The Conduit Review

Back two console generations ago, Nintendo sat squarely on top of the console first-person shooter market.  Staples like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and the Turok series appeased itchy trigger fingers while ports of PC shooters such as Doom, Quake and Forsaken filled in the gaps.  If you wanted a good RPG, you went to the PlayStation.  But if you wanted a good first-person shooter, you went to the Nintendo 64.

With the launch of the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, things changed a bit.  Nintendo’s new disc-based console seemed to be nearly bereft of the FPS genre while Microsoft’s first entry in the console market, the Xbox, debuted the new industry standard: Halo.

Nintendo never really seemed to recover its once renowned FPS status, even with the release of the Wii in 2006, which promised unprecedented aiming controls on a console as evidenced by Retro Studio’s Metroid Prime 3.  The sad truth was that despite the fact that a nunchuck could be attached to the Wii remote for total aiming and movement control, most publishers seemed to focus on the Wii remote alone, releasing one rail shooter after another.

So along came High Voltage Software last year – a developer known (or perhaps unknown) for kid-friendly titles such as Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law and The Grim Adventure of Billy and Mandy – announcing that it was developing a hardcore FPS exclusively for the Wii.  Interest in screenshots and videos of The Conduit quickly picked up momentum among the Wii audience, creating one of the most anticipated third-party titles on the system.

So with the game finally in our hands, the question arises: does the Conduit live up to the hype?  The answer is, yes.  But that “yes” comes with a qualifier, which is, “Yes, for a Wii title.”

Setting the controls aside for a moment – and believe me, that is a hard thing to do here – The Conduit is a game that doesn’t really break new ground as far as FPS design goes.  But it is a title that delivers a solid FPS experience on the Wii as well as the best online offering to grace Nintendo’s console.  Hell, let’s just be succinct here.  The Conduit is the best FPS on the Wii.  Period.

The Conduit follows a slightly clichéd storyline of aliens jeopardizing our nation’s security combined with a healthy dose of clandestine organizations and a confused protagonist aided by an unlikely ally.

Our protagonist, Michael Ford, who is employed by a secret organization called The Trust, finds himself in the midst of an alien invasion care of the bug-like race known as the Drudge.  As Michael’s path unfolds, he learns of deception and cover-ups aimed at taking down our very government to secure an alien takeover.  If this Xenophobic story sounds a little familiar, it’s because, well, it is.

However, the true originality of this game arrives not in the story, but in the controls.  The Conduit displays exactly how first-person shooters should play on a console.  If you are familiar with it, imagine taking Metroid Prime 3’s intuitive setup, then adding full customization down to turn speed and dead-zone adjustment, and you’ll have an idea of how The Conduit works.

For years PC gamers have lorded over console gamers how much more precise a mouse was for aiming compared to a second analog stick.  But with The Conduit, aiming is as simple as pointing and clicking with the Wii remote.  Every movement is tracked seamlessly so that there is absolutely no down time during your killing sprees.  Voila.  PC controls on a console.

But suppose you don’t like the default motion control for punching because it causes your aim to fly wildly off the mark.  Just go into the control setup in real time and change your melee attack to, say, the A button.  Or suppose you don’t think the cursor moves fast enough.  Again, you can modify your cursor’s movement speed in real time, tinkering with your aim to the point of finesse.  Simply put, The Conduit features the pinnacle of current-generation FPS controls – as far as consoles are concerned.  I know PC aficionados may still prefer their mouse and keyboard setups, but if they manage to set foot into Wii territory, they should feel right at home.

Getting down to the game play, you’re essentially given two modes: a single-player Campaign and an online multiplayer mode.  Sadly, there’s no offline multiplayer, so if you were looking to invite your buddies over for some split-screen frag fests, which I was, then you’re out of luck.