The Conduit for Wii Reviews by Gamers

We've all seen the hype for this game. The Wii system has a hot new title, but it competes with graphics powerhouses like the PS3 and the XBox 360. How to take one's mind off of this fact?

How about plot?

Thank you for a plausible scifi story line. Yes, it is possible, folks, and The Conduit proves it. Enter a world where the agent turns out to be his own worst enemy (no spoilers), and then makes up for it by blasting every alien abomination from here to parts, literally, unknown. That said, one unpleasant caveat I have to make is in the beginning sequence of events.

Studying for my BFA in English, I learned a couple of absolute no-nos in creative writing, certain tricks that make a story glaringly hackneyed. A forward flash is only relevant if it exposes some element in the events that occured before it that would be difficult to explain otherwise. Certain time-travel themes are a good example of proper use, or that episode of Seinfeld where the story was told backward, giving a unique insight into the plight of the characters.

In The Conduit, the beginning is not even exactly how everything goes down when the character finally catches up, leaving me scratching my head in wonderment. While there were no choice-based twists, the ending was at least satisfying, not awesome.

The graphics were some of the best that Wii has to offer, and that is saying a lot. Great use of reflection, light, ambient emmisions. Perspective made me sick, though. Constantly struggling with the nunchuk/controller combo while the world of the character spins wildly in odd directions was rather annoying, especially during one critical moment when called upon to slay several flying enemies at once.

Characters and AI were on average with most shooters. There was a bit of a sense that the enemy "knew" you were there, but yet had limited options for getting you. Nothing slick or original. Enemies also had a repetative feel, although they did shift slightly with the environment.

The Conduit has generally received moderate to great reviews, something around 76% on meta review sites. This game deserves greater than these marks, and it seems the that the game was over-hyped or people had unreal expectations because this game is FUN!

Story wise, its typical, but solid. The story would be regarded as a great X-files episoid, but for some reason it is really getting knocked around in most reviews. I don't fully understand this because the voice acting is great, there are twists and it leaves you guessing a bit. There are no mind blowing 20 (let alone 1) minute cinematics....but this is a video game and not a movie. This is a perfect video game story, one that provides motivation and a setting, let me do the rest through PLAYING! Halo 3 received better reviews and its story was rediculous and the gameplay was contiunally interupted in order to advance the story...bad form.

Another point of criticism is the bland level design. While this one rings mostly true, you will be far too busy you first time through the game to notice or care because this is a great straight forward shooter. When you enter a room, you need to be aiming and firing and you need to keep on doing that. There are no set pieces that take a full minute to load only to have to run, as opposed to shoot, through them to get ot another loading screne which seems to be a trend in modern "games".

A final criticism has been the All Seeing Eye item. It is gimicky, but it beats the pants off of games that have a seperate item for every task in a game. This is a spiritual successor to perfect dark, and that game and goldeneye had too many unique items. The ASE is great all-purpose item that allows you to not have to pause and go through menus every locked door or terminal to be hacked you encounter.

Oh, there are no vehicle sections, but THOSE are gimicky.

The AI could use some work, but the rush makes it harder.

Best Multiplayer on Wii. Buy This NOW