gamingeek said:
bugsonglass said:got an email from zavvi today to tell me they shipped it. have a feeling that was 18 quid down the toilet but at least it wasn't full price
Mine came this morning. I feel all dirty.
I haven't played it yet but I have a feeling that it will be a battle between this and Perfect Dark Zero for last place.
High praise 
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Wii exclusive The Conduit sold just shy of 72,000 units in the US during June, according to NPD data provided to Edge.
The High Voltage developed FPS released in the States on June 23, while the NPD’s June reporting period ran from May 31–July 4.
“In terms of top SKUs, The Conduit placed at number 25,” said an NPD spokesperson, also noting that the game failed to break into the top five selling Wii titles in June.
In recent times the game’s publisher, Sega, has hedged its bets on exploiting the lack of core-focused titles on Nintendo’s platform, but its efforts haven’t been met with blockbuster success. Its M-rated light gun title House of the Dead: Overkill sold 45,000 copies in the US during its release month of February. The following month its violent, stylised action game Madworld debuted with 66,000 sales. Both of these titles were launched earlier in their respective release months than The Conduit.
Following its delayed release earlier this month, The Conduit failed to light up the UK chart, debuting at number 29 on the all formats rankings and at number eight on the Wii chart.
The game currently carries a Metascore of 70, with scores ranging from 40-90. You can read our review here.
Played an hour and half.
First off, I have to say, even on an hour and a half of the single player I feel like there is no way this is a 5/10 game. Reviewers either have sky high standards or they wanted to tear this game down because of the media campaign or some slight to Wii.
I played to the end of the underground bunker and hit a difficulty spike. First off, graphics:
Is it the best looking Wii game? Nope, that award still goes to Metroid Prime 3 and Mario Galaxy and a few other games too IMO. The environments have texture detail even up close but they use texture pop in (very subtle and well done) but its there. Otherwise the environments mainly look like a decent GC or Xbox title IF they ran at a decent framerate. They are peppered with some normal mapping here and there but the graphics focus is clearly placed in other areas. The first is effects, things like water, which ripples and shimmers, alien objects with bumps and ridges and character models especially which are well animated and normal mapped.
The guns have obviously had attention lavished on them, as well as the ASE.
Lighting is very strong, with a hint of afterbite like Brewsters coffee, there are some areas which look very good. Other areas which dont, and some textures which are low fi. Overall for a third party game its a good effort.
Now that that is out of the way, how about the controls? I love them, they are pretty much the best FPS (console) controls out there period. The basic aiming and default setup is easy to use, but dig into the customisation and you can easily fine tune the controls to make them very responsive, accurate and ultimately satisfying.
The controls make the game better, you get immense satisfaction popping off shots and aiming between small spaces between pipes for instance.
There dont seem to be any neat tricks like MOHHeroes 2 though, advanced FPS controls like analogue leaning and rotating sniper zoom.
The game has a very pronounced Goldeneye and Perfect Dark feel to it. It feels more like the Perfect Dark sequel you really wanted. This also means that the thrid level is very linear and corridor like. I'm not a fan of that level though.
What I like about the game so far is that if you dont like something, generally you can change it. There are so many options in the game you can dig in and remove the barriers to enjoyment.
Is it the best FPS on Wii? Not sure, so far no. COD WaW has far more ambition and setpieces. Conduit is a very grounded, old school, enjoyable run and gun shooter. It's uncomplicated.
I would probably compare it to Medal of Honor Heroes 2, in design terms and control terms. Only it has better graphics. I haven't tried the main draw, the online modes yet. All the reviews say that that is the best part.
For the price I got it for and even at full price. It's kinda fun. I guess it depends on what you expect from a shooter. If you want EPIC setpieces, mind melting graphics and tons of cutscenes, you wont get that here. You will get a well controlling, arcade like game reminiscent of Perfect Dark. Not bad at all.
Interesting thing about the sales is that it's still performing okay. It still has yet to leave Amazon's top 75 (which includes games, accessories, consoles, presales, etc.). So I think the game will still move half a million copies by end of the year.
Okay I'm in the middle of the Congress level. It's horrible and now I'm starting to understand the criticisms. If the following levels are on this level of blandness and the game then ends soon after it will be very bad.
The graphics are starting to get inconsistent. It's obvious that some areas have had extra TLC over others. The congress building is big rooms with pillars or long corridors. Really bland, really boring and really crapola.
