Conduit 2 Review
Game: Conduit 2
Developer: High Voltage Software
Publisher: SEGA
Available on: Nintendo Wii
High Voltage Software are hardly a developer who have covered themselves in glory over the years (White Men Can’t Jump: The Videogame, anyone?), but in 2009 they promised to shake Wii gaming to its core by releasing what they deemed to be a killer FPS for a console that had otherwise shunned the genre favoured by so-called hardcore PC, Xbox and PlayStation gamers. That release was The Conduit, a title which used High Voltage’s self-developed Quantum3 game engine to deliver a half-decent first person romp with undeniably impressive graphics, given the limitations of the hardware.
While the Conduit did not set the gaming world alight, it did make a good fist at online matchmaking, and (more importantly) had the most well-realised and implemented set of controls yet seen for a Wii FPS, making full and intuitive use of the Wii remote and nunchuk.
Although the control scheme was tight as a gnat’s chuff, Conduit’s actual gameplay was dull as dishwater, with rubbish enemy AI, uninspiring weaponry, and long, plodding levels through a series of boring locations. Sure, The Conduit was superior to the likes of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Medal Of Honor: Heroes which had gone before it, but the game was very much a big fish in a small pond and would have been laughed out of town were it to have appeared on one of this generation’s higher-powered gaming platforms.
High Voltage were writing cheques that they clearly could not cash whilst promoting The Conduit, and promised all and sundry. This goes some way to explain why they have decided to cut out much of the fanfare prior to the release of the sequel. The question is, have these plucky developers taken on board the criticisms of the first game and made enough improvements to warrant the purchase of Conduit 2?
STORY: Every decent first person shooter worth its salt needs a hero: a singular, stone-cold killing machine capable of taking on an entire enemy force on his Jack Jones, much the same as Rambo did when engaging (and destroying with a bow and arrow) the might of the Russians back in the 80s. The Conduit 2 gives us the rather conservatively-named Michael Ford, who sounds more like an insurance salesman than a guns-blazing badass army-of-one. Despite his weak-sounding moniker, Ford finds himself in a hell of a pickle, tasked with taking down a horde of enemies, the clunkily named Drudge, whose name evokes an off-brand drain unblocker rather than an unstoppable and sinister enemy force.
The plot draws on both ancient mythology and various Arthur C. Clarke-baffling mysteries, like the Tunguska explosion, the city of Atlantis and the Bermuda Triangle. Ultimately, it is a load of old science fiction tripe, much the same as 99% of FPS games, and as such can be largely ignored. It does stand out from the crowd for one novel inclusion however, the chance to see George Washington and Abraham Lincoln come back from the dead and dish out a Mount Rushmore-sized hiding to a bunch of aliens whilst decked out in full space marine armour. It is enough to make you want to belt out The Star-Spangled Banner, and no mistake.
GRAPHICS: The graphics in the first Conduit game were far from offensive, and certainly pushed the console near to its meagre limits. Visually, the sequel undoubtedly improves on the original. Everything looks more polished, from the excellent new water and lighting effects, to the infinitely more imaginative and better-designed enemies. The locales in which the action takes place are far more varied, not to mention expansive, with multiple paths to explore across the levels rather than the clutch of claustrophobic and samey tunnels, sewers and corridors that were featured in the preceding game.
The frame rate is solid, and whilst the action does suffer during the multiplayer split-screen mode, the game still looks mightily impressive with the screen ablaze with gunfire, a plethora of different bad guys, and well-thought out destructible scenery blowing up all over the place. The Wii might not have the clout or the HD capabilities of other machines, but with the exception of a few suspect textures and blocky moments, the Quantum3 engine serves up a real aesthetic treat.
SOUND: Conduit 2 features a decent array of meaty, satisfying gun sounds, as well as the usual cinematic sci-fi score that warbles away in the background. There is some hilariously cheesy voice acting straight out of a dodgy B-movie, but when it is being used to carry along the mental plot (which pulls in more conspiracy theories than a whole season of The X Files), it is highly entertaining. Hell, the game even allows Ford to break the fourth wall and crack terrible jokes to the camera. This is a voice-over nadir-stroke-masterpiece straight out of the Resident Evil school of hamminess.
GAMEPLAY: Forget the graphics and sound, what really matters to a corking FPS is how the thing plays, and in the case of a Wii release, how it controls. The lauded controls from The Conduit return here and are fully customisable in a number of different ways. Wii MotionPlus is supported, and makes the excellent control scheme even better with improved accuracy and a less twitchy feel. The MotionPlus is most noticeable when using a thrusting motion to initiate melee combat, making the experience very enjoyable. That is, if battering aliens gets your rocks off.
