Frankenreview: The Conduit

Wow this 1st person shooter looks great for a PS2!

trailingedge

@SaanZ: No More Heroes looks like shit

@ShaSt One: correction...it's not even standard. Substandard minus the controls.

YAY, Giant Bomb! And yeah, this game looks kind of weak. I will continue not caring about it.

@Comban: In my experience, it was fine. THere's an ever-so-slight lag present in most matches, but it's not game breaking.

I think the Multiplayer looks good for the Wii. I will pick this up soon.

SnowCanary

Im surpriced of the reaction, its like for reviewers only the ps3 and 360 have good FPS, and watching one in wii done well its the worst thing ever, and then point every little worng detail it has, despite ALL fps in ps3 and 360 have the same little mistakes and generics...

TOCATL

@SaanZ:

No, it was higher than that.

Also, why are stuck on the score? Read the damn review.

@mjn328: IGN Wii is a pretty silly fan site.

@jeembomb: same... HL1 deathmatch on WON servers was lots of fun too

@란: Yeah, cause it's either that or Mario Kart as the only playable online.

Adhominem

@Michael Dukakis - Mets fan - Leader: It does look very good, and I'll even drop the "for a wii game" part of the sentence. The problem is that the engine is brand new by game engine standards, so they're still working on optimizing it completely. As a result, there are a few quirks with the graphics that undermine the truly great effects included. For example, in the 4th level, you can see Washington DC on the horizon through a window, except its a low-res 2D background that looks really awkward.

deadparrot222

@Witzbold: It's actually a energy grenade launcher... thing. It's a ton of fun to use in-game.

deadparrot222

@MasterOmega:
1: Be more angry, it's making you sound very credible.
2: Every 360 game has better graphics/gameplay/story? Or do you just mean first person shooters. In that case, still no.
3: How can you make the criticism that The Grinder is a blatant ripoff of current zombie shooters, when there's only been a brief E3 demo presented. Oh, and there were NO zombies in said demo.
4: Of all aspects of this game, you can't criticize the controls/controller on this one. The game plays damn near flawlessly, and on par with mouse and keyboard, easily outperforming any dual analog control scheme.
Ok, I'm done.

deadparrot222

I love the "don'tkill" tag on one of the players.

Psychological warfare FTW!

mcderek3000

@Hindesite: This is their first really big title. They've done a few other by-the-books low profile things. And yeah, the Grinder will probably end up being much more polished than the Conduit due to less time being spent designing the engine itself.

deadparrot222

@Agumen:
So the fact that Cassamassina had probably spent the most time with the game and had one of the most in depth reviews, covering more aspects of the game than other reviewers has nothing to do with his score making sense. No, of course not, must be a bribe. How silly of me. We should all listen to the Giant Bomb guys, who spent a whole 6 paragraphs going over the game. Now THAT is journalistic integrity.

deadparrot222

@Thorax Ramrod: How is the lag against people from other countries?

EA Grandslam tennis has left something to be desired with its online, but mario kart works extremely well.

Comban

@MisanthropicGamer:
It has aliens... and guns... and is in the first person perspective... 's about as far as it goes.

deadparrot222

@dredgman:
Definitely has chat functions. Wiispeak and such.

deadparrot222

A Nintendo magazine overrating a Nintendo game? Weird.

I'd never even heard of this game before.

kneegrow

@Kasuli: the only shooter i play is tf2

SHERBO64

@SaanZ: Er, no he didn't.

The Conduit is very fun. Fun matters.

@eyeshield:

Whoa, I have a star? When did this happen..?

@MasterOmega:

"e idiotic cryptic orb"

I realized at this point that all you are is a downer. The "cryptic orb" is actually a really good idea and it helps alleviate the constant battling you go through in FPSers.

Go take a vacation or something, and relax. Yes, I finished reading your entire comment before posting.

Is it just me, or does this guy look like R.A.X. Coswell from Eternal Champions lol. They have the same BluBlocker sun glasses lol. Man i loved that game.

The Giant Bomb review is a joke. The reviewer complains about things that could be adjusted and spends all of... 6 paragraphs discussing the entire game?

deadparrot222

@octalass: I agree. I played Arena to death on dial-up with tons of players and it was fine. Granted, there wasn't that much to keep track of other than players and their shots, etc... but there aren't in the Conduit either. Lag SHOULD be non-existent in games on highspeed, I blame poor programming. Comparing the Conduit to last gen games like Halo 2 and Battlefield 2 it runs poorly, but then again it's wayyy less laggy than something like Timesplitters 3.

