Quick Hits: The Conduit's All-Seeing Eye
The Wii isn’t exactly known for it’s first-person shooters. That’s why it was so refreshing to try a game that brought something different to the Mario-and-Sonic-Play-Wii-Fit-Minigames console. OK, The Conduit’s single player game isn’t particularly noteworthy, and the plot throws cliches around like they are going out of style. The AI won’t impress fans of Half Life 2 or other shooters, and the graphics certainly don’t hold a candle to Crysis (or even Halo).
But, the controls help make the game a blast, and the multiplayer is excellent- up to 12 players, plenty of game mode variety… if only Nintendo would drop the silly “friend code” system. Think Goldeneye, in some ways- graphically a bit dated, but with style. We took our time playing with The Conduit, and while it isn’t the best title in the Wii library, nor is it the best FPS even of the last few months, it is the best FPS on the Wii and does try to be innovative in a couple of ways. In a world where cookie-cutter shooters earn sequel after sequel, it’s nice to pick up and play a game that is simply pretty fun, and allows quite a bit of customization. It’s also nice to see Washington, DC used fairly well in a game.
The All-Seeing Eye may turn out to be a bit less than hoped (no spoilers, we promise), but we still hope for a sequel. Our guess: Sega and High Voltage Software will come through. At $40 or so, it’s definitely worth trying, and if you’re a fan of shooters longing for a good reason to fire up the Wii, it’s your best excuse.
