By Jason Tanner on Oct 27, 2009

“Just hang tight, were busy making sure that anything you see will ‘wow’ your asses off!”

That’s pretty big talk coming from the same developer who was responsible for that over-hyped piece of shit that turned out to be a “titanic” failure; “The Conduit”.

Guess I’ll believe them after I play their new game, and not before.

By real deal on Oct 27, 2009

The conduit was not bad and was not a failure based on sales figures.

By keyz on Oct 27, 2009

The Conduit had its flaws yes, but it still was a good game. The only thing that REALLY hurt it were the glitches and hackers. If it wasnt for those two things i’d still be playing. HVS needs to really deliver this time if they want to hold any credibility.

By Valay on Oct 27, 2009

Yeah, I don’t think anyone will say that the The Conduit was a perfect game. And most Wii owners are willing to acknowledge the game’s faults. I definitely would not say that it’s downright awful. I had fun with it!

By RideZeLitenin on Oct 27, 2009

The only thing that really held The Conduit back was its weak production and unoriginal gameplay/features. Otherwise, it was a great effort on Wii. Hopefully the Grinder can be more successful.

By humbert on Oct 27, 2009

Jason +1. Does anyone really care about HVS games? They proved that they cannot design shit.

By gin on Oct 27, 2009

Okay the conduit certainly wasn’t GROUNDBREAKING but it was definitely fun even if it was generic. i agree that what hurt TCon the most were the hackers and glitches. hopefully HVS will learn from their mistakes and make the Sequel (if they ever plan on developing one) alot better.

By Jason Tanner on Oct 27, 2009

@humbert,

Thank God!! I feel like I’ve been taking crazy pills thinking that I’m the only person that sees how bad The Conduit really is.

By sNESBOY2009 on Oct 27, 2009

conduit = test bed first big game for little company

the grinder = the true wii power high voltage can get at and better production values and polish

BRING IT ON

By humbert on Oct 27, 2009

Jason, it seems that these people haven’t played any decent FPS. HVS need to hire some decent talent to their art and game design departments. Is it that hard to do at least a decent Halo clone?

By keyz on Oct 27, 2009

humbert

That would have sounded smart, but everybody knows that wii’s IR pointer is best for FPS’. COD WaW wii has the numbers to prove it

By humbert on Oct 27, 2009

keyz, controls don’t make a game, they can break a game, but not make it. Hopefully one day we’ll receive a decent pure FPS for Wii.

By taffy on Oct 27, 2009

I think Nintendo are at fault as well with the Conduit, had they offerd better/any support to HVS we might have seen some updates that would have rectified SOME of the problems.

When third parties need to fix glitches on games for PS360 they get patches. On the Wii you get sod all except for first party like that update for Wii sports resort. Great way to show third party support Nintendo!

By Jason Tanner on Oct 27, 2009

@ keyz,

What did you bring up the IR pointing? No one’s got a gripe with it, infact it was the one thing that the Conduit did well.

@Humbert,

No kidding right? I’ve said exactly what you’ve been saying since the Conduit came out, and that is “people haven’t played any decent FPS’s” if they really think the conduit is a good or even decent game. You’ve literally repeated word for word what I’ve been saying for months. It’s good to know that there’s someone else out there that sees the Conduit the same way that I do.
You should check this out Humbert: http://wiivolutionnow.com/conduit/

@ taffy,

Are you taking crazy pills?? Nintendo has nothing to do with the monotonous gameplay and redundant level design of the Conduit, High Voltage Software is to blame for the games flaws, hacker problems included. By shifting the blame on Nintendo, you sound like a H.V.S. employee.

By humbert on Oct 27, 2009

If HVS have problems with the way things are on Wii why even bother making a game for it? I wish Conduit was released on HD consoles, where it would flop hard. It is also hilarious how HVS hype their games, I mean it is most likely that Grinder will be as shitty as Conduit is, why using interjections like “wow”, which would suit better games like Zelda, Mario, Halo lol, not poorly designed crap. haha

By keyz on Oct 28, 2009

humbert

How long have you been a Nintendo fan? Because where im from us Nintendo fans have always loved good controls. And yes they can make a game i.e. Mario 64. And i dont know if Humbert erased it, but he said that nobody has played any decent FPS’ on wii, and i told him that wii has the best control scheme for FPS’ and listed a game that uses them very well.

By humbert on Oct 28, 2009

keyz, what did Mario 64 was the revolutionary game design, which of course included amazing controls for its time. We are talking about the fact that even though Conduit has great controls, there is no substance in the game. It’s dull and pathetically generic. So at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how great controls are if there is nothing fun to be controlled using them. Also a decent FPS is something like: Halo, Half Life, BioShock…

By Jason Tanner on Oct 28, 2009

@ keyz

I personally love the wiimotion controls for FPS titles as I think it enhances the immersion tenfold. I also enjoy playing CoD 3, Cod WaW, MoH Heroes 2 and even BiA Double time despite its flaws. I don’t think humbert was ever putting down the controls for the Wii or the conduit.