The only saving grace is that they introduce a couple of neat weapons. Strangely, you hit the underground section and the graphics go up a notch.
You can already tell that the Grinder is going to be way better than this.
On the issue of destroying the spawning point Conduits, it's actually not bad at all and better than the COD invisible trigger point mechanic. Its easy to destroy the conduit gates. One grenade will do it or one blast of the rocket launcher which is super accurate with the wii remote.
One thing I love is grenades, its like the first moment you used grenades in halo and you didn't have to switch weapons or clumsily arrange throwing arcs. Here its pretty perfect but you have to remember if you have it on motion, not to scratch your nose or something else foolish 
Of course you can lower the sensitivy of the motion too.
Okay now I'm on the white house level. I'm going to have to mark down the horrible congress level as a blip because the white house level is back to that Goldeneye feeling.
I've switched to an HDTV and it looks like ASS
So the trend of this game is smaller levels, focused. The combat is pretty satisfying. The controls are tight, the weapons are actually good, can't see what the complaints are about there.
It's a fun game and a pretty decent effort. It's a very small game though, what I mean by that is that it has no kind of real ambition. It's an uncomplicated, linear game where the pleasure comes from just blasting stuff with the pointer.
There are no vehicle bits, no cutscenes (yes you heard that right) no fluff, it just has a little commentary and drops you into levels. In a way that is very old school, in another way that is quite refreshing, not to have to sit through tons of extraneous fluff to get to the gameplay.
The graphics are inconsistent, you might come across a great normal mapped weapon or gun and then come across PS2 textures as well. This is not the best looking game on Wii at all.
The enemies, well they dont repeat any more than the enemies in Halo really. There are more than 4 enemy types in the game BTW, dont listen to the nonsense. You do see a lot of the same characters but you see a lot of Helgast looking the same, alot of Elites that look the same and a lot of soldiers who look the same, but because they are in uniform you dont care in other games.
Are the enemies generic? Ehhhhhhhhh, I guess but then you could level the same criticism against Halo really or WW2 games with generic (yet historically accurate) WW2 enemies.
So far it's roughly a 7.0-7.5 game from me, but if the multiplayer is good I can see it hitting higher than that. It's servicable, not great, but its certainly not like a 4/10 or other low stuff in which reviews are ripping it a new A-hole.
Okay final impressions as I completed the single player game. (Multiplayer impressions to come)
First off let me get this off my chest. No it doesn't have the best graphics on wii and no its not the best FPS on the system either. It shouldn't be seen as a flag bearer of any sort, in respect to the single player game at least.
The white house and pentagon levels were fun, the pentagon ended up in the middle of the iconic building with a giant boss thing. Then onto the DC streets. Now this level was actually fun, so far the game has been like goldeneye style, this level was like Half Life 2 style. If every level had been this fun, then the game would be an 8.5.
The streets are wider and cover points plentiful which gives the AI a chance to do its thing very well. There is a great variety of enemies and a couple of setpieces, some underground bits as well. This was actually the first level we saw in motion so its probably the level that has had the most TLC and time spent on it and it shows.
Unfortunately it then drops you into the last and second worst level of the game. A level which is like a retro 90s shooter, at times I felt like I was playing Doom. It was the epitome of generic. Imagine Metroid Prime like environments made by a team of students. It was bland, generic as hell, boring and a waste of time. Plus there are difficulty spikes all over the place. And then the game ended.
So overall the game is a mixed bag with some fun to be had but a lot of shite in there too.
It goes like this:
1. traning level, over in 15 minutes, not bad.
2. Airport level, this is fun, it feels like Perfect Dark.
3. Underground bunker, eh, linear but still okay to blast through
4. Congress level, this is FUCKING awful
5. White house level, thank god we are back to fun.
6. Pentagon level. As fun as the white house.
7. DC streets, whoaaaa, why cant the whole game be like this?
8. End level/s on sci fi base, ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no.
THE END
Overall for the single player only?
7.0
Hopefully someone will see the hype and decide that they can do better. I still want the MOHH2 team to make an original shooter, and Retro studios as well.
I will test it out as I always do, then never return.
That said the controls are so good, it might actually hook you.
gg are you going to hang on to this a while longer or are you trying to flog it?
