halo kind which I hate.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #71 3 years ago

    Why don't people just play FPS games on the very PC that your posting comments from? Rather than moan about what was a very cheap console, not being good enough to do them.

  • snowdog #72 3 years ago

    Very harshly reviewed imo. Any Wii game with such an entertaining online multiplayer combined with graphical effects that, until Super Mario Galaxy was released, were thought impossible on the Wii hardware - bump, gloss and diffuse mapping, advanced particle effects, real-time reflection and refraction, focus blur and HDR lighting - deserves a higher score imo. User reviews and opinions rate this game between a score of 8 and 9, and I agree.

    I haven't had so much fun playing a game online since playing Halo 1 on the PC many years ago. The multiplayer along with the hidden radios, data discs and alien writings give good replay value. Good to see that overly harsh reviews such as this haven't done the sales much harm, it's sold 160,000 units in 2 weeks in the States, and I can see this going platinum without a problem.

  • Wastelander #73 3 years ago

    None of those techniques were thought to be "impossible" on the Wii, because Factor 5 had done them on the Gamecube 6 years previously.

    I'd also LOVE to know where you're getting those sales figures. NPD isn't available 'till the 12th, as anyone betting on the sales figures at GAF knows.
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/09 @ 18:47

  • secombe #74 3 years ago

    I have two mates specifically with Wii consoles and nothing else. I tell them about the matchmaking and online fun to be had with Halo 3 and the concept of online multiplayer blows their minds. As if it's some kind of voodoo. These guys are casual gamers.

    Eh? You can pretty much go online with the Wii without even thinking about it. Even my parents can play Mario Kart online. Sure the system doesn't hold a candle to LIVE, but the likes of Grand Slam Tennis are pretty epic online games, it's as easy to spend an evening playing online on that as it is playing single player.

  • Gearskin #75 3 years ago

    The online for Mario Kart doesn't stand up to the level of community support seen in... say... Forza 2. Although it's just one other example of a Wii game that has the functionality.

    I'll show The Conduit to those guys and it'll warp their shit. I bet.

  • segagod #76 3 years ago

    LOL at the playstation generation of gamers in here thinking thinking that they are actualy hardcore gamers


    The hardcore console gamers, who was gaming before sony made gaming the latest fad amongst the mainstream sheep, want our consoles to be full of great platformers, RPGS, adventure games, action adventurer games and fighters. Now the wii don't have many games in those genres admitidly, but the 360 and ps3 ain't exactly brimming with great games in those genres. The only genres the ps3 and 360 are excelling at are generic shooters ( which are best on the pc ) and racers. If anything, all the 360 and ps3 are doing is taking pc'ish games and dumbing them down beyond belief while milking people with map packs or yearly updates, and all you fools lap it up like good little soldiers.


    Overall, this has been the most dissapointing gen of consoles in history. Sony, ms and nintendo have gone casual. Its just nintendo have targeted new gamers, while sony and ms have targetted the sort of gamer who ten years ago would of been classed as the lowest form of gamer.

  • Gearskin #77 3 years ago

    segagod... WTF

  • KDR_11k #78 3 years ago

    Wastelander: Some sites have posted VGC numbers for some reason but at least that way we have a comparison value to point out just how wrong VGC was when the real numbers come out.

    I think the Wii online works better for casual gamers than Live because with Live you have to spend money and if you don't go online regularly it's not worth the money. I don't have a Live subscription because I only rarely go online but on the Wii I can just play instead of worrying if I'll use it enough to warrant spending 60 Euros on it.

  • Gearskin #79 3 years ago

    Live sub is £40 quid for every minute of every day for a whole year.

    Considering how well the service holds up, it's a steal.

    And if you're wireless, and who isn't, it's always on. If you're on, it's on. Friends etc. Nice.

  • smelly #80 3 years ago

    @segagod : Totally agree with you .. right up to the "lower form of gamers" comment. But it is true.. modern gamers like easy "non-hardcore" mainstream shooting games. They lap up stuff like halo 3 and bioshock and because they have blood and guts - they are considered "hardcore", and they dismiss stuff like mario galaxy for being "kiddy" or "not-hardcore" because it has cartoony, brightly coloured graphics.

    The mario platformers (and metroid games for that matter) have (imho) always been the perfect example of a "hardcore" game. In that they're hard, and take skill and practice to be able to master them.

