Topic: IGN Conduit Review

Looks so excellent for a Wii title. That engine sure is purdy. Can't wait.

Good review i thought, should make the wait even more painful. Not surprised to see comments along the line of 'I haven't played it yet, but I'll knock it anyway' just because Matt mentioned the L-word. I don't think it'll be a problem tbh, I'll just avoid/delete any offenders.

I agree about no local multiplayer tho', its' just not right. Although I wouldn't swap it for online, as there is always someone online, but there isn't always someone on my sofa. Shouldn't have to choose tho', really.

Yeah, the score is definitely respectable, especially when you consider that your opinions aren't likely to line up with his exactly. At the end of the day you could be playing a game that you'd rate a 9 or a 10. (Just as easily you could be playing one that you'd rate a 7 or a 6...or a 1...which makes me wonder why people put any stock in the number grade at all.)

The write-up is the important part of any review, not the final digit, and the write-up is damn complimentary. Basically if you have a Wii and want an FPS, this is the one to get. If you have other systems, you have other options. Seems pretty clear-cut to me, what he's trying to say.

And the lag? Well, we'll just have to wait and see. He played some games with lag and some without, but didn't give us any idea of the ratio. Did he play 100 games and 1 had lag? Or did he play 100 games and 99 had lag? That would have been very helpful to know, with the Wii's spotty (at best) online gaming history.

I'm still excited for it.

Huh!? Remarkably higher? it got an 8.6! You can only go up 1.4 points...that wouldn't be a 'remarkable' leap! Plus, when did an 8.6 become such a bad grade!? I'm looking forward to this game and can't wait to get it but do I think it'll be better than Bioshock? No because most games won't be Bioshock! Is it going to have lag issues upon release? OF COURSE! What game hasn't! Every game based around online play has lag issues at two points during the year...at release and then again at Christmas. Some of you fanboys have the most insane expectations. I read the review and I thought it was a very good review. I didn't disuade me from getting it and I don't see anywhere in there that would disuade everyone else. If that review, in which it was given an very good score, disuaded anyone on the fence from getting it then I probably don't consider that person a gamer or a free thinker to begin with.

@ J Bitties
I agree that it's a good score. I don't know what else anyone would expect. And the review sounds good to me. I can't believe he compared it to Perfect Dark as if that might let us down. That only made me more interested.

But I'm not going to get a shooter for a short single-player game, and I'm certainly not going to get an online-only multi-player game that lags. I've had zero lag problems on any PS3 games online, and I have played many. Saying "What game hasn't!" is hugely misleading.

You can get away with lag in a game like Mario Kart, but in a game that requires accurate shooting against moving targets, it's inexcusable.

It's only barely tolerable in Brawl for me, but I don't think I could put up with it for a shooter. I hope it's an exaggerated worry, but it's still a legitimate one. The Wii just doesn't seem cut out for running this kind of game online, unfortunately.

Unless those "other systems" are PC/Mac, not really. FPS with gimped (dual stick joypad) controls? Not an option for me.

Review indicates this should be a nice game with a story I can replay a few times a year (given the length) and online that will hopefully deliver a consistent experience once they get all the kinks worked out. Cannot say I expected more than that. HVS has delivered!

They've made a short story and online that works some of the time, and they've delivered?

How low of expectations did you have exactly?

And there's quite a few, like several tens of million or so, people that don't have a problem with "gimped" dual-analog controls. People seem to think the FPS genre was terrible before the almighty Wii, while some of those people were more than happy with Timesplitters on the Gamecube.

Alex sure does say some stuff eh

You haven't even played it man what are you on about. I HATE dual-analogue, been there, done that, Wii fps and keyboard/mouse are my only choice. And yes I liked Timesplitters 2 on the cube, lots! But that was 7 years ago and in the PREVIOUS generation, which i call 'outdated'.

The game outdated? Sure.

And that's great that you hate dual-analog. Most Wii owners now say this.

Not everyone does though, which is shown by how great dual-analog FPS games review, and how well they sell.

Eh, he was responding to someone who hadn't played it, either. Fair game in my book.

Not that playing Conduit is relevant to defending dual analog control, a control scheme that has proven itself over and over and gained countless fans.

It didn't work on Gamecube though, unfortunately, because the C-stick is just too small for that kind of play, in my experience.

I hope my local Blockbuster gets the game soon enough so my comments won't be written off as uninformed by people who haven't played the game either.

I'll add my voice quickly on this side-top of controls: the Wii remote / nunchuck combo is indeed the most comfortable, immersive, and precise setup I have ever used for a FPS (currently using it on Quake via homebrew, for some retro fun, and I'm ten times better at it than I ever was with a mouse). Mouse / keyboard comes in second, and dual analog, if you ask me, is awkward and already dated at this point, now that the Wii has shown how IR controls can be implemented on a home console. I've played plenty of dual analog games, and am quite competent with that setup, but I just don't enjoy it now that I've tried something so much better in every way.

Hey, I was summarizing the review, not defending it. If you don't like dual-stick control, well, that's a whole other issue, and one not at all related to his main point, which is that there are FPS offerings on other consoles that do more unique things than chase aliens down and shoot them.

What else would you want from a shooter but chasing down aliens and shooting them? Isn't that what god made aliens for?

I agree with the general sentiment that this particular FPS looks so nauseatingly unoriginal and dull in its story, visual design, level layout, and everything I've seen in the previews.

However, I'm still open to getting it at some point if the controls, general play mechanics, and multiplayer options live up to their potential.

@Adam

No, God made aliens to name themselves after dead popular music icons and accompany you on your quests with a Grover-like voice.

Everyone is forgetting that Kevin Sorbo is a VO for the game... The Conduit has mother $%^&ing Hercules!

And that dumb kids uncle from Transformers who found Megatron.

Well see now that's the whole defense of The Conduit fans.

"So the story is short? And the graphics aren't nearly as good as the developer told us? And the online only works some of the time? And the AI isn't good at all? Yeah, well.... dual-analog sucks!"

Now people that like what High Voltage is doing on the Wii will use the control scheme to overlook all the bad things.

I'm still not seeing the basis for any of those statements. The graphics do look good -- I have yet to see that disputed. Online may be patchy, but whether that's the fault of the servers or network issues beyond their control isn't clear from the brief mention in the review; nor do I see any mention that the AI is poor in this review. Story length is only relevant if you're hung up on the number of hours long a game is; I'm not.

And if millions of people using analogue joysticks to play an FPS means that okay, then I suppose if millions of people buy The Conduit that will make that good as well?

The basis for my comment on the control issue is that I would never play an FPS on a platform that used dual analogue as it's sole interface, so whether or not this is a "me too" title in terms of themes or looks is completely irrelevant to me. Control will trump the rest in my book every time. If you want to play Halo or whatever passes for FPS games on PS3, knock yourself out, but I don't regard their existence with superior graphics or AI as even entering the argument when discussing the merits of this game.

I get a little tired of seeing the comments about enemies, visuals etc being dull and copied from other FPS's. I think with this particular genre their is only so original you can be, if the enemies aren't monsters/aliens/soldiers what would you expect them to be? Zebra's with lasers coming out their eye's. It is like looking at a new racing simulator coming out and saying it is copying from previous racing simulators because it has cars with four wheels going round a track, what do you expect them to do?

I'll be picking this up asap, but it looks good. I don't need multi-player, but would enjoy zapping some aliens and hopefully online will work pretty good. Hoped to find one hitting early, but was unsuccessful. The graphics do look awesome for a Wii game from the IGN video review.