The Conduit - Official Thread

CantGetAWii · 07-21-2008, 07:39 AM

I know no one is really talking about this at the moment but I don't see this game doing poorly sales wise.

Its a solid FPS offering that all Wii owners crave, even Red Steel sold more than it deserved to really people are going to buy this game regardless. I want it to be a good game don't get me wrong, I just don't think it really matters if it does turn out to be good or not, people have read and watched so much on this game they will buy it regardless.

raisinghelen · 07-21-2008, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CantGetAWii

I know no one is really talking about this at the moment but I don't see this game doing poorly sales wise.

Hopefully one of the reasons why High Voltage is holding out on a publisher is to get one that will actually do a decent job of promoting the game and ensure decent sales.

Zorba · 07-21-2008, 08:00 AM

but what kind of promotions really go into video games. i dunno about anywhere else, but in australia its very rare to see an ad for a video game unless its in a gaming magazine. and the people that are buying those mags are going to know about the game anyway.

raisinghelen · 07-21-2008, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorba

but what kind of promotions really go into video games. i dunno about anywhere else, but in australia its very rare to see an ad for a video game unless its in a gaming magazine. and the people that are buying those mags are going to know about the game anyway.

I think TV adverts are the most noticible to the general public. Other than Nintendo's own games i've seen very little 3rd party adverts, like a lot of people dont even seem to know games like Zack & Wiki exist. I see lots of adverts for 360/PS3 3rd party games though, such as Assassin's Creed.

Zorba · 07-21-2008, 01:03 PM

we get the odd add for an actual console. very rare for an individual game to get its own add tho.

not that ive seen tho.

Carlisle · 07-21-2008, 01:34 PM

I see a Nintendo add almost everyday, unfortunately most of them are based on the "Touch Generations"

vashivihan · 07-21-2008, 01:53 PM

Quote:

E3 Disclaimer: Kombo's E3 previews are designed to inform you of what each game at E3 plays like, and what we think of what's shown. These previews are not reviews, and we reserve final judgment of each game until it is finished and released. These previews offer an honest opinion of what a publisher chose to demo at E3. So, without further ado, read on.

What the Game's About
For any Wii owner, this is the game with "teh ossum gr4ph1x" that everybody's talking about. In The Conduit, you assume the role of mysterious badass Mr. Ford, an agent working for a secret service organization known as Trust. After Washington D.C. is attacked by an insect-like alien race dubbed the "Drudge," it becomes your mission to investigate the attack and discover the truth behind the entire situation. Equipped with a slew of weapons spanning the three separate factions and an interesting device known as the All-Seeing Eye, Mr. Ford is on the case.

What's Hot
I can't begin this section without stating the obvious: holy crap, does this game look good. Hands down, The Conduit has to be the sharpest looking Wii game I've ever seen. Screenshots just don't do it justice – you have to see it in motion. At one point, High Voltage stated that they wanted to make a game on the Wii that looked like one on the 360, and they've definitely achieved that goal.

Graphics aside, The Conduit really has a lot going for it. One key idea that the developers focused on in the game is the ability to customize. The Conduit allows you to fully map the controls on the Wii remote and nunchuck, alter the size of the dead zone (the box in the center of the screen where the camera doesn't move even if you move the cursor), change the movement speed of the camera, and you can even edit the walking speed of your character. Wow. For this reason, going into detail about the controls would be somewhat of a moot point, but I'll mention that even the default controls are laid out logically and comfortably.

The weapon selection in The Conduit is nicely varied as well. The demo I played started you out with a standard pistol and a machine gun that fires in bursts. The pistol's rapid-fire action sold me from the start, but I also grew to love the power of the machine gun soon enough. On top of these, you're able to pick up weapons from Drudge enemies. The only weapon I tried of this kind was a rifle that shot plasma-esque bullets. Holding down the shoot button with this weapon charges the shot for an even more devastating attack. Doing so doesn't deplete your ammo at a faster rate, but the developers have said that the game is still going through balancing tests, so this may change in the final build.

The fourth weapon that I tried was a Trust weapon that had a cool little quirk to it. Quickly pressing the shoot button fires normal-sized shots, but as you begin to charge up a shot, the aiming reticule morphs into three side-by-side reticules, and what you end up shooting out is what looks like a blue cord of sorts. What makes this weapon so cool? Well, if you manage to hit an enemy with one side of the cord, the other side begins to wrap around the enemy until both ends touch, causing a nice little blue explosion. So satisfying. Grenade selection includes standard grenades, these other grenades that continue to explode in a small spot for a few seconds, and flashbangs that can stun enemies.