"On the other hand, its multiplayer component is great, matching online shooters on other platforms feature-for-feature"

So you're telling me it has chat and party options and you can send friend invites and all that jazz?

@Comban: You can play people from other countries. Chances are it won't be hard finding a match. The initial search is a little long, but then you're set after that.

@NeVeRMoRe666: Looks like a cross between Mega Man 1 and Tron. Either way it looks pretty dumb.

Having played the game, I wasn't overly impressed, and I think there are better shooters on the Wii.

illiniphase4

@Slagathorian: Woah, that really does look like Guilty Spark. Crazy.

imikedaman

Based purely on the screenshots, this game looks a little like a Halo ripoff.

Misanthropic Gamer

@Skyline7284: Maybe?

@Alex Mitchell:

I object to Jeff reviewing Wii games... he hate the console.

The guy gave ZELDA a 8/10

SaanZ

@mjn328

They can, but they review from the perspective that you ONLY have nintendo consoles...

SaanZ

@mjn328:
Strive key word.

The multiplayer IS the best for an FPS on the Wii.

But it isnt a good game apparently in general..

Its decent though...

but then again I didnt buy it.

SaanZ

@GohanGVO:

It is in terms of the gameplay it should be an even standard.

For the graphics maybe not, complaining its not in HD would be stupid, but the Wii is capable of a lot better than most games have shows.

Nintendo's games look good.
Okami looks good.
No More Heroes looks good.

even last gen Starfox adventures, the Tales games, Black, FFXII, ANY LEVEL 5 GAME!!!

that reminds to rant about porting Dragon Quest VIII, Rougue Galaxy, FFXII, and Kingdom Hearts to the Wii...

SaanZ

@Slagathorian:

6/10 going by what comparable games scored the wiimote is its selling point.

I done belive conduit IS good even for a Wii game.

The graphics were outdone lastgen on a whole. The main thing is that it had good controls, which means it shouldnt scare away FPS developers.

It needs FPS games with a good singleplayer AND a good multiplayer will manage to pull something off...

Why hasnt anyone ripped off Halo 2 on the Wii yet? it CAN pull that off.

Star Wars: Battlefront on the Wii?

It not like there arent game to port easily...

SaanZ

@Numanoid:

It was reviews by the guy who gave a Zelda: Twilight Princess a 8/10 on gamespot...

I wasnt expecting much after I saw the reviewer, though he has 'street cred' for getting fired after a bad review of Kane and Lynch on Gamespot.

He has biased outlook on Wii games, but I guess thats what he thinks.

SaanZ

@Raziel66:

Shut your troll... its drooling...

SaanZ

Actually, I'm pretty pleased with this game. I mean, yes it's not the next Half Life, but it looks fairly good, has excellent controls, and good multiplayer. So it's a good but not great game, and that's fine.

Now hopefully High Voltage can continue to tweak out this engine and license it out to other developers in the future. I mean it's a pretty decent engine and with extra polish could be even better. Having a least one of those available to developers should help Wii development as a whole.

WolvenOne

This is a new low in journalistic integrity.

IGN hypes the conduit for a solid two years. A particular editor seems to go on a personal hype crusade. We'll call him Matty X, or maybe X Cassamassina. Hmmm... odd.

They then give it the highest score out of ANYONE, while giving a rather critical review essay. Now if the payment/favour IGN received in return for this soft treatment was subtle, I wouldn't care so much, but...

High Voltage put Matt Cassamissina on the fucking box art! For fuck's sake!

Wow. Talk about journalists becoming the story. Shame not even artists could make him look cool. Ah well.

@Curse_Lily: nice finding another dominican in here, i an even following you.

just let me tell you one thing, this is hell here, and i mean freaking fking HOT, i cant even try lasting 10min on the street becouse i would die of dehydration.

I may be wrong, but this is High Voltage Software's first game, right?

Well, considering they're still in a learning capacity, I'm pretty hopeful for The Grinder now, seeing how for a first game The Conduit got pretty decent reviews.

