Conduit 2 Weapons Trailer (Plus a Few Other Things)

Here's a look at some of the many different weapons from Conduit 2, High Voltage's followup to their groundbreaking Wii FPS. Sega of America has confirmed a new March 22, 2011 release date for the game, which is indeed a good thing. Since I'm in a really good mood (being the only person I know who's never played Angry Birds on a device I own is part of that), I may as well run the other two game trailers - enjoy!

Gallery: Conduit 2

High Voltage Software's upcoming sequel to last year's ridiculously under-appreciated (critically, at least) high-quality Wii FPS is on the way and looking mighty amazing. At a recent Sega's press event here in NYC, Chief Creative Officer Eric Nofsinger and Art Director Matt Corso were on hand to show off the latest build of the game which was packed with all sorts of changes, many based on plenty of user feedback from the original. If you've ever thought that your favorite developers don't keep an ear to the ground when cooking up sequels, you'd definitely be proven wrong.

Astro Boy: The Video Game Wallpapers (Grab 'em here!)

Here you go: SIX nice images for your PC using game and movie assets - thanks, D3! These images should fit 1280 x1024 monitors. The game ships on October 20th for the PS2, DS/DSi and Wii. As huge Osamu Tezuka (and of course, Astro Boy) fans, I'm hoping to nab a few reviewables so we can see how it's turned out.

In Astro Boy: The Video Game, players become the iconic hero, Astro Boy, and take to the streets and skies on an epic adventure to save Metro City from the clutches of the evil President Stone and his robot army. Utilizing Astro’s entire arsenal of iconic weapons and abilities, players will battle hordes of fearsome foes including some never-before-seen enemies across Metro City and the mysterious Surface.

Review: The Conduit

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Developer: High Voltage Software

Publisher: Sega of America

# of Players: 1 (1-12 Online)

Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A

Attention Wii owners: your core FPS has finally arrived... and it's a total blast. The Conduit is a technically impressive first-person shooter with a nifty conspiracy-packed plot, an action-packed single player campaign and innovative multiplayer modes that will keep you playing for months. High Voltage Software has laid down the gauntlet for future Wii developers with this original IP that deserves a home in any genre fan's collection. While the game isn't as stellar in spots as a few high profile releases on certain other consoles, what it does well it does often and that's where it counts.

The overall presentation nicely emulates a summer movie blockbuster, complete with driving music a nicely done opening that sets the tone for things to come and a sequel-friendly climax that will really make you crave a follow-up. You're Agent Michael Ford (voiced by Mark Sheppard), former Secret Service guy, now an operative for an organization called The Trust who finds himself pitted against an invasion by gun-toting aliens out to make life really miserable for the human race. As you go through the game, you'll uncover a bigger conspiracy and more enemies to face, but that's for you to discover on your own play time. Sure, it's not a mind-blowing storyline (if you're smart enough to seek out all the hidden messages in-game and online, the plot becomes more enjoyable), but High Voltage never went on record as saying they were reinventing the FPS genre from that perspective.

What's really the selling point here is the brilliant, completely user defined controls that allows anyone to tailor everything from the HUD layout to game balance. When was the last time you were able to adjust the targeting zone, character movement speed or even the complete button layout for a console FPS and test out your choices on the fly? What's even more impressive is how well the game controls, particularly if you're one of those folks coming from a PC shooter background. For new players, it may take a few runs though the tutorial stage to get the hang of how smooth the game feels and how accurate that Wiimote is (without the Motion Plus add-on, mind you). After that, you'll be in heaven (or sending your enemies to their respective heavens, actually). Based on the total freedom the dev team has given players regarding the customization, expect to see future FPS developers on the Wii use a similar customization scheme.

Meanwhile, back at the review ranch, you'll find that blasting through armor clad Drudge thugs, fast-moving exploding alien bugs, formerly friendly agents and other menaces is fun throughout. While some sections are a bit linear(more due to the Wii's limitations than the developer's skills, mind you), a few of those corridors have hidden rooms and secrets that require using the game's All-Seeing Eye, a floating device that's part of the overall plot as well as a handy tool. You can locate messages scrawled in invisible paint, uncover the aforementioned secret doorways and detect those pesky alien mines left in choice locations. The Eye is also used in the game's minor puzzle elements that have you scouring walls in order to open doors secured by invisible Drudge locks.

