Conduit (The) (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

So here it is. The big Wii title for the 'hardcore' gamer that they've all been waiting for. Hoping to fill the gap in the Wii's market for quality first person shooters, developers High Voltage Software have worked frivolously over the past year to get the title ready and into the hands of gamers. Announced little over a year ago, The Conduit has become something of a pet project for High Voltage Software, and Sega who have been pushing it through advertising. It represents the first official retail release for the company on the Wii and also a showcase of their Quantam3 Engine. It also brings to an end the 'Big 3' release of mature published titles by Sega on the Wii, for the moment. So, was all the hype surrounding the game correct about it being the Wii's answer to Halo or has said hype caused it to flatline?

Gameplay

The other to consoles each have a highly respected first person shooter title in their ranks. Microsoft has the Halo franchise and Sony have the Killzone one. Yet Nintendo doesn't have one. Outside of Metroid Prime, which isn't a true first person shooter anyway, there isn't something that pulls in the same crowd that those aforementioned titles do on the other consoles. And this is where High Voltage Software has stepped in. Their intention has been to bring a quality FPS title to the Wii, bringing all of the action that is regularly seen on the other consoles. And to a point, they've managed to achieve this. As the player, you take control of Michael Ford who is contacted by a secret organisation, known only as The Trust, and are tasked with retrieving an advanced piece of technology for them from another secret organisation run by a man only known as Prometheus and showcasing to the President the intent of his organisation. Unfortunately, you quickly fulfil your duty and the tables are turned on you as you are deemed 'no longer necessary' and the head of The Trust attempts to have you killed off. As the story unfolds, with the help of Prometheus, it is uncovered that The Trust has been planning to take over the United States for a significant period of time, with the help of the allied Drudge, a collection of alien species making use of conduits throughout Washington to take it over. It becomes a race against time to save the President and also stop The Trust from accomplishing their goal.

The story isn't as bad as some people would have you believe however, it isn't exactly original, but then neither are the stories in many other FPS titles. The game's story unfolds over a series of 9 levels, which is neither big nor small. Coming in at around the 8 hour mark, it's about the average period of time for a single player campaign these days. The overall experience of the single player mode is pretty good; it's not ground-breakingly amazing yet you'll enjoy the experience because of the tense atmosphere and the action packed set pieces. But this isn't just a standard FPS title. No, the developers have gone out of their way to innovate and bring in some new mechanics to the genre and the end result of this is the All Seeing Eye (or the ASE as it's referred to during play). The ASE is a spherical object capable of seeing things which the human eye cannot, and this provides some interesting twists to the game as progress can be dictated by the use of the ASE on nodes that unlock doors. There are also hidden data disks and messages scrawled on the walls that can only be interacted with using the ASE, and these go towards unlockables such as artwork, an achievement system, or to specialised cheats that change the gameplay. It adds some depth to the constant traipsing of the levels to find your next victims to gun down, and it'll have you thinking whether to keep it out and search for the clues or play it safe and continue on with your weapon drawn until all is clear. If there was one complaint over the ASE it would be that it is underused and could have been put to use in some interesting puzzles.

High Voltage Software has made big claims about their AI. Yet, while some of these claims are founded, they don't always come to fruition. At times, you'll be able to round a corner and stand in front of an enemy for a few seconds before it even spots you and even then, it'll walk around a bit before even shooting. It's a strange predicament because at other times, the AI is as the developers have said, superb. They'll duck or run for cover. They'll try to outflank you should you have taken cover. It's just a shame they aren't like that all of the time because this also leads to a fluctuation of the difficulty for the early part of the game. Further down the line, though, things really step up and at times, it'll feel impossible to pass through and complete the levels. Outside of the single player, there is a multiplayer option but if you're not hooked up to the internet, then you won't be able to partake in it.