Plus, they're using The Conduit's engine for The Grinder, so the hard development time is done, now they can just focus on polishing in the quality. :)

play the game yourself, make of it what you will

has generic storyline, so if your lookign for a single player game, you wont find it, unless your only console is a wii. then get it. multiplayer is cool, and fun, can tweak absolutely anything, makes foir some nice multiplayer rounds. again, if your only console is a wii, or you dont have xblive or something, get it for sure, otherwise your experience will be shorted by the far more indepth games you have on ps3 or xbox

@Oliver Wilson: That's an interesting point. It's fairly common for a Wii game to be compared with the 360 and PS3, but it usually doesn't work the other way around (the one recent exception I can think of is Ghostbusters). In the context of FPS, I think that this is because the dual-analog controls are considered to be the de facto controls and are therefore the benchmark. Also, the consumer base is likely to be more in line with professional reviewers so there's less of a need to step outside of that reference point.

I'm sure as Natal and the PS3 motion controllers come out, there will be a lot of comparisons to the Wii and how games take advantage of the controls. It will be interesting to see. If they are able to execute motion controls well for fps in their flagship titles, The Conduit won't have much of a leg to stand on.

anabbeynormality

@[instantcrickets.com]

@DominicGeschpeght: I'm not entirely on board with that, but like you said to me, it's an opinion, so I'll give it some weight. There's a lot of list there besides WaW though.

i dont really care what these reviews said. yes i expected abit more. but the online is really addictive.

@octalass: yeah. They prefer thet 5 star scale and are very free/open about using the whole scale. Most reviewers tend to give a mediocre game about a 6/7 on a 10 level scale. It's not too bad. But most of the reviews seem to be fairly positive.
Still gonna get it when it comes out in he EU

@Odin: I'm costarican, so I've only seen snow once, in NY. Other than that it just sunny with some rain all year long :P

tavo31

@Bonus-Round: Yea i played it at a friend's house on his 42", dosen't do wii any favours. at home however i have a 27" HDTV hooked up to my wii with component cables and it looks spectacular. not crysis or killzone spectacular mind you but spectacular nonetheless, i think this is why most wii demo units are at 27" displays.

Call of Duty: World at War better than The Conduit? Nope, you're wrong there buddy. Even though it's just your opinion, overall, everything about The Conduit surpasses COD:WAW for the Wii.

DominicGeschpeght

@hossZ: agreed.

THEMISSING

@Inferno-X: it's right on the money actually. decent game, nothing special.

THEMISSING

@Curse_Lily: I would rather have hot and humid then cold and snowy.

@guitarzan2k5: For the most part, I would agree with them. Also felt really short and simple for the one player. I wanted it to keep going and getting better, but...it didn't. If they had kept going with it, the game could have reached epic proportions.

Instead...fizzles out.

@sentroshi: No, it isn't. I hope Red Steel 2 will someday grace that list though ;-)

@anabbeynormality: I think it depends on if they do it even handedly. Do PS3/360 shooters get their controls/graphics compared to the Wii or PC? I think for the most part they don't. I don't particularly like joysticks for FPS, so the conduit has some of the best console FPS controls I've played. The graphics are bad no matter how you cut it though, but I'd chalk that up more to their art direction than the hardware limitations. I think you see the "for a wii game" because the 360/PS3 are so similar. If you'd had two console lines go the wii route, I suspect we'd be seeing alot more "game X controls well..for a Y game", and it would be implicit that systems' notY's graphics are compared to each other not system Y.

Oliver Wilson

"And it also delivers a robust multiplayer experience on a platform that isn't exactly known for its only capabilities."

Freudian slip? Or subtle jab at the Wii? You decide!

RubyMars

@Falsoman: I would have bought the conduit for its multiplayer.
But then I remember I live in Australia and I'm not sure how much this will sell and how many others will actually be online, and if they are for how long they will remain to be playing online, I'd expect it to have virtually noone on in off peak times within a few months.
So I'd rather just stick to online multiplayer with my PC because of that.
Otherwise I think if multiplayer is what someone wants, for the reasons you listed it would be pretty damn worthwhile.

Comban

@sentroshi: Although, I loved that game ...

@mjn328: Well, I hope Red Steel isn't on your list in the top of your head.

I like the game. Really awesome.
It's neat that it seems to be getting more favourable buzz than negative. But I want a mixed reaction so the developers can examine the negatives, re-work at them, and fix them incase they make a sequel.

It's kind of like Mario for me. Super Mario 64 was a great game, then Sunshine came out. It was an okay Mario, just not the best. Then Galaxy came out and blew my bloody mind with how many problems they fixed and such.