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The strange thing is, that because I got it for £18 I could probably sell it and make a profit. They sent me a special edition with boxcover and pull out.
But its a fun game to play, for the price so its something I will come back to now and again given its level select. Maybe I should sell it for a profit. Get it when its cheap again?
Hey I played through both the white house and pentagon levels again last night. I enjoyed it. If you can dodge the congress and last levels then its a quite enjoyable game. I think the real challenge will be cranking up the difficulty and trying on hard.
The scar weapon those is disappointing. It looks great, the zoom works great, but its weak as hell against aliens.
So I put this up on ebay today. I like the game and would keep it, I may pick it up at a lower price. But since I got the special edition for £18 I figure I might as well sell it for profit and see if I can get ANother code with the money.
Also, Overlord Dark LEgend showed up today, £12? Forget about it.
If you still want that deal I believe Zavvi are selling it.
gamingeek said:So I put this up on ebay today. I like the game and would keep it, I may pick it up at a lower price. But since I got the special edition for £18 I figure I might as well sell it for profit and see if I can get ANother code with the money.
Also, Overlord Dark LEgend showed up today, £12? Forget about it.
If you still want that deal I believe Zavvi are selling it.
my copy of the conduit hasn't even arrived yet so we won't get to play online together. did you try the online even out of curiosity? i think you will at the very least get your money back on ebay and quite possibly make a profit.
i didn't get the overlord deal. i know 12 quid for a brand new game which is supposedly pretty decent, is a steal but i just didn't think i'd ever get to play it
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Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
bugsonglass said:gamingeek said:So I put this up on ebay today. I like the game and would keep it, I may pick it up at a lower price. But since I got the special edition for £18 I figure I might as well sell it for profit and see if I can get ANother code with the money.
Also, Overlord Dark LEgend showed up today, £12? Forget about it.
If you still want that deal I believe Zavvi are selling it.
my copy of the conduit hasn't even arrived yet so we won't get to play online together. did you try the online even out of curiosity? i think you will at the very least get your money back on ebay and quite possibly make a profit.
i didn't get the overlord deal. i know 12 quid for a brand new game which is supposedly pretty decent, is a steal but i just didn't think i'd ever get to play it
No I didn't try the multiplayer, I figured that the time to sell is now as the price inevitably goes down as deman satiates. I saw Another code for £25 on dvd.co.uk so if I make the money I will buy that.
Why wouldn't you play Overlord? Its still £12 on Zavvi. Such a great deal.
At the moment I am torn over the Ghibli concert dvd. £32 on play or yes asia.com.
But the agonising question is will there be a cheaper HK region 3 version released?
I've seen a region free edition on ebay, but odds on its fake.
gamingeek said:No I didn't try the multiplayer, I figured that the time to sell is now as the price inevitably goes down as deman satiates. I saw Another code for £25 on dvd.co.uk so if I make the money I will buy that.
Why wouldn't you play Overlord? Its still £12 on Zavvi. Such a great deal.
At the moment I am torn over the Ghibli concert dvd. £32 on play or yes asia.com.
But the agonising question is will there be a cheaper HK region 3 version released?
I've seen a region free edition on ebay, but odds on its fake.
true reason is i have a monster backlog and most of what's there would come before overlord. i read the ign review again which says it's buggy and has serious frame rate issues and general lack of polish. i suppose one can look over that if they're getting it for 1/3 of the price.
there seem to be a good number of games in the £8 - £12 price range (Shawn White Snowboarding, Chocobo Dungeon, Dragon Quest Swords, Medal of Honor Heroes 2, Stranglehold etc), some of which are sort of tempting, granted none of which are new like Overlord, but i doubt i'll be getting any. need to avoid extending backlog via dumpster diving.
i have another code R here, still shrinkwrapped , but i will play that for sure. i want to play the DS prequel first which i bought ages ago and never fnished.
you may also want to check professor layton prices, i think i saw it for around £17 on blahdvd. also let me know if you see RE5 (PS3) for £25 or under. i haven't seen it below £30 yet anywhere
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Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
IGN is one of the few that even mention any technical issues.
I dont know how you are going to make it through LKS, it's upwards of 40hrs.
I think I'm 9 hrs in.
Mine came this morning. I feel all dirty.
I haven't played it yet but I have a feeling that it will be a battle between this and Perfect Dark Zero for last place.