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by TheDCD on 04.25.11 
While we can definitely appreciate the dedication High Voltage Software puts into its projects, we weren’t entirely sold on The Conduit when it came out in 2009. Granted, the company was trying to fill a void that was huge on the Wii at the time, that of the hardcore first person shooting market. It was a decent game, to say the least, but a few problems, like finicky controls and troublesome multiplayer, kept it from entirely hitting the mark. Still, Sega and High Voltage saw the series going nowhere but up, and now we have the sequel, Conduit 2, to try and make up for some of the mistakes.
It does, but it still makes a few problematic errors along the way. Part of that ties into the story. It continues from the first, with the main hero stepping up and trying to bury those behind a big alien-laden conspiracy. It borderlines on a cornball Fringe/X-Files kind of script, but with the kind of gung ho action approach you’d expect from a Chuck Norris film. And we mean a laughable one, not a classic like, say, Delta Force or Invasion USA.
The single player campaign is okay at best. You probably won’t be bored, but you will be less than thrilled by the somewhat stoic level design and lackluster AI. Enemy soldiers will come at you from all directions, but they’ll practically stand there as you lay waste to them with a variety of weapons. The levels themselves look a little fuzzy for their own good as well, and some experienced players may be bewildered switching from another shooter on another console, like Black Ops or Halo: Reach. This is clearly a step down, though not a stumble.
As for the visuals, they’re improved in some areas, especially with enemy design and weapon effects, but there are other inconsistencies. These usually occur with in-game glitches and game speed. You’ll see bullet holes fade into the backgrounds and hang out in mid-air (?!) and the frame rate stutter to around 20 FPS or maybe even less as the action picks up. It’s not a complete loss, but it’s definitely something that seems like a late N64 title without the benefit of an Expansion Pak.
The audio doesn’t have much to write about either. The voice acting is about average, barely scratching the surface on making the story believable but also not turning it into a Lorenzo Lamaz-esque cheesefest either. The in-game music isn’t bad, made up of strong dramatic tunes, and the sound effects are pretty good, though hardly anything you’ll be blaring through your speakers at three in the morning.
Along with the single player mode, The Conduit 2 also features 12-person multiplayer online. There are a variety of modes to play around with here, including an Invasion Mode and an interesting balloon-popping game, kind of like Mario Kart’s battle arena thing (but with guns instead of karts, obviously). The variations are pretty good, and the online play runs much smoother this time around than in the original. There’s also incentive for earning goods that you can use to make your player better, including stronger skills and faster reloading. It’s not amazing like Call of Duty’s perk system, but it’s a decent variation. There’s also split-screen local online play, but, honestly, Goldeneye did it better. If you have to play local only, stick with that game instead.
Conduit 2 is hardly a classic. Lame graphic glitches and an equally laughable storyline keep it from even coming close to the ranks of other great shooters. That said, it’s still a step above the original, and those seeking a multiplayer challenge on the Wii may want to give it a go. Just proceed with caution, though. Halo, this ain’t. Hell, Goldeneye, this ain’t.
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