Mister_CrazyGuy

It looks like a cross between a Goblin Bomb a whiffle ball and that map orb thing from Treasure Planet.

Mike Capley

@beril: Oh God, I didn't even see that. Now I'm afraid to go watch.

@Curse_Lily:
I'm British born but I have to say I prefer cold weather to hot weather. I mean ideally I'd like it at that just right temperature that rarely ever happens but when it comes to extreme heat vs the cold I have to pick the cold.

Reason being is it's very easy to warm up but quite difficult to cool down. Especially because air conditioning is pretty uncommon here and our houses are built to keep the heat in due to the weather being miserable most of the time. Except for these damned heat waves.

Odin

What, no Eurogamer review? I'm just not sure Giant Bomb's editorial standards are up to dropping the steaming pile on the negative end of the review scale.

That said, who wants to play a game starring Captain OneNut and his future Oakleys?

@EmTeeZ: Shut your trolling mouth.

Raziel66

@NeVeRMoRe666: Personally I think the cover art is the only redeeming feature about the game I've seen so far. It goes beyond generic shooter style into the realm of awesomely cheesy 80s-style

beril

@ReVivAL: Okay that is funny. Well done.

@Michael Dukakis - Mets fan: So are you saying that you are enjoying the hot and humid weather i been seeing in the news because i'm going home tomorrow and i'm scare halfway to hell.

@mjn328: The hilarious part was in the video review when he said the framerate issues reminded him of Perfect Dark in an attempt to even spin that into something positive

beril

I think there's an interesting question here... As a game critic, should they take the hardware into consideration for their final score? It seems like different critics do this to different degrees and it has a large effect on their games scores. It seems like the most consistent criticism of the Conduit is the generic story and gameplay, but this is being compared to the library of available games on all systems. However, when looking at this game in the context of the Wii library, it is a unique game that fills a previously empty niche. Can a story be generic if it's the only one of its kind?

Anyone who counts fps as a favorite genre is very unlikely to turn to the Wii as their first console choice, so there's the question of who is this game for? The main market for this is likely those that only own a Wii (who therefore don't play a lot of fps), and those who may have previously avoided fps due to the high learning curve of the controls. Will these people get much out a review from someone who regularly plays games like Halo, MGS, COD, etc? This goes back to the argument commonly made with casual games. Is it responsible for seasoned, core gamers to review casual genres that they wouldn't otherwise go near?

Then again, it's not the hardware that prevented a quality storytelling and creative design. There are probably a lot of core gamers out there that would be interested to see what the motion controls can bring to their favorite genre, but only of the game itself is a worthy experience to tear them away from their PS3 or Xbox 360. Obviously this game isn't.

So where should the bias lie in the final score? I guess this is why Kotaku does their reviews the way they do, which I like. But, scores are much more widely referenced and accepted, and so it's an important consideration. As a consumer, I would prefer that the reviewer is considering the product in the context of who would actually use it, so I would tend to think that they should consider the Wii market first. After all, it doesn't seem like a lot of Xbox 360 fanboys were waiting on pins and needles for this game.

anabbeynormality

@octalass: It definitely felt like a 10-year old shooter, which made the comparison even worse (for The Conduit, I mean). Perfect Dark felt fresher than this, something we will probably be able to see first-hand when it releases again on XBLA.

Now I want to play Perfect Dark. If you have a 360, we should play it when it releases :-)

@Kibblez: *COUGH*

@Curse_Lily Gorilla Snow is Maximum Risky drizzt_rocks: Your all insane.

@Atomsk88: I like the legacy of The Conduit more than The Conduit, I think. It's existence will press other companies to match its tech, and I think HVS will be better off for it while making things like The Grinder.

I certainly don't hate The Conduit, I like it, I just think it's a slightly above-average Wii game, and that's mostly due to the tech and controls more than the gameplay.

@Hey_Blinkon: Alright, here goes. In no particular order:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Rune Factory: Frontier
Zack & Wiki
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (yay MotionPlus)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Mario Galaxy
Resident Evil 4 (my favorite edition, thanks IR)
Punch-Out!!
Okami
No More Heroes
Mario Kart Wii
MadWorld
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
House of the Dead: Overkill
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Excitebots: Trick Racing
Boom Blox: Bash Party
Call of Duty: World at War (sure, it's not exclusive, but it's better than The Conduit)
Trauma Center: New Blood
Wario Land: Shake It
de Blob
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (soccer that plays like an RTS thanks to IR)
Super Paper Mario
Blastworks: Build, Trade, Destroy
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Little King's Story (if PAL reviews are any indication)

That's not including a lot of multiplat efforts that work well on Wii (the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, for instance). I tried to include multiplatform above only when the Wii hardwore/controllers significantly changed the experience, as in the case of Tiger Woods or Resi 4.

