Gamer Limit Review: The Conduit

Gamer Limit writes: "The Conduit is a courageous effort at a next-generation FPS on a console that's technologically underpowered. The game may very well be a dream come true for those who only own a Wii. However, there are better games to be played on the console, and much better FPSs to be played on other platforms. To quote Rob Schneider, "You Con-duit!," but you shouldn't".

[Gr81]

So glad I think for myself and didn't listen to these nonsensical reviews. I'm having a blast with the game. Graphically inferior but control superior.

[EvilTwin]

Agreed, and well put. Conduit's graphics are decent enough, but I don't think they even surpass Metroid Prime 3.

But the controls are a new standard for console FPS, as far as I'm concerned. It beats the living heck out of dual analog, and that's why I kinda chuckle when I read reviews like this talking about "doomed" and "botched" controls.

If the controls are "botched" or "doomed," it's the player, not the game. The game lets you do any darn thing you want. If you can't find a fast, accurate setup, that isn't the fault of fully customizable controls.

[ChickeyCantor]

I was actually enjoying the single player campaign until my freaking disc reader gave up on me >_>...I hope a lens cleaner will help me out...damn it.

[Gr81]

In my opinion Metroid Prime 3 is probably the best looking game on Wii and artistically wipes the floor with games on other platforms as well, locked at 60fps. I mean the game is just gorgeous. The tech powering the Conduit is excellent, but I feel HVS were conservative this time, games like Grinder will hold up much better I think. But I had to chuckle, its definitely the player and not the game if you can't get the controls, I mean they allow you to tweak and change ANYTHING.

Sidar: The single player is enjoyable, but I honestly look at it as practice for the online battles to come. It also gives you a chance to again, tweak the controls to your liking, so take advantage of that. Scissor advised to make the bounding box as small as possible and I must say it was sound advice. Hope to see you online sometime! Send the code if you want to.

[kunit22c]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...
yeah i wanted to say all that but this is easier :) *Props to Shokio*
but yeah i really dont see how they could rate it so low, fanboyism gets in the way too much these days, its like they go in playing it expecting to hate it so they do, or they compare it to their 360 or PS3 titles which is somewhat fair considering the awesome controls but i swear they all over look that feature and dont give it enough credit.

[phosphor112]

Never got it perfect. It was either too sluggish for the situation i was in, or it was too sensitive to shoot people in the head. I personally thought Metroid Prime 3's controls were so much better. Probably because I just learned to use it, instead of mess with it for forever and a half.

[EvilTwin]

Arius -- There are some moments in SMG that made me go "wow, the Wii can do this?" but I pretty much felt that way through MOST of Corruption. Once you get to Bryyo, the game truly takes off. There may be higher poloygon counts and greater resolution on other consoles, but there isn't any better art direction than what you'll find at Retro.

phosphor -- I had the opposite experience. I made a few tweaks throughout the single player (shrunk the bounding box down, mapped a few different button presses), and after my first online session, I mapped melee to a button press, but haven't touched it since. I found what worked, and stuck with that.

[N4g_null]

phosphor112 I did the same as evil. Try making your bounding box small and playing with your sensitivity. I mean if it is too hardcore for you then admit it so we don't waste time trying to help but if you truly want to get it down for your self go online and get shot up. You will notice other people killing you a lot faster because they are shooting you dead in the head.

Man I played last night and boy have people gotten better! I wasn't rusty either LOL.

All you have to do is go online an you can see how good the set up is because other player will show you how good it is. It is very close to PC game play I would say.

I'm curious to see what happens when we put motion+ in the mix... I've seen some great test so far but I wonder what these guys will do with it?

[Gr81]

I agree, Galaxy had areas that were just stunning, that Volcano level was very easy on the eyes. Technically Galaxy blows Prime 3 out of the water but artistically Prime 3 blows it out of the water. I'd be curious to see what Retro could do on an engine like quantom 3.