@ humbert

I couldn’t agree with you more about what you’re saying in you last comment, and I am starting to think that perhaps we were separated at birth!! You definitely sound like someone who understands that gameplay comes first and everything else in a game should complement it. HL2 is my all time favorite game and one which I belive lays the blue print for what an FPS should be.

The Conduit “dull and pathetically generic”, my sentiments exactly. I really did want to love the game, which only made me hate HVS more after playing it through and reviewing it. Did you get a chance to check out that review that I linked in my last response?

By Taffy on Oct 28, 2009

@ Jason

If you read my post carefully you would not that I was referring to the online component of The Conduit, not the gameplay and level design.

As for hackers, IT IS Nintendo’s area as the servers are between them and Gamespy, HVS has not control over them. If you look at the other consoles, whenever there is a glitch they provide patches like I already mentioned, where as Wii games got no such support.

Read and think before you comment

By Jason Tanner on Oct 28, 2009

@Taffy,

You might want to hold off on taking an attitude with me until you’ve taken your own advice and have read my comments entirely as well.

Nintendo isn’t to blame for the hacking of The Conduit, HVS is. Why? Because HVS made it so that virtually anyone can enter the debug mode of the game, on and offline. Now, does that sound like it’s the fault of Nintendo, who neither developed nor published the game, or the fault of the developer?

Before you get up on your self righteous high horse, you might actually want to look into how the game is being hacked so that you can understand whose fault it really is, instead of just making a half-assed assumption about something which you clearly haven’t looked into at all.

HVS is responsible for the continued support of the game online as they are the developer, why the hell would you expect Nintendo to provide a patch for a title that had no hand in creating? It doesn’t matter whose server the game is using, it’s traditionally been the developers job to provide support to their titles, whether it be online or offline. Is this the first online game you’ve played or something?

And at the end of the day, did you really expect HVS to man up and squash this hacker issue? We’re talking about a company who sold you the Conduit, saying that it was the “best FPS on the Wii”. If you actually believed that then you deserve this frustration.

So don’t cop an attitude with me, in the end you just look like a jackass in the process.

By Taffy on Oct 28, 2009

This coming from the guy telling me I sound like an employee of HVS, half arsed assumptions indeed.

Indulge me then why is it that PS360 have the similair patch system as you would find on pc’s, is it perhaps because of the archiac system being used by Nintendo. Let’s face it Nintendo are not exactly the best when it comes to online funstionality, which is a shame… given the effort the Wii is a very capable system.

Hacking is something which all parties can work to solve but doesn’t it refect badly on Nintendo when you look at the support of the other consoles in stemming out hackers compared to the Wii, there’s no denying that the other two have a far better system in place. I’m not expecting something like punkbuster on Wii but anything would be nice.

And remind me, who is it that stopped people in Japan from accessing Monster Hunter 3 online when they were using hacks? It wasn’t Capcom.

By humbert on Oct 28, 2009

Jason, i did check your review, nice job on that one. I wish EA created Dead Space Extraction as an FPS, that would be brilliant.

By Jason Tanner on Oct 28, 2009

@Taffy

If you can’t see how your previous comment could make seem like a HVS employee, then I don’t what to tell you, just that you’ve over reacted to a harmless comment.

I’ll indulge you then. The problem with the hacking in T.C. is it’s being done directly from within the game. HVS make it possible for people to access the debug mode of the game, so there’s no way for Nintendo to be able to identify which copies are “hacked” since the hacking doesn’t happen by modifying the games files or running unassigned code. HVS opened pandoras box and left it open before by not eliminating the games debug mode before they shipped it plain and simple. The best that HVS could do now is have Nintendo ban visually verified cheaters. For HVS to completely erradicate the cheating in HVS, they would have to phyically patch all the copies of their game that has been sold. Not going to happen.

In the case of Xbox games and more specifically Monster Hunter 3, the hacking comes from either modifying files within an copy of the game or running unassigned code from an SD card or internal memory of the Wii, making it easy for Nintendo to indentify which consoles are responsible for cheating.

So there you have it, mr. smarty pants.

By Gluttenbob on Oct 28, 2009

The Conduit was a mediocre piece of shit game. “Wow your asses off” Oh please I’d like to see you try. I’ll be getting this game by other means.

By LGX48 on Oct 28, 2009

I’ll admit, The Conduit left ALOT to be desired, here’s hoping they learned some much needed lessons, and fired their artists and hired quality artists.

By someGuy on Oct 28, 2009

While the Conduit was not the greatest FPS ever, I did love the game for its excellent control and heavy challenge, especially nearing the end of the campaign. I just wish the online were a bit more secure. Hackers are a b****. Hopefully this will be addressed in the Grinder.

Now, for the two people going on and on about how the Conduit is shit: why do you feel it necessary to belittle us for enjoying a game that you do not? I HAVE played great FPSs, including Half-Life 1 & 2, Goldeneye, Halo, CoD4, Deus Ex and many more. I enjoyed the Conduit, and I am looking forward to both The Grinder and Gladiator AD (provided they make it play less like Punch-Out!!).

What possesed the two of you to post here anyway? You quite obviously have no interest in either the game or company. Are you merely trying to get a rise out of the people who actually like the Conduit? Well to that end, it seems you’ve suceeded.