@TheGuitarsonist: Is it fair to hold Wii games to the same standards as the PS3/360?

On the one hand, both "types" of titles cost - at least - $50. That is not chump change, and there are certain expectations from a full-priced product.

On the other hand, it seems a bit unreasonable to expect that level of quality from a machine that cannot match the others and with devs that did not (and, apparently, will not) prepare for it. It is almost a chicken-and-egg problem.

I find this game to be generic because it reminds me of Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Halo, and a bit of Deus Ex.

But I also find this game to be awesome for the exact same reason. It's weird.

@guitarzan2k5: That first sentence made me laugh uncontrollably for some reason. Good job.

SadAstronaut

@njd09: Irresistible right? ^_^

@Slagathorian: Yes, that seems about right. Thanks.

Btw, searching "floating ball(s)" in Google is probably not something you want to do...unless you DO want to, in which case y'know...go for it.

@Michael Dukakis - Mets fan: From screenshots they look good to me. I have a feeling that when I play this on my 40" HDTV, it will look horrible.

This is what sucks about having a Wii and HDTV....

Bonus-Round

@Michael Dukakis - Mets fan: Pfft snow and cold >>>>>>>>>> heatwaves and hot

drizzt_rocks

@octalass: Yah, I keep thinking that...and then I remember just how much my old PC FPs actually lagged. I can't help but feel that my memories of that "lag free" days are really just exaggerated notions of my own nostalgia.

This game is very good, if anyone is still not sure with the mixed reviews. The online is great! The graphics are good, great for a Wii game, (I have been playing Dead Rising Chop till you drop, and while a fantastic game, it is a horrible thing to look at). If anyone wants another online Fps on Wii Medal of Honor Heroes 2 isn't bad, but I strongly recommend all Wii owners Buy the Conduit, and get The Grinder when it is released.

jameslefeber

@Numanoid: They gave it 2out of 5 stars which isn't terrible, but not that great.

@Sl0th: lol you saw his balls

njd09

@octalass: Honestly, has anyone played a lot of Wii games lately? My wii is at my parent's house overseas right now, so maybe I'm biased...

Jeff also talked about this on the Bombcast, and yeah, as far as games on the Wii go, this one isn't terrible by comparison to generic mini-game collection #3. But if you gave it classic controls, or put it out on another system it would be a huge steaming turd. Basically, he thinks that just because it's on the Wii and its target demo isn't soccer moms, that shouldn't automatically make it a good game.

@octalass: Why should Wii games not be expected to reach the gameplay quality of PC, 360, and PS3 titles? It's capable, so there's no excuse to say it should get a better score. Reviews have a huge say in whether I get a game or not, and I want an unbiased score, preferably by someone who hasn't played many games on the respective console recently. That's like saying "buy Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing, it's good for a truck driving game.

NO IT MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT. Damn you, Big Rigs.

njd09

@Curse_Lily: Every one loves the Snow!

Gorilla Snow is Maximum Risky

@Michael Dukakis - Mets fan: Crazy thing is i'm dominican(born there) but i actually love the cold weather, the colder the better ^_^

@Ted: IGN had a review?

njd09

@Crash__Man: Seriously? Check out the metacritic score: 74. There's no way it got mostly 80s. I'm looking right here, and only 8 of the 22 reviews are an 80 or above. And IGN gave it an 86, but I can't really say I trust IGN when it comes to anything.

njd09

@mjn328: Well, remember that The Conduit is a FPS and so multiplayer/online becomes a very important aspect to the game. When it comes to a FPS today, story always seems to take a back seat, which is what I truly believe High Voltage did for the sake of making realistic graphics for the Wii and to have entertaining online. After talking to some individuals on Kotaku, it seems the Wii was in need of more online games. What better yet than a shooter?