    (unlike bioshock - for example - where you're not even punished for death! How to play bioshock : "run into room guns ablazing, die, respan, repeat until bad guys are dead" - exciting stuff!)

  • smelly #81 3 years ago

    >I think the Wii online works better for casual gamers than Live because with Live

    I hadnt considered that until now. I hardly ever play wii games recently. But i've played online longer on my wii than any other platform (smash bros, mario kart and animal crossing)

    But that's probably because i dont get along with generic fps games, so there's not much on the other platformers for me to play. That said, i have really enjoyed fallout 3 - but i think that's mainly because it's done something NEW with the genre (a fps crossed with rpg)

  • Gearskin #82 3 years ago

    Vampire did that. STALKER did that. Off the top of my head.

  • smelly #83 3 years ago

    I have a crap pc.. neither of those ran on it :-)

    I *DID* try stalker though.. but it was like playing half life 3 on a wii.

  • rubberducko #84 3 years ago

    Was hoping this was gonna help the wii establish itself in the shooter genre alittle more but nevermind, What I do find funny is that they criticise its difficutly for the fact it doesn't do much to dynamics, a.i and so on yet seriously what does the change in difficulty do in gears 2? Just alters enemy damage.......wow and yet it is not picked out. Constantly I see smaller developed games getting criticised in this way while the same part in big named games gets ignored just because people seemed to get brainwashed by its title and establishment in the industry. Ain't saying gears and that are shit, just wish there was a consistency in all reviews across the board on all games instead of reviewers and gamers falling for the hype of the next big game.

  • KDR_11k #85 3 years ago

    Live sub is £40 quid for every minute of every day for a whole year.

    Considering how well the service holds up, it's a steal.

    Yes but I'm not sure if I'd use the service enough to warrant the price. I don't play online much even on systems that are free to play so I have no idea how much XBL would add to my gaming.

  • Skurmedel #86 3 years ago

    Of course people get defensive when there is somebody taking a dump on the console in every review thread. It's the same thing with the other two platforms. They feel they need to justify why they play on the Wii, which they shouldn't have too, but again this is the internet.
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/09 @ 10:23

  • zakrocz #87 3 years ago

    Salaminizer - ""shoot the same handful of clichéd enemies over and over again with poorly differentiated, unrewarding weapons, in repetitive and characterless locations, according to the whim of a meaninglessly threadbare and generic plot, and unburdened by considerations of strategy, tactics, options, or anything that might stir the most wavering half-mast of a raised eyebrow of interest."

    like COD4 then?"

    Yeh, totally agree mate :D

    I'm still gonna pick this up, the review scores are all over the place for this game ranging from a 4 to a 9 and I was one of the few who actually enjoyed the shooting parts of Red Steel!!

  • Grayvern #88 3 years ago

    The controls may be good but playing the wii dictates way to much how you sit and your playing posture when you play games like this. But im happy in the end cause its more ammunition for the argument that an innovative control scheme does not make an innovative game.

  • electrolite #89 3 years ago

    Well put, Segagod

  • hobbesthetiger #90 3 years ago

    The usual Wii review arguments then, largely ignoring the merits (or otherwise) of the game.

  • smelly #91 3 years ago

    "The usual Wii review arguments then, largely ignoring the merits (or otherwise) of the game. "

    Yip..

    Quick look at the score, and a rush to the forum to write "hahaha wii is shite"

  • Nikanoru #92 3 years ago

    The controls may be good but playing the wii dictates way to much how you sit and your playing posture when you play games like this.

    Umm yeah but no. With the Wiimote, you can put both arms anywhere you wish. With the last-gen X360/PS3 controllers, I have to sit scrunched up with my arms together like some handicapped person at all times. I honestly find it hard to go back to something that dictates my playing posture so much.


    But im happy in the end cause its more ammunition for the argument that an innovative control scheme does not make an innovative game.

    Oh hey guess what, same goes for HD GRAFIX. Except people often don't seem to notice in that case because they're a bunch of monkeys who will sit there and drool mindlessly at anything shiny.

  • Nikanoru #93 3 years ago

    360 has some of the best rpgs ever, both currently and with backwards compatibility : Fable, Fable 2, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Fallout 3.

    LOL how you had to put two mediocre Xbox 1 games in there. I guess I'm counting Cube, N64, SNES and NES games for the Wii from now on.

