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The Conduit Review
The Conduit is one of the first true First Person Shooter (FPS) games for the Wii console. With great graphics, superb controls and good online play, this game does a lot right. But as a First Person Shooter, it has a few things to answer for.  As a FPS game, it doesn't break any new ground, and FPS fans who have played these games on other consoles may be a little disappointed. But as this is a Wii exclusive game, and this website focuses only on the Wii console, I'm going to cut it some slack against its FPS competitors on the other consoles, and review this game in the context of its impact on the Wii.
What I Loved About this Game The Conduit has been hotly anticipated by action fans for being one of the first true epic First Person Shooter games on the Wii. First Person Shooters have always worked well on the Playstation and Xbox consoles because their controllers have two joysticks that allow players to look around with one joystick and move with the other. Making these games work on consoles with only one joystick though (like the Wii's nunchuck) hasn't always been a smashing success. The game's controls also have a range of customizable options that let you change the button layout and movement speed of the Wii remote and nunchuck controllers. Although it might take a little bit of time to get the customization just right for you, it's one of the few FPS games across any console that lets you customize the controls to this level. Like most other shooting games on the Wii, the Wii remote's aiming system works really well and movement across the screen when shooting at multiple targets is smooth and accurate. Character movement between the nunchuck and the Wii remote also works very well. I didn't find any camera issues where the character and the camera didn't move together, although I did find some problems turning when I got into corners. Coordinating movement and cameras into a seamless first person experience has been a big problem in FPS games with only one joystick, so this is a great achievement for this game. The game's graphics are also some of the best yet seen on the Wii. Although the Wii doesn't have HD graphics, the level of detail in the environments, characters and weapons is outstanding. This is another great feat from the game's developers. Not all Wii games have online play, but those that do, make the most of this feature. The online play for The Conduit is no exception and as one of the only FPS games on the Wii, provides players with a great experience. Online gameplay is smooth and matches are easy to get into. The online games are fairly standard for shooting games, such as Free for All, Team Deathmatch (called Team Reaper) and Capture the Flag (called Team Objective), and although they don't break any new ground for a FPS game in general, these games are fresh and fun on the Wii. For players who love the fast paced, run-and-gun action of online play, this is probably where you'll spend most of your time with this game. Although it doesn't do anything new compared to other games in this genre, like Call of Duty, it'll still give you hours and hours of great fun. The single player campaign is where the game has issues, and some argue doesn't come close to reaching its potential as the complete game for the Wii. Gameplay is very linear, and you'll progress through the game by going down corridor after corridor. There's absolutely no thinking about what you have to do next, and there isn't anything to explore. In each level, the corridors look exactly the same and the scenery only changes at the start of the next level. Blasting away enemies is the name of the game in The Conduit, and there aren't any side missions or puzzles to change things up. Although the various enemies look different to each other, they all have a similar level of intelligence, and use similar tactics. Between the corridors that all look the same and enemies that all play the same, there isn't much variety in the game and it can begin to feel repetitive.
The good news is that there's lots of different weapons in The Conduit which definitely adds to the thrill of the gameplay. Michael Ford also carries a device called the All-Seeing Eye which acts as a kind of super-torch for finding hidden objects and alerting you to danger. Finding these hidden objects helps to unlock items and weapons, but having no side missions stops this unique device from fulfilling its potential. The final painful piece of the single player campaign is the lack of depth of the characters and the plot. Even though you work for a top secret agency, this is never expanded on during the game. Questions like "who is Michael Ford", "what exactly is this secret agency, called The Trust", and "who is responsible for the alien attack" are never fully answered during the game. Even dialogue between Michael Ford and other characters in the game happens over a communication link, and you never meet any of the main characters in person. Despite the linear game play and shallow story, The Conduit on the Wii is a technical success. This game proves that First Person Shooters can work very well on the Wii. Now that the controls and graphics are sorted, the next frontier is improving the story.
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