Given the stance many avid gamers have taken against the Wii, High Voltage was trying to overcome that and show the Wii is capable of housing a quality FPS title and that motion controls can work very well towards a FPS. So, it controls flawlessly and has good online for a FPS. This FPS is on the Wii, so in turn that means the Wii has a good FPS.

It's not that The Conduit is suppose to benefit from the Wii, but that the Wii is to benefit from a game the likes of The Conduit. Sure it's not one of the greatest Wii games, but as far as a FPS on the Wii, there's not too much to choose from to begin with.

Atomsk88

@Dope boy hero - on a sabbatical.: Don't you know you're supposed to know everything about everything? You're such a trolling troll, you son of a troll.

EmTeeZ

@Dope boy hero - on a sabbatical.:
There's some other games. Here's one from High Voltage, same people from Conduit. 'Sposed to be sort've like Left 4 Dead, but w/o the zombies. Werewolves n such ... there's also another one from high voltage called A.D. 2000 I think, some type of bloody Colosseum brawler.

+ Watch video

@mjn328: Consider yourself pressed. 10? sure. 15? Maybe. But 25? Lets hear em:P

Hey_Blinkon

@Kibblez:

I think he means CANTduIT

amirite?

@Curse_Lily: How can you hate summer, none of that damn snow or cold. :(

@Hey_Blinkon: In retrospect I should clarify. I'm not saying madworld/conduit suck, I'm just saying the "for a wii title" suffix is disconcerting.

Hey_Blinkon

@Kirohitaku:
If you can talk the telecom companies into spending a few billion to update the US high-speed internet infrastructure then I'll be behind you 100%.

@NeVeRMoRe666: I'm liking this game a lot on the base of the controls and the online play that is working as good as one can hope so (voice chat, no lag, incredibly quick matchmaking)...

But i'm right there with you that the art is so absolutly generic that it hinders the game. I love the weapons and how they are handled, but i just can't bring myself to care about the characters or the enviropment surrounding them.

@NeVeRMoRe666: Yeah, the guy on the cover (and in the artwork shown for the article) is downright embarrassing. Looks like something you'd see from a sci-fi flick in the 80s.

I mean, those glasses? Really?

@TheGuitarsonist: Bounty hunter mode sounds like a blast, but it is kind of sad how everyone has to say: "Well its great for a wii game" meaning if the exact same game were on another console, I wonder what it would score.

@Kuwabara Kazuo: This is why i hate summer as well *gets a can of Raid* EAT INSECTICIDE YOU DAMN CRICKETS >:[

@mjn328:

That's more the game's fault than IGN's fault.

It felt like a 10 year old shooter with better controls. That would normally be a bad thing, but Perfect Dark kicked ass.

@ReVivAL: Rod Schneider CONduIT!!

Kuwabara Kazuo

@Donner, party of 4... er...3?: Oh come on, he was working with what he's got here.

Dope boy hero - on a sabbatical.

I would give this game a 60/100. the only reason it gets that high of a score is the manageable user interface, and because this game at least tries to get something right that was done 10 years ago (an ugly uninspired FPS).

The story is a mishmash garbage pile of "borrowed" (read: stolen) ideas, such as the conduit/closing with a grenade (Gears), some retarded alien infestation with 'pew 'pew guns to match (Halo), and some idiotic cryptic orb...reference not necessary, it's dumb. The art is beyond forgettable, so Halo fanboys should find this pleasant at least. And, then there is the obnoxious AI and story, I don't even need to go there, it's too painful.

High Voltage has always been a company based on making games based off the lowest common denominator of all things, and this is no exception. If you own a Wii...and only a Wii, sure, give it a rent. If you own anything else, including an original xbox, save your money and pick up something else (i'd save for this fall). You'll get a better story, better gameplay, and equivical graphics. And, you won't be annoyed with that stupid controller--it just isn't working out for anything other than waggling, a few sports titles, and other very casual fun.

And, from the look of "The grinder" (another blatant ripoff of current zombie shooters) High Voltage is setting the bar high for more garbage to come. Great!! Thanks Nofsinger and Corso, you f'in douchebags

MasterOmega

@Witzbold: Am quite sad that the game did not seem to do that well though. :/

That has got to be one of the worst gun designs I have ever seen. (Butchered mag-less P90)

The character really reminds me of something from Deus-ex though.

@mjn328: "probably name at least 25" Sigh at self.