[Shnazzyone]

If the score is below 7 typically they whine about how they just couldn't get the controls. Guess next gen controls aren't for everyone.

[TruthbeTold]

it appears he's knocking the game just because it dares to try and pull off what the HD consoles games are doing graphically. Seriously, is this a review? How annoying.

I was very happy with the graphics. But what's been far more telling is the reactions this game has been getting from my friends who haven't seen and played it over the past year. They are thoroughly Wow'ed that this is a Wii game.

All of that being said, it's all about the controls. Anyone who thinks they suck is either lazy, didn't play it, or a thumb monkey who can't fathom anything outside of analog sticks. F all of these haters and their "Reviews".

[Troll-Killer]

...of a game getting slammed, because the dev hyped the hell out of their game. All of the talk about "we can pull off 360's graphics on the Wii" was 100% BS and bogus hype-talk. If they'd never said anything, this game would have been rated MUCH higher, across the board.

Moral: Devs need to STFU, and make the best game possible with the hardware you're dev'ing for; the rest will work itself out.

[TruthbeTold]

People like you, and this "Reviewer" saw it that way though. A few unelaborated upon quotes aside, they maintained, and made a point to maintain that their aim was to squeeze out of the Wii the same types of techniques used in PS3 and 360 games. That the game would look as good as possible for the resolution of 480p. That people have been doing double takes and mistaking it for a 360 game at first glance, which is all true.

Now supposed professionals who misunderstood and are offended want to slam them for it and compare the graphics to Killzone 2 when they score it, and act as if groundbreaking stories in a FPS are such an expectation that The Conduit deserves the crap they throw at it. Like I said before, F those haters. Any gamer with half a brain who plays The Conduit knows that it is a good game, with an excellent online multiplayer. Not earth shattering. Not the best ever. But damn good.

[Seferoth75]

I think the -killer part should be left off. Doing the typical troll behavior of taking what is said and twisting it in order for you to have something to hate on.

Sad really. Provide one single link where the developer makes those claims. Do me a favor though if you bother( Most trolls usually dont) and try to comprehend the article you find when you read it. There is a clear difference in graphics on par with the 360 and what they actually said.

I have seen effects in The Conduit that I didnt see on a single last gen console. Obviously to those of us that actually know WTF we are talking about, HVS delivered on their promise.

I dont see any complaints from owners of the game on here. Just people giving their opinion on a game they never played complaining.

[Fullish]

ouch 5/10

[TheDeadMetalhead]

I played it, and I didn't like it.

[syvergy]

Why is everyone defending the controls to the hilt?

If they aren't intuitive, they aren't intuitive? I hate the Wii's attempts at Motion Control, its very awkward and tiring.

Give me a kb/mouse or standard controller anyday.

[ChickeyCantor]

" If they aren't intuitive, they aren't intuitive? "

It is, you point and shoot, not intuitive enough?
The problem is they couldn't get the right settings. And then blame the control system.

[EvilTwin]

Yeah, it doesn't get much more intuitive than "point remote, shoot there."

IMO, a keyboard/mouse still has an edge for long range shooting (but barely), but there's no way I can go back to dual analog for preferred FPS control. The remote/nunchuck is faster and more precise, period. But as Schnazzy said, next gen control isn't for everyone...

[chrisjc]

Gotta love Wii-exclusive fans.

It's just one review; and from what I played of it at E3, it was absolutely horrid. Sure, I might have a Golden-eye-esque blast with some friends in the same room, but the actual game was generic, the character models were generic, and the guns were boring.

If I was looking for it to be my "savior", and I ONLY had a Wii, sure, I'd be defending it to the hilt. But the fact is, I have a myriad of other, more fun shooters to play on the PC/Xbox 360.

[EvilTwin]

I have a Wii, PS2 and a (aging faster everyday) PC. Most FPS games ARE generic (plot-wise, gameplay-wise). Bioshock is the best this gen, but it's an exception, IMO.

