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Nintendo's booth at PAX had a few games that we've been hearing a lot about. It had the new Animal Crossing, it had Wii Music, and even Super Mario Slugger, but what caught my eye was this game at one little kiosk off to the side, The Conduit.
The developers at High Voltage saw the fact that, even today, there aren't a whole lot of FPS games for the Wii (much less good ones), so they set out to make one that not only had all the bells and whistles, but an intriguing storyline as well.
In The Conduit, you will take on the role of a new Secret Service agent. Unfortunately, your first assignment doesn't go quite well, and you end up having to fend off an invading alien force. In your run through a city overrun with strange creatures, you will not only use a full arsenal of standard weapons, but quite a few alien ones as well. You will be able to hold up to two primary weapons (guns), and three different types of grenades (a personal favorite is Radiation Grenades that can stick to your opponent and deal damage over time).
Your primary weapons also have secondary abilities. This could be something as simple as a charged blast, or more unique features like the gun that shoots out two balls of light. The first one that hits becomes an anchor to the other one. When the first hits, the second flies around that point in circles. This is great for hitting enemies around corners, or taking out a few in a small, compact area. What's really cool about that particular gun is the fact that you can change the angle of the two projectiles based on how you are holding your Wii-mote – yup that's right, several of the guns have motion detection features.
The last of the really interesting features that I saw in the demo was the method you use to find and get through hidden passageways. When you learn that there is some secret in a room, a symbol appears on the wall. This symbol looks very much like the Illuminati's All Seeing Eye (the eye on top of a pyramid for those of you who don't follow conspiracy theories). When you see this, you pull out a device that looks like a globe, and you use it to rotate the rings coming off of the symbol. Once you've got everything lined up correctly, the hidden path will be revealed.
What I got to play of The Conduit was pretty fun. While there are still a few bugs to be worked out (it is an early build after all), it is well on its way to being a solid Wii FPS. |