  • Bazfrag #94 3 years ago

    From today's Gamecentral review: "If you're wondering who High Voltage are, they're the team behind Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude - two of our lowest rated games ever. Oh dear." .....and people expected a AAA?

  • segagod #95 3 years ago

    CountFapula


    The fable games and mass effect are as much of an RPG than san andreas is. They have RPG element in, but they are hardly full fleshed out RPGS, they just have some RPG elements. Jade empire i have never played, but from what iv been told, the game is hardly anything special. Fallout is a great game though. The only true great RPGS on the 360/ps3 are oblivion, fallout and valkyria chronicles.


    I will give you the fighters bit, though os3/360 hardly compares to ps2/dreamcast for fighters

  • segagod #96 3 years ago

    Just for the record, turnbased combat isn't outdated. The only people that try use that line are casual gamers who are obsessed with action.


    And if we are counting old games, then im counting mario rpg, shining force 1, 2, phantasy star 4 and all the other great RPGS on the VC, not to mention the likes of skies of arcadia on the gamecube

  • MDL199 #97 3 years ago

    Another crap game for the worst console ever made.

    The Wii is a joke!

    Show me the hate you Ninty gay boys!

  • smelly #98 3 years ago

    >Show me the hate you Ninty gay boys!

    homophobic AND a dumb ass.. well done... Lets play "guess the age" - my guess is 11?

  • smelly #99 3 years ago

    >Mass Effect and Fable are perfect examples of rpgs and the future of rpgs.

    Now call me stupid here.. but i fail to see how talk of rpgs on another console has got ANYTHING to do with an average fps on another machine?

  • Stugan #100 3 years ago

    The bad reception of the Conduit wasn´t that surprising, but there is no need to be worried about the future of the Wii. An overwhelming number of promising Wii games where shown at this E3. These are my favorites, starting with the best.

    Metroid: the other M
    Muramasa: the demon blade
    Super mario galaxy 2
    Cursed mountain
    Sin and punishment 2
    No more heroes 2
    Tatsunoko vs Capcom
    Dead space: extraction
    A boy and his blob

    Other games worth mentioning are: New super Mario bros wii, Final Fantasy: chrystal bearers, Red steel 2 and Rabbits go home. And don´t forget that a new Zelda game is in production.
    In other words, the Wii has by far it´s best years to come, and anybody who recently sold their Wii will most likely regret it.

  • MORZTAN #101 3 years ago

    Half way in this game is utter shit. The last levels however are quite good. 6 out of 10 is fair.

  • kevbot #102 2 years ago

    i would like to point out an error in the article about The Conduit
    "The problem lies in what High Voltage asks you to do with these magnificent controls: shoot the same handful of clichéd enemies over and over again with poorly differentiated, unrewarding weapons, in repetitive and characterless locations, according to the whim of a meaninglessly threadbare and generic plot, and unburdened by considerations of strategy, tactics, options, or anything that might stir the most wavering half-mast of a raised eyebrow of interest. The Conduit might as well have been designed by an algorithm, it's so resolutely free of creativity."
    The fatal flaw in this paragraph is well... almost everything about it is wrong. It does have magnificent controls, but the weapons are all different in their own way. i.e. the scar is a burst semi-automatic weapon the alien assault rifle is semi automatic and charges, they have fully automatic machine guns, rocket launchers, chargeable electric shock damage weapons that are either grenade launchers rapid automatic fire or charged attacks. While there are three classes of weapons that are all similar with in their own class only one of them is unoriginal. The other two are unique from all else. One class seems to be plasma but is actually more versatial and is actually living. while the other is electric and explosive (very high tech human weapon). While the storyline is unwavering and should have been able to be chosen. It does require a high level of strategy and skill to beat certain levels. Beside that the storyline goes deeper than the basic video games storyline. Including deception, foreshadowing, confusion, irony, and non omniscient views (for those of you who do not what that is it is the hiding of vital information to why u would be doing this in order to gain this knowledge first you must win). Although they did make it repetitive all good games get repetitive because they require the persistence to play the same part over and over again to win... and this game does that plenty. If you are going to criticize this game for repetition then you are criticize all the best games ever made. i.e. Mario Bros., Pac Man, Kirby, Sonic, Tetris, etc.) The lack of optimistic thinking is the lack of knowledge of all things that are good, therefore anyone with a self-esteem that thinks this way does not know themselves.