By Jason Tanner on Oct 28, 2009

@someGuy

Obviosly I’m one of the two people you’ve identified as going on about The Conduit.

I for one am not trying to belittle anyone for thier like of the game, but in most cases I do find that most people who love The Conduit haven’t in fact played some of these other great FPS’s that you’ve mentioned.

Personally I can’t give The Conduit the praise you seem to think that it deserves based solely upon it’s great controls (which it did have) and “heavy challenge”. I totally agree with Humbert in regards to controls, amazing controls cannot make a game, they can enhance the gameplay experience for sure and they can also ruin the game when they’re not up to par. As far as the heavy challenge, I found it to be more of case of unbalanced difficulty.

If those are you’re only two points holding up the Conduit banner that I assume you’re waving then why bother? Especially after admitting you’ve played all of these great FPS titles that have perfected everything that the Conduit tries to do but fails at.

I see the Conduit much in the same way I see fool’s gold. It’s shiny and attractive at first glance, and to someone who doesn’t know better; it’s a treasure. But to the educated it’s just a worthless imitation.

By someGuy on Oct 28, 2009

Well, Jason, I also happened to enjoy the retro feel of the game. It felt like a throwback to the times of Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, when Rare actually made good games. The weapons were balanced and fun to use. The story (not the one they directly present you with, but the one hidden by secret messages and the like) is actually pretty interesting, when you dig into it. I just hope they actually take advantage of the full extent of the story in The Conduit 2. The engine, while still in its youth, does it’s job admirably well, even if it isn’t quite perfect yet (Seriously guys, using a still image as a background? I like the retro throwback, but some things are better left in the 90s). Most importantly, I had a lot of fun with the game. Really, that’s all that matters when you’re playing a game, something meant to entertain.

I like what High Voltage is doing: taking the Wii seriously. They’re actually putting large amounts of effort to produce quality titles on the Wii that aren’t minigame collections or ports (not that I have anything against these things, but it does get grating after a while). Does the Conduit have problems? Of course! Everything does! But HVS is really good about listening to user feedback. I’ve sent quite a few e-mails to them with suggestions, and many others have as well. With this input, I’m sure that HVS can generate something that everyone can appreciate.

By someotherGuy on Oct 29, 2009

After reading all the commentaries I’ve gotta go with Jason on this one. I do agree with someGuy that it does have a cool retro feel like Perfect Dark but it’s sad that The Conduit isn’t nearly as good as a game from over 10 yrs ago. I think the weapons in Perfect dark were much cooler and more fun to use than the arsenal in TC. Remember teh briefcase gun that turned into an auto turret and the rockets you could shoot then guide? The conduits guns suck compared to those guns and that was a long time ago! The single player in conduit felt really weak and some of the gameplay is Booooorrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnggg!!! And wuts up wit those boooorrrriiiiinnnnng unanimated text scrolling cut scenes? I don’t know if high voltage is taking the wii that seriously or putting a bunch of effort into their wii games, if it was true, wouldnt the conduit have been the best fps game for it, like they say it is? I’ve actually had more actual fun playing some minigame titles and ports than the conduit! It’s true what someGuy says about the conduit having problems and so do other games of the same genre, but I think that just because he says that, it doesn’t justify the big problems that the conduit has. It’s like yeah, every game has problems 4-realz but not as many as the conduit and not as serious. I just hope the good folks at highvoltage see that they really missed the mark with the conduit and let a lot of wii gamers down and i hope they can hit the mark with some of their new games or fo-sho they gonna drown!!!

By taffy on Oct 29, 2009

@ Jason

I was only aware of the someone using coding from a usb and plugging it into their Wii’s so I will eat humble pie there.

I still think Nintendo could do more with online functionality of the Wii, now excuse me while I get my arse handed to me on Ninja Gaiden DS… still can’t beat the master ninja difficulty

By Gluttenbob on Oct 29, 2009

The Conduit sucked major balls its nowhere near as good as other games. HVS should seriously just go out of business they don’t know how to make games.

By someGuy on Oct 30, 2009

@someOtherGuy

Yes, as I said, the game has issues. The static cutscenes were a drag, the guns weren’t imaginative (God, I love the Laptop), and the level designs were corridor-ridden. I happen to think that despite all these problems, the Conduit is the best FPS on Wii (and don’t whine about Metroid Prime, guys: I love that game, but it’s first person adventure, not an FPS). Even more than that, the game was a proof of concept: the Wii can actually handle the genre very well. And it can also perform many graphical effects many thought impossible. They showed us that the Wii doesn’t need to only have games that look more at home on a PS1 than a current-gen console and that online can be a blast when hackers aren’t abound. And hey, minigame collections and ports are great too! I love Wii Sports Resort and Klonoa and stuff! That doesn’t mean that the Conduit is bad, it could mean that those games are very very good. But that’s beside the point.

But if you guys have serious issues with the game (seriously? No local multiplayer, HVS? For shame.), e-mail the guys at HVS. If enough people share your plight, you can change the next game into something truly spectacular.

Oh and Gluttenbob, you should probably elaborate your opinion before making yourself look like an absolute jackass.