Enemy AI is fierce and once you're spotted, expect heavy resistance and a quick death if you try to outgun more than two or three baddies. There are a few exploding fuel tanks or other destructible environmental objects here and there to assist in some spots, but a few tense firefights will put your targeting skills to the test with waves of Drudge drones descending on your position. Once you come across those annoying rolling bugs, you'll soon find that unless you take out the cocoons they're spawning from, you'll never make it past some otherwise easy to navigate hallways. There are also a couple of "boss"-style fights that should keep your trigger finger busy with multiple enemy types coming at you from different directions, enemy spawners and all sorts of fireworks going on. Thankfully, you'll have a wide selection of about 20 weapons to use against your foes, from government-issue firearms and a few grenade types to a few awesome Grudge guns that can turn the tide in short order once you track them down.

Multiplayer is another area where the game stands out, even outstripping some Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 titles in terms of ease of use and game types. Online modes support 12-player matches and while there are a mere seven maps including a few standard deathmatch types, a number of the 13 online modes are supremely addictive and thanks to High Voltage's matchmaking system that makes setting up instant online games a snap. While you can input friend codes as usual, you're also able quickly find a random game to join or invite anyone already on your friends list with no effort. WiiSpeak works like a dream, especially in Free for all, where you're only able to hear yourself and the five closest players chatting it up. Servers have been fairly crowded since the game's launch, so it's nice to see a Wii game getting so much play time online.

As much fun as it is running around shooting each other up in the standard deathmatch, team deathmatch and flag capture variants, the innovative Bounty Hunter mode is one of the best multiplayer FPS modes you'll play. Instead of the usual camp or hop fest where everyone's fair game, each player is assigned ONE specific target and no one else. Killing that person gives you a point, while shooting anyone else subtracts a point. Oh, and yup - you're a target as well. The tension is nearly unbearable when you try this for the first time, but that's what makes this mode a total blast. You'll be feeling an adrenaline rush and massive paranoia as you never know when your number is up and it's pretty hilarious when you and your target spawn near each other and the other person's target happens to be your character. ASE Football, a thrilling "hold the bag" match can also be a ton of laughs if you're playing with a bunch of seasoned FPS jockeys.

Graphically, you're getting the best-looking action game on the Wii thanks to the team's awesomely flexible Quantum3 engine. Character models, weapons, lighting effects and many of the environments are first rate, particularly if you play the game on a big standard definition TV. I have both a HD setup I use for 360 and PS3 games and I was smart enough to hang onto my old 27-inch standard TV for Wii and PlayStation 2 reviews. Yes, The Conduit looks lovely in HD, but is even more of a looker on the lower resolution found on "old" sets. As mentioned above, sure, some of the corridors are straightforward and yes, a few wall textures can get a little blurry up close. On the other hand, it's hard to ignore all the hard work High Voltage put into making the game look so consistently fantastic.

Music, voice acting and sound effects are also excellently implemented throughout the game. Mark Sheppard and his dad W. Morgan Sheppard are perfectly cast as Ford and his Trust superior, John Adams. Kevin Sorbo makes up for Meet the Spartans (well a guy's gotta eat, right?) with a fun vocal performance as Prometheus, head of a "terrorist" group with its own agenda. The different weapons all sound great, and although you may get tired of the Drudge death yells, at least you know they're not getting back up after some of the more intense firefights. Crank up the sound and your neighbors just might call the cops thinking there's a REAL alien invasion going on at your place.

All together, the entire single player campaign is over in about 8 or so hours on the standard difficulty (but not everyone is a FPS wizard, so your total time may vary). On the harder modes, expect a more than healthy level of difficulty that can extend play time a few hours more (unless you're a crack shot that doesn't mind not killing every single enemy or seeking out every secret). Eight hours may not seem like a long time, however, many gamers play in short sessions, so it's entirely possible to get about a week's worth of gameplay from the main campaign and many more hours online with friends.

Overall, The Conduit is indeed a great game and it's even better if you're not some overly jaded PC or "next-gen" console owner looking to compare every aspect of it with the Halos, Killzones and Gears of Wars out there. Is it "perfect?" No - and no game really is, folks. On the other hand, High Voltage has to absolutely be recognized for creating a Wii game that's more than good enough for a sequel while finally doing something great with the Wii's online gaming function. I'm not saying this because I got a free copy of the game, either. My reviewable didn't show up, so I went out and bought the game outright a day after the release. Hell, after seeing it in action and getting more than enough hands-on time, this was one of those times that supporting a great developer was more important than merely hanging out by the mailbox.