@Crash__Man: Do you object to them using the Giant Bomb review? I'm glad they included it in this instance, to provide balance. I think the point of these frankenreviews is so that you can get the gist of 5 or 6 valid, well reasoned reviews without having to read them all yourself. There wouldn't be any point to these things if the selection of reviews wasn't an accurate cross section of the variety of published opinions, so it makes sense to include the Giant Bomb review as a dissenting opinion to those who reviewed it more favorably.

Alex Mitchell

@Crash__Man: Nope, they change each time. The reason Giant Bomb is so low is because it is a 2/5. They don't give half stars and Jeff found it to be generic. They tend to like the more interesting games and to be honest Jeff is a much harsher reviewer then Brad is. If Brad reviewed it i could see him giving it a 3 or a 4. Jeff gives a lot of 3's.

@Strangelove: Nintendo power can no more give a just score than OPM can.

@NeVeRMoRe666: Also, the limited edition box art looks much better, since it just says The Conduit with one of those symbols for hidden doors behind it.

@Kibblez: I was waiting for the "you CONduIT" joke but maybe that is just because I watched Waterboy two hours ago...

@ShaSt One: This. MadWorld's biggest letdown was its length, but it also lends itself to replayability like any other great beat-em-up.

@Kibblez are both on probation for your crimes against comedy. These are terrible jokes and you should feel terrible for typing them. ;)

@Ted: IGN's review read like a cover up for why you should ignore everything bad about the game and just buy it anyways. They compared it to Perfect Dark repeatedly, which made me want to gag a little. That nearly 10 year old shooter was far deeper with a better campaign.

@Rockabully: NEVER!

@guitarzan2k5: OH SNAP SON!

Alex Mitchell

@Strangelove: Yeah, but supposedly Nintendo Power is getting better at giving out even review scores.

After all, they gave The Conduit an 8.0, which was also the first review for the game.

Atomsk88

@Strangelove: Actually, I think IGN gave it the highest score, and they also put it on a list of the 25 best Wii games. The review was more damning than the score, which kind of bugs me.

@Twoje: Actually, it's kind of offensive. The Conduit isn't that great for a Wii game at all. There are much, much better Wii games, and if you pressed me on it, I could probably at least 25 of them off the top of my head.

Just because the controls work well and the multiplayer is good and they strive for more realistic graphics does not mean this is " pretty good for a Wii game".

@Ted: I'm not sure if I've ever seen them include IGN'S review

hmmm, do these Frankenreviews always use the same souces?

cuz I know that GiantBomb score is by far the lowest one out there for this game.

and I know that the MAJORITY of reviews I've seen have this game in the low-mid 8s / 10.

Crash__Man

@NeVeRMoRe666: Almost all of the high points in my review dealt with the graphics that did work, the controls, and the multiplayer. Almost everything else about this title is just not very good. Pretty average game with great elements that prop it up higher.

I'm hoping HVS learns from this though, and either improves the sequel or their other Wii projects.

@Sl0th: MadWorld is more of a standout title than this. At least it had great style, and was very fun to play. You heard people without Wiis wishing it was on the PS3/360. You don't hear much about that with The Conduit because, while the Wii controls may be great, it seems to just be a standard FPS otherwise.

All Seeing Eye used to be an incredible server browser for pre-steam Counter-Strike. I miss it.

jeembomb

@guitarzan2k5: YEAH YOU DID!

Rockabully

Thank you for not including IGN's review. I really felt like the only good point they focused on was the fact you can edit the controls.

@Curse_Lily:

._.

*cricket sounds*

Kuwabara Kazuo

@Sl0th:

Upload speeds really shouldn't be a concern for games like this.

If Quake 3 runs better ( on dial-up ) than any of today's games, then there's a problem.

That picture just screams, "Generic action hero!" to me.

Or am I the only one who wants to give that picture a caption?

hossZ

@Kibblez: I haven't use this in a while but you earn it.

ಠ_ಠ

Just when I thought GameSpot's score was low...

Aitrus233

@faxedge: I'm not trolling. If I was trolling I would've flat out said "Fuck the Wii, the Wii sucks". No childish troll shit.

But I did not know about this game at all. Like I said, I haven't been up to date with the Wii because I practically ignored it.

Dope boy hero - on a sabbatical.

@octalass: Game reviews shouldn't be based on how the other games on the same console do. Just because the Conduit may be good for a Wii game doesn't mean it's good.