With the nunchuk being used to move your character and the Wii Remote handling the shooting and aiming, Conduit 2’s controls are so natural for this genre that you will wonder how you ever lived without them before. Of course, they are not for everyone, and the option is also there to use the Classic Controller, although it must be emphasized that this method is best avoided unless you really cannot get to grips with the Wii Remote/nunchuk combo.
The central stock single player game gives you fifteen very varied missions to complete, which involve traversing the landscape, shooting alien scum, solving basic puzzles, and fighting boss battles with a variety of weapons. Between each level you return to a home base of sorts, where you are able to customise your weapons to prepare you for the mission ahead. There are new enemies to contend with, such as horrible mucus-covered spawning sack things which cough out nasty melee-range critters for you to repel with your controller.
The game also features improved AI which sees enemies actually make intelligent use of cover. It also ensures that they attack appropriately depending on the kind weapon they are using. For example, a sniping enemy will sensibly try and stay hidden and out of range, whilst a foe holding a melee weapon is more likely to leg it towards you and get all up in your grill. This time around you can interact more with the scenery, flipping tables and other objects over to create yourself a bit of cover, for example. There are also parts of the landscape that you are able to destroy.
Your protagonist is accompanied throughout his perilous mission by the All Seeing Eye (ASE), an alien device that assists you along the way by helping to uncover secrets and suchlike by scanning your surroundings. The ASE was present in The Conduit but is yet another feature to have been improved upon in the sequel; whilst in the previous iteration the ASE had to be aimed manually in order to find hidden gubbins with a single stream of light, Conduit 2 allows you to scan your entire vista in a similar fashion to Samus in Metroid Prime.
The arsenal of weapons has been broadened as well to include an array of bonkers alien hardware for your delectation. Machine guns and charge-and-release lasers are joined by a superb device that allows you to absorb and then return your enemies’ fire. This reviewer’s favourite weapon is the gun that fires out what appears to be a stream of vicious bees that sting your foe to death.
MULTIPLAYER: Online functionality is highly important in this day and age, where FPS titles are among the most popular genres of game played online. Consequently, the way that multiplayer functionality is implemented is scrutinised by the gaming community, who will respond vociferously if it is not up to scratch. There are certainly no worries here, High Voltage have gone all out to provide an excellent online experience for Wii gamers which does not disappoint.
Everything that you would find in, say, a top drawer Xbox 360 shooter, is available here. You get a wide selection of maps to battle in, the ability to customise your character’s weaponry and armour using points earned in single or multiplayer modes, support for chat over a headset, and a superb system called “Rivals” which negates the need for adding those pesky Wii Friend Codes by allowing you to easily hook up with a player you have previously encountered online.
The various modes on offer include the standard Deathmatch and flag capture scenarios, a cool survival mode that pits you against increasingly more hostile waves of enemies, and a quirky wee jaunt reminiscent of O.G. Mario Kart that involved popping the “balloons” of your enemies. All of this comes with an excellent split-screen option for up to four players, and full use of game’s eclectic array of death-dealing guns. Minor criticism must be aimed at the online experience for slightly annoying waiting times to connect, but overall the multiplayer is a triumph and easily the best you will encounter on the console.
LONGEVITY: The single player game, whilst pretty damn tough and nearly twice as long as that in The Conduit, is still quite short and most experienced FPS players will find that it can be conquered in around four to five hours. That said, the game does have some unlockable features, such as the ability to play through some of the multiplayer maps in single player mode, which will add to the length of the overall experience. The real staying power comes from the multiplayer mode, which should keep you entertained for some time. Gaining points to customise your character profile is compulsive as you will want to create an avatar that suits your playing style. Although this will take time to achieve, it is time well spent.
VERDICT: The Conduit 2 is a massive improvement over its predecessor. SEGA were right to stick by High Voltage, who have quite obviously listened to the masses and come up with a superb sequel that does everything bigger and better, with considerable style. Sure, the plot is batshit crazy, and graphically the Wii is never going to be able to compete with the big boys. But the gameplay is sound, the multiplayer fantastic, and…..well….it has a gun that fires bees. As FPS titles go, Conduit 2 can justifiably stand tall next to some of the big hitters that dominate the sales charts these days.