Preview: Plugging into The Conduit

With Sega's upcoming Wii-exclusive FPS, The Conduit set to hit retail this month, I had the extremely great fortune to spend some quality hands-on time with the game (along with High Voltage's Eric Nofsinger and Josh Olson) at a recent press event here in NYC. As an added bonus, actor Mark Sheppard lead character "Agent Michael Ford" in the game) was on hand with full-on enthusiasm for the game, developer and the current state of gaming.

If you're among the skeptics who dislike the Wii for any number of ridiculous reasons or simply think that a quality console exclusive FPS isn't at all possible on the system, you might want to reconsider those ill-informed opinions. High Voltage Software has absolutely set the bar for the genre on the console in terms of graphics, game speed and on-the-fly user customization. A a completely in-house project, the team has crafted a brilliant true "gamer's game" that forces you to relearn tried and true skills as you deal with packs of human and alien enemies that want you dead by any means necessary.

As for the controls, remember the first time you played a FPS with a keyboard/mouse control setup? Even if you're a console gamer not initially comfortable with this different way of playing, with practice, WASD movement and mouse clicking became second nature. The Conduit replicates this feeling so perfectly that it's initially jarring to play a Wii game that's so responsive. This means veteran PC FPS fans will need to jump in and learn to swim about as much as players new to the genre. Once you dial in the controls then customize them and the GUI to your play style (another innovation more console shooters need), the game becomes a total and intuitive thrill ride.

The chock full o' conspiracies plot plays out through a combination of voice-overs and in-game mission updates that don't distract from the near-constant action. I won't go into everything in this preview, but let's just say there's a nice X-Files undertone to the proceedings, what with all the hidden messages and secrets to uncover if you so desire. Right from the beginning, the highly cinematic presentation pulls you in enough to make you think there's a movie or TV series somewhere in the works based on the property. Sega of America wisely snapped up the publishing rights and let the dev team work on the game at their own pace, a great thing in this age of high-profile console releases requiring patches right out of the packaging.

In addition to a nice selection of weapons, you'll get to use an awesome "All Seeing Eye" device (ASE) that can uncover secret messages, reveal and activate hidden switches and even detect invisible alien mines. There are also televisions and portable radios scattered throughout the game that can be accessed in case players want to get more involved in the overall plot. In speaking to Eric Nofsinger (High Voltage's Chief Creative Officer), he let me know that players can choose to blast through the entire game without tracking down every message, but the dev team really wanted to reward players that take the time to read, watch and listen to everything they can track down. There are also hidden collectibles in each level that unlock bonus content, so that ASE unit will get quite a workout once caertain maps are cleared of enemies.

Visually, High Voltage is doing things with the Wii that will make you want to crack your console open to check for some sort of 3D accelerator. The level of detail the proprietary Quantum 3 engine can display is constantly amazing with excellent lighting effects, depth of field and even destructible objects in a wide variety of environments. If anything, the team has made disrespecting the Wii for its lack of horsepower totally insane and should hopefully drive more developers to push the console even further. The sound production is equally spectacular with a driving musical score and theater-quality sound effects that really pull you into the game.

From the beginning, Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica's Romo Lampkin, among other genre roles) was onboard the project as was his father, W. Morgan Sheppard (Star Trek, Transformers), no stranger to videogame voice acting thanks to his work on the first few Medal of Honor titles. Speaking to Sheppard was quite exciting, as we're both on the same page when it comes to how we see the state of gaming today. Rather than comparing one game experience to another, we both look at each game as a seperate game experience in every aspect from the game world, plot and overall value for the money. I've met a few actors who've worked on game projects previously, but almost none who were as involved or excited about their digital work as Sheppard. He's also a fan of (respectable) fans and actually digs the convention scene.

As for The Conduit, Sheppard has been playing through different builds of the game during development and stated "Between the single player and multiplayer modes, you're getting real value here." Believe it or else, when he said this, it in no way sounded like false hype or something read from a prepared script. We were actually discussing the 13 multiplayer modes the game will ship with and his comment came while my head was spinning as the excellent Bounty Hunter mode was being explained. I'd write a lot more, but let's save something for the review, right? Right now, let's just say you'll absolutely have to pick up the game to see those multiplayer modes that include the innovative use of WiiSpeak voice chat, even more innovative online playlist setup and more.

June 23rd will be quite a busy day around here, mostly because I'll be glued to my TV blasting through The Conduit from start to finish. High Voltage also has a bunch of Wii-exclusive shocks coming up (The Grinder and Gladiator A.D.), so they're looking like one of the premiere developers for the console at this point.