Twoje

@NeVeRMoRe666:

Dude, I'm right there with you ... it doesn't really matter how great the game is ... the art direction is on the same level as "Fracture" in terms of generic, bland, and laughable.

FrankieViturello

@TheGuitarsonist: Exactly. Even chewed up food looks good at a shit feast.

Hey_Blinkon

@Numanoid:

Just remember it's on a 5 star scale.

@Kirohitaku: It's called the internet. Best of luck fixing that.

Piata

@Slagathorian: just gunna say it*

I, for one, am shocked Nintendo World Report gave it the highest score.

Reminds me a bit of Nintendo Power back in the day, rating everything great.

The writng/art design of this one looks like a real snooze.

I'd say hopefully Sega will farm out this engine for other Wii FPS games, but hopefully Wii Motion Plus is a better option for devs to start building on and Sega won't even need to.

FrankieViturello

@Sl0th: I'm just say it.

343 Guilty Spark

@TheGuitarsonist: More or less. I think only the degree of control customization would be praised if it was a 360 or PS3 title.

@Dope boy hero - on a sabbatical.: Trolling? I don't know how you couldn't know about this

@TheGuitarsonist: It's almost as if Nintendo did that on purpose.

The same thing happened for Madworld. "OMG Blood and guts on the Wii! What an innovation!" Meanwhile the other 2/3 of the console gaming community are curb stomping bishes like Edward Norton and blowing limbs of Necromorphs with wild abandon.

I don't think Jeff Gerstsman has played many Wii games lately.

The Conduit is pretty good... for a Wii game.

I hate to use that line, but there haven't been many great releases in the last few months.

Basically everything that is deemed good about this game is given the modifier "for a Wii title." If it were on any other console the reviews would be damning across the board.

TheGuitarsonist

@Kirohitaku: I really believe that that is more of an issue with ISPs more than games' netcode. (Not to say that every company perfectly optimizes their games for online performance.)

Most upload speeds that ISPs offer are just plain laughable and, especially in this current generation of games, is simply not enough to meet with our demands.

@tehdorkz:

The Kotaku review is actually already out

@Kibblez: HAHAHAh

GiantBomb's score seems harsh.

@NeVeRMoRe666: With that said, I haven't actually tried the game -disclaimer- so I might just pick it up anyway. More games like this, like we were shown when the Wii was first advertised, what with the shooting and such in the early wii commercials. I'm surprised not more companies have tried to use the Wiimote like a gun, sword ect.

@Kibblez: For shame.

When are they going to improve networking for online games so that latency isn't such a problem any more? GET ON IT!! I'm sick of it what is this 2000?

Kirohitaku

I just keep getting the feeling that I've seen that floating ball of his somewhere before.

(Insert requisite "lol lol you saw his balls" joke here.)

It's bugging the hell outta me...

@guitarzan2k5: It is already out? Damn...I need to work on my trolling skills. Unless I actually am in the past, and if that is so, I would totally appreciate it if you'd give me a ride in your Delorean to the future. I'd like to see how good the PSP Go's downloadable content is to know if I should wait long enough for the second big price drop to purchase one.

tehdorkz

@Kibblez: You forgot the "amirite."

Ugh, I can't get over the box art. I guess next time they should actually hire an art director. Maybe a writer too while they're at it. Still, I see this as more of a tech demo of what the Wii is capable of. Hopefully, someone takes advantage of their control scheme and make something "truly great."

@tehdorkz: Actually, it's already out, unless you live in the past, in which case I wave at you through the temporal warp that allows you to also view the present. They gave it good marks for controls and multiplayer and less than stellar marks for the bland story, AI, voice-acting, and textures.

Looks kind of lame, I've played way too many shooters this gen already.

Kasuli

Nice to see GiantBomb getting the props it deserves :D

Camisadoblue

Wait whaaaaat...the Wii got an FPS? Man, I've been behind when it comes to anything Wii related.
This looks pretty cool.

Dope boy hero - on a sabbatical.

The graphics actually look good for a Wii game.

@Kibblez: You should be arrested for making such a lame joke.

Looks like someone dropped a GIANT BOMB on Sega with that review!

One of the very few games on the Wii that looked interesting to me. The reviews are too sporadic to really get an idea of whether this game is actually good or bad. Granted I no longer own a Wii..but still...this one looked promising, still not sure if its actually good or bad. I'll just wait for the Kotaku review I guess.

tehdorkz

What a CONduit. Eh???

Kibblez