Conduit 2 (Wii) Review

Just under two years ago American studio High Voltage put together what they had hoped was a perfect formula for the shooting enthusiast Wii owner starved of games that dominate on the high definition brothers. The result was a mixed affair. We praised The Conduit for its robust and flexible control scheme, but were disappointed in the lack of variety in the game's level and enemy design. Past the five minute mark you'd venture into familiar territory. An hour in and it was as if we were playing through the same budget Hollywood production up until the rather anti-climactic end.

But what was appealing was the attention to detail in the Wii's control. Even without Nintendo's MotionPlus adapter, gunning down enemies, albeit the exact same ones, was a treat to the point where using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk together felt more natural and certainly more accurate than traditional dual analogue. Whilst High Voltage aren't masters of originality, they are kings of control, particularly on the Wii.

The same can be said with direct sequel Conduit 2 - the game has near perfect controls for a Wii first person shooter, and it's even tighter than the original. When brandishing secret government Agent Ford's pistol for the first time upon a murky oil rig there's an instant sense of near pixel perfect accuracy; moving around to aim, walk and talk is fluid and refined. The only thing that would top the system would be popping real bullets into your television - though this isn't recommended - or taking lessons from 007's Baron Samedi, but he's dead. This is without the MotionPlus attachment. Slot in Nintendo's extra sensor and there's that ever-so-slight extra level of precision - not as essential as you might think, but certainly worth using if you have access to the tech.

Those who aren't comfortable or simply prefer a traditional setup can go for the Classic Controller, but oddly enough, there is no option for those with GameCube controllers, so finding four Wii Remotes and Nunchuk/Classic Controllers might be a slight chore. Nonetheless, it does seem as if support for dual analogue has been tapped in last minute - or perhaps we've spent slightly too long pointing at our alien foes.

There are a handful of control additions that go, pardon the pun, hand-in-hand with the level design this time round. High Voltage have borrowed conventions from Call of Duty, Halo and other current first person shooters, such as the ability to lower your weapon to sprint, leap across compatible ledges, build cover from surroundings and customise weapon loadouts, appearance and abilities.

There's a greater feeling of space to manoeuvre. Rooms are less linear in design, especially when venturing into the more organic and less building-driven settings. There still is a fixed path, but with larger areas and more random enemy placement, it's less of a blast-everything-in-sight affair and more considered design. It leads to more intense, varied shootouts intertwined with voice over work between player and off-screen helper. Enemies are also less clumsy and aren't all conveniently waiting for you to leisurely stroll through the front door. Instead our gun-toting foes are having heated debates about carbon dioxide levels and global warming. Once you stumble in, it results in three distinctive actions: run for cover, turn around and shoot or, if alien, pounce and start to claw away. It does allow for a hint of stealth - not quite Goldeneye 007, but there’s more realistic enemy placement. It's during these shootout sequences that things start to go funny - some stare in stunned silence, perhaps fantasising how Agent Ford would look without his special armoured suit, before you casually pop a handful. Others are far more aggressive, but it leaves a quite bizarre and mixed experience. Sure, enemies are smarter this time round, but there's still a lot of inconsistency in the AI system - they’re more like of a series of moving targets who occasionally fight back.

There is a bigger pack of enemies to choose from this time, fortunately, and each carry randomised weapons, headgear and armour, but once you've played past an hour or so, it becomes a touch predictable. Despite slight microscopic variations many foes look the same, over and over, still becoming repetitive over the duration of the single player campaign. Regardless, the improved intelligence and environments do make for a more rewarding and challenging campaign.

To complement the shooting spree there are a range of bosses, some of a pure button mashing nature, others are more environment- or story-based battles. Take the opening level for example - a huge sea creature gradually breaks through rooms, trapping unsuspecting guards with its grimy tentacles. Nasty! It's these moments that break up standard play and keep the solo experience flowing.

Agent Ford has players roaming around the world, through dense, cold Altantis to the more exotic oriental locale, even stopping off in a merry ol' England that's been painted over with a slight hint of alien. These environments look gorgeous - there's a high level of detail in textures and animation that does push the Wii to its limits, punishing it with a very slight dollop of slowdown in the more complex scenes. That said, the art style is a touch dated and generic in places, but it’s certainly a refreshing change from the endless stream of corridors littered with enemies waiting patiently to kill. The more open areas, like the frozen Siberian wasteland for example, are a step in the right direction - you'll still face an inconsistent AI army, but there are more chances to explore your surroundings. Unravelling hidden areas do come with merit, like unlocking secrets to spend on upgrades later.

We've got a near-perfect control scheme, better environments and a mixed gameplay experience, so what's next? The story. With the direct follow-up we continue exactly where we left off - Agent Ford continues his mission against a mysterious foe who intends to take over the earth with a horde of alien creatures. Armed with a delicious arsenal of human and extraterrestrial weaponry we venture forth across the world in a bid to wrap up the ongoing plot and save the world from impending doom. It's a slightly riddled adventure, and there perhaps aren't as many twists as there are in the first game, but coupled with more ‘epic’ bosses, this leads to a more interesting and certainly more engaging plot to balance out the slightly generic gameplay. There are points where Ford and his voice-over companion mock the setup, even joking about the repetitiveness in design from time to time. It leads you to wonder whether the cheesy B-movie design is intentional - SEGA and Headstrong Games were blatant with House of the Dead: Overkill, but here it's a bit unclear.

After the ten hour-or-so solo campaign it's onto the multiplayer action. Conduit 2 features both single and multiplayer online, offline with revised modes and an overall smoother experience than the first game. Offline multiplayer was omitted previously, but is now available in full force - letting players go up against one another in classic split-screen deathmatches or bundle together in the Gears of War-inspired Invasion Mode. Here you fend off armed guards and alien creatures in waves. It's a basic addition, and certainly more enjoyable with more players, but as with the solo AI, waves become more of the same after the initial batch.

Regular human play is far more rewarding - balanced and varied, with a large range of weapons available, as well as more unique and expansive locations in which to do battle. The same applies to online. It's a touch smoother with voice chat and the handy Ally to exchange friend codes with those in public lobbies - we found it far more stable and rewarding than before. You can also add Rivals, people you have played against before, to a list, friend code-free. Character classes and custom loadouts, a convention in modern shooters, are also available across the different modes, adding a much-needed layer of flexibility. Whilst not quite up to the pace of Goldeneye or Call of Duty, Conduit 2 is a worthy alternative. The original game’s online was plagued with errors, hacking, cheating and the like. There is less of it here, but with rumblings of cheaters and hackers roaming the online streets, it may be a short time before online play is plagued with cheating rodents. That said, with little slowdown, various maps and options, it's a side to Conduit 2 that will hold down Wii-owning FPS enthusiasts for some time.