The game has a typical B-grade Sci-Fi plot. Players assume the role of Michael Ford, a Secret Service agent who is renowned for once saving the President’s life. One day Ford is contacted by John Adams, the leader of a shadow organisation known as The Trust, and is assigned to retrieve a stolen artefact called the ASE (All Seeing Eye). What seemed like a routine mission, however, quickly becomes more problematic as Ford discovers aliens are invading Washington D.C. Players must now put a stop to the threat as well as discover the truth behind John Adams and his ties with the alien invaders. The single-player campaign is relatively short and won’t take more than six to seven hours to complete, but the developers have kept things interesting by having frequent conversations between Ford and his superiors. In addition, players can listen to radio and television broadcasts to see how the outside world is viewing the events.
We see Barack Obama has been renovating the White House.
The principles of the game are fairly standard. Levels consist of multiple rooms and your main objective is to secure your location by killing all the bad guys. Enemies range from human agents who are working with the aliens, to various alien grunts and foot-soldiers. The main difference between the enemies is the type of weaponry they use. Humans typically use machine guns while the aliens have strange energy-based organic-like weapons. At any one time Ford can hold two weapons and swap between them, and because almost every enemy you kill drops their weapon, you won’t have to worry about running out of ammo. You’ll also have access to a number of different grenades ranging from flash grenades which stun enemies, the usual frag grenades which bounce and explode after a few seconds, and even an atomic variant which explodes and leaves a small atomic blob that damages anything near it.
For the most part The Conduit is nothing more than a run and gun shooter, but the developers have tried to add a little more depth to the gameplay via the ASE artefact. The artefact acts as an interactivity tool that lets players activate switches, uncover secret messages, collect pick-ups, solve puzzles and detonate ‘ghost bombs’. Unfortunately, the device isn’t integrated into the game as well as it could have been. Firstly, when the ASE is activated you don’t have access to your weaponry which leaves you vulnerable. Also, generally speaking there’s little reason for you to take out the ASE on your own free will. With the exception of collectible items, the game always prompts you when something nearby needs to be activated by the device. Its been integrated this way to keep the gameplay moving at a fast pace, but in the end it just makes the ASE feel like a cheap gimmick that quickly loses its appeal.
There are a few more things going for the single-player campaign that will directly appeal to the completionists out there. Some of the levels contain collectibles in the form of data disks, and by finding them all you’ll unlock concept art galleries. High Voltage has also integrated an achievement system, though the achievements mainly involve shooting 'x' amount of enemies with each weapon or finding all the data disks in a level. In other words, it’s all standard flair and unimaginative.
The spotlight's on you.
The one area where The Conduit truly shines is its control scheme. By default, players control their movements with the control stick and aim their crosshair by pointing the Wii remote at the screen. Grenades are thrown by gently shaking the Nunchuck, while the Z button lets you lock on to an enemy. The B button on the Wii remote is used to fire, the A button is used to jump, the D-pad lets you switch between weapons, the Minus button lets you reload, and the Plus button lets you take out the ASE. It takes a little getting used to at first, but after an hour or so it feels completely natural and suits the game perfectly. What High Voltage should be praised for the most though is the variety of customisation options available to players. You can change everything from the mapping of buttons to the sensitivity of the Wii remote. This is exactly what more developers need to do, and it also ensures the player enjoys the game to its full potential.
The Conduit also features an impressive amount of online multiplayer modes that support up to 12 players. The modes are generally different variations of team and solo death matches, though there are a few more unique experiences on offer. One example is Bounty Hunter which sees you score points by killing your designated target or anyone who’s hunting you. There’s also ASE Football where all the players fight for control over a single ASE unit, with the player who holds it for the longest period of time at the end of the match being the winner. During our experience the online play was very enjoyable, though it got a little boring with extended play sessions. Still, there’s certainly not a lot of online games available for the Wii, so it will directly appeal to anyone who hasn’t/doesn’t regularly play Halo 3 or Killzone 2 on other platforms.
Another feature the developers boasted quite regularly during development was the game’s graphics. While it certainly puts the Wii hardware to good use, if you were to compare The Conduit to the likes of Metroid and Super Mario Galaxy it clearly doesn’t standout. The soundtrack features average rock tunes/guitar riffs that won’t be winning any fans, but it does get the job done and suits the style of the game. Voice acting is also very solid and suits the personalities of each character.
Play him off, keyboard cat.
At the end of the day, High Voltage Software only half-met their promise at defining the FPS genre for the Wii. The developer nailed the control scheme by giving players the ability to change button mappings and the sensitivity of the Wii remote. Sadly, when it came down to gameplay, The Conduit is nothing but an average run and gun shooter with a few cheap gimmicks that try to make it look like more than it really is. The online multiplayer modes are a nice touch, but if you already regularly play online shooters on other systems, it will seem rather redundant.
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