Critiques on the level layout, art design, repetitive enemies...that is fair game.

But the controls? Complaining about a fully customizable layout (and giving it as a main reason for a low score) is beyond stupid. If you're having trouble with the controls, that's not the game...that's the player. Period. You can make the controls into almost anything you want to -- from shrinking the bounding box to almost nothing, to selecting the Drudge camera so that movement is handled by the nunchuck only.

As mentioned before, go online and see just how good some of the people playing are. I hadn't played a FPS since finishing Prime 3 and Bioshock, so I practiced and felt pretty good finally getting above 30 kills in a free for all. Took about a week off (had a wedding to go to), went on last night, and got absolutely mauled. This game is VICIOUS online. And the controls are probably the biggest factor -- keep your head down, or it'll be shot off in short order.

The Conduit has definite faults, but the controls aren't one of 'em. IMO.

[Gr81]

What are you talking about? There is no defending necessary here. Most people who played the game love it, which is in stark contrast to the majority of "reviews" out there. No way is this game a 5/10, there just seems to be a huge bias against this game simply because its on the Wii.

I could careless about the bad reviews though, and its funny how the bad reviews get all kinds of traffic but the good reviews are barren of any comments. The real reviews people should listen to are user reviews. When the user reviews and site administered reviews are way off you know there is a problem with the gaming media being out of touch with the mainstream gamer. That's just my opinion.

EDIT: User reviews are more valid, especially since game reviews seem to be paid for nowadays. Plus I was going more on the broader side of the media not just this guys review. Knee jerk reaction? Whatever guy, reviewers do that all the time (making their opinions out to be more relevant than the general publics, where have you been?) I like the game and would rate it in the 8's it's not the greatest FPS ever made, but online mp is crack and they have set the standard for console fps control schemes.

[chrisjc]

@Arius
After checking into the writer's portfolio, you'll find he is just a 20 something gamer who can write, and loves the Wii.

He just didn't like it. Saying "a user's" opinions are less valid than this writer's doesn't make any sense.

I don't think any reviewer ever claims that his opinion is better than anyone else's, that's just the knee-jerk response of a fanboy when his game is "attacked".

Edit: I doubt this review was paid for on this particular internet blog. It's a conspiracy right? All websites want to do is keep the Wii down and sell out to large corporations. Give me a break.

[cherrycreamsauce]

I agree. Give me dual stick controls any day. Have fun competing against a keyboard/mouse/dualstick pro with any sort of deadzone.

[EvilTwin]

Cherry -- You can shrink the dead zone to nothing more than a speck. It's as close as you can get to a mouse/keyboard without booting up your PC. And that setup is still tops, IMO, but the remote/nunchuck is next best. Diff'rent strokes and all of that, but IR pointer controls are way faster and more precise than any dual analog setup I've ever played.

Just my $0.02.

(And this is why negative reviews that rag on the controls of this game have legs. Anyone who has played online has seen just how fast and precise this game is with everything maxed out. Complain about HVS giving some dumb AI and making a really linear game, but the controls are top notch. Complaining about Conduit's controls is like complaining about the graphics in Crysis.)

[Gr81]

If all you got from what I wrote was some sort of conspiracy theory about negative reviews for Wii games, then you sir are an ameba. Though I do agree that this websites review was not paid for, its a small blog site.

But to each is own.

As for Cherry...on second thought no comment. Dual analogue vs IR controls...that's a no brainer..for anyone with a brain.

[Seferoth75]

This game is in no way a 5... Maybe a 4 out of 5 but not a 5 out of 10 anyway. But then again unlike most of the people here crying about it, I actually played it for more than 2 minutes at Gamestop.

It is extremely odd that my 6 year old nephew can easily handle point and click but grown adults cant gasp the concept?

It amazes me how stupid some people will make themselves look in order to justify their hate.