Lastly, the All-Seeing Eye helps bring a minor puzzle aspect to The Conduit's intense shooting action. The All-Seeing Eye (or ASE for short) is this round device that can detect objects that are normally invisible. The two examples of this that I saw were ASE puzzles and cloaked mines. ASE puzzles are these invisible pictures on certain walls that guard Trust areas. The object of the puzzles is to rotate the three circular lines around a picture of the ASE so that they line up perfectly, giving you access to secret ammo rooms and the like. The other instance occurred near the end of the level in a sewer area. You use the ASE to make these invisible hovering mines appear long enough for you to shoot them. Fun stuff.

What's Not
I really don't have many complaints about what I've played from the game. Everything seems ridiculously solid aside from some mid-development bugs that'll probably be worked out of the final build. There are a few things that should be mentioned, though.

To start, throwing grenades accurately takes a good bit of practice. On the default control scheme (and I'm not even sure if this is changeable or not), you flick the nunchuck forward to lob a grenade. The problem is that there's a lot of power in the throw, so unless you directly hit an enemy with the grenade (which is supposed to be done by aiming at the enemy with the reticule), chances are you're going to overshoot your target by quite a bit.

My second gripe feels like it's a little hard to explain. Basically, getting hit or hitting others in The Conduit just doesn't pack enough of a punch. There's too little of an indication – both visually and aurally – that you're either being shot or are hitting the person you're shooting at. This can get troublesome as you end up accidentally wasting bullets barraging an enemy with shots when all he needed was just one to send him over to the other side or, even worse, you discover that you're low on health a little too late just as a huge attack is coming towards you. This is especially plausible because of how easily the health bar can sometimes blend in with the rest of the game. A little warning would be nice.

Finally, this last point isn't so much a negative one as it is an interesting and different one. Oddly enough, the game features no vertical scrolling whatsoever. This doesn't actually become much of a problem as any aerial enemies are met from a far enough distance to be taken care of easily and I personally thing that the decision to make the game simply have horizontal scrolling adds to the stability of the controls, but many may find this to be restrictive and will probably end up on people's list of bad things about the game.

Outlook
Bottom line, The Conduit is an impressively solid FPS, and we all know that the Wii is more than lacking in those. The graphics are gorgeous compared to a lot of the stuff that has seen the light of day on the Wii, the gameplay is fast-paced and fun, and the story's intriguing if you're into the whole sci-fi thing. If you're a Wii owner with a craving for a good FPS, put down The Conduit as a must buy when it comes out (hopefully) in Q1 2009.

linkage pretty awesome if ya ask me

Carlisle · 07-21-2008, 01:56 PM

Totally agree, I'm still hyped for this game!

thas · 07-21-2008, 11:22 PM

No vertical scrolling?!! Does that mean we wont be able to look up? If thats the case I don't care much, but I would like to know.

Fillieto · 07-21-2008, 11:51 PM

I think it does mean that...ive never played a game without being able to look up...(FPS).

I dont know if will make much of a difference or not.

thas · 07-22-2008, 12:15 AM

I don't think it will matter. I rarely look up in FPS games.

travZEman · 07-22-2008, 12:53 AM

ya the guy said that it wasn't really a problem anyway

sremick · 07-22-2008, 01:02 AM

Umm I look up in FPSes all the time. What the heck?

Zorba · 07-22-2008, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fillieto

I think it does mean that...ive never played a game without being able to look up...(FPS).

I dont know if will make much of a difference or not.

Wolfenstein (the original one), doom.

as long as the attacks dont come from above its not a big deal.

ssbb_lover · 07-22-2008, 01:25 AM

This game is so linear, it shouldn't be a big problem. I'm sure you can look up, just not 90º.

It's good to hear praise for the game, though.

FR. · 07-22-2008, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sremick

Umm I look up in FPSes all the time. What the heck?

For me, it depends on the game and where the attacks are coming from/where you need to aim. If the game doesn't require arial attacks, then it doesn't seem like too big of a deal. Wouldn't hurt the game to add that feature though.

vashivihan · 07-22-2008, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FR.

For me, it depends on the game and where the attacks are coming from/where you need to aim. If the game doesn't require arial attacks, then it doesn't seem like too big of a deal. Wouldn't hurt the game to add that feature though.

yeah it can easily be taken care if in the remaining time they have