Controls

One of the biggest pluses for the game over all other first person titles on the Wii is the controls. High Voltage Software have given you some default setups that you can use if you wish but the controls are completely customisable so it is advised you spend some time configuring them to your playing style. While the basis of the controls have to stay the same, with Wii-mote being used to aim and the analogue stick being used to move about, all other button presses and even gestures can be mapped to whatever you want. If you're finding the standard setup too taxing, you are free to move whatever you are having trouble with to another button. This complete freedom over the controls, as well as the speed of the cursor and the bounding box, means that anyone and everyone will find their preferred control style with ease. After a little tweaking, the controls easily surpass that of titles like Metroid Prime and Medal of Honour on the Wii and are as close to the feel of a mouse and keyboard as you'll ever get with a console.

Graphics

A lot was being made of the graphics for the game before release. Using their in-house developed Quantam3 Engine, the developers wanted to try and not only bring a HD console first person shooter to the console in terms of experience but also in looks. And the end result is good; really good. This is one of the better looking games on the Wii, pushing lighting and bump mapping to produce some fantastic visuals. While the game is hampered by bland and unoriginal settings, much of which are corridors or enclosed spaces, the graphics do look great and show the potential for the Quantam3 Engine. Character models look great, with the advanced bump mapping techniques being used to great effect here as well as the lighting and design. While the human forces are your bog standard agents and soldiers, the Drudge forces look the best of the lot, showing a dearth of variety and the style is reminiscent of many other sci-fi titles. A small yet interesting point is that the entire display can be altered, so you can move your health bar or ammo consignment wherever you want on the screen and you can also change the transparency of it, to the point where you don't see it at all. The water effects deserve a special mention and although you don't see it alot, when you do you'll notice the superb reflection and realistic movement of it as objects interact. Really, the Quantam3 Engine has pulled stuff off that many never thought could be done on the Wii and it's only a start because it's constantly being improved so hopefully the little problems with frame rate that occur can be ironed out.

Sound

Composed by Diego Stocco, who has done composition work for films such as Resident Evil and Lady in the Water as well as the Soul Calibur IV soundtrack, the music accompanying the game is incredibly fitting. The music suits the conspiracy theme of the game while providing that eerie touch to cover the introduction of the Drudge forces in Washington. It might not be as immediately memorable as that found in other titles, but there are some really good standout pieces of music that you'll really enjoy hearing. All cutscenes and text is all voiced, with Kevin Sorbo and Mark Sheppard providing their voices for some of the characters in the game and it's done to the same high standard as that of the score. Even the Drudge have been given a voice, albeit it is restricted to grunts and stock sounds for alien creatures.

Special features

This will be the main draw for many people. The online is incredibly robust, allowing for up to 12 players to fight it out in a collection of game types over 7 maps. Your standard free-for-all and team deathmatches are here but the best the online has to offer comes from the Bounty Hunter mode, where you gain points for killing your assigned target but at the same time, there are others out to kill either you are your target. It's incredibly fun and definitely the highlight of the online mode. You are also able to use the Wii Speak peripheral online, both with friends and strangers and when it works, it is great but you can't help but want a headset instead of the Wii Speak. Yes friend codes persist and Nintendo's online service isn't as good as it could be but The Conduit makes good use of it and offers up a solid service that is only pipped by the likes of Mario Kart Wii and will have gamers coming back for months to come.

Final comments

The Conduit stands as probably the best first person shooter title on the Wii, but then it didn't have much to go up against. The single player, while unoriginal and at times overly difficult, is fun and action packed as it should be and the online mode will keep gamers playing for months to come. Visually, they've presented the game well but some more thought towards the environments would have been better because it feels very claustrophobic at times and sound wise, the title is top notch. But the real star for the game is the controls and their customisability. It just handles so well. Of course, there are shortcomings but this easily sets out some superb foundations for which High Voltage Software can build upon for the sequel.

Pro: Superb customisable controls, visual and audio presentation is top notch, online mode is great
Con: Single player isn't overly exciting, some frame rate issues, can get overly difficult at times
Final score: 8

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