I posted this over at NeoGaf last night so I'm just going to repost it here. It's a combination of two post however and is setup originally more in a stream of thought. Not really a review or I'd have formatted it a LOT better with section headings, etc. I might do so later tonight. I have however altered it in various parts so it fits together better.
Be warned though. This is a LOT of text.
Is the game worth picking up? Yes. Is ti worth picking up and playing after you've played GoldenEye 007 Wii and Call of Duty: Black Ops on the Wii? Yes. Is it worthy of being grouped with those two games as the best FPS on the Wii and overall a good game? Yes again.
Single player is significantly better then the first game I feel. Still linear, what FPS isn't but the presentation is a ton better. The areas are more open, varied, and you're not literally walking through hallways the way you were in some areas were in the first game. It looks like there are multiple paths at times (parts of Washington, DC) and it does take some time to get through the levels/areas.
There aren't any levels persay. You go to new areas but there are multiple objectives that lead into one another. Those objectives are listed as missions that you get and complete somewhat organically. No loading or briefing screens like the first game.
The ASE acts more like Samus' visor in the Metroid Prime series now. There are scanable objects, documents, blue prints (which unlock weapons in multiplayer so you don't have to buy them. You get a refund if you already have I believe), etc. You get money for scanning items that can be used in mulitplayer. The scanned objects give entries ala Metroid Prime as well and are broken up into various categories. Some of the missing persons documents you scan have pictures of real people. I asked around it looks like HVS had a contest where people could get into the game by sending in pictures. Nice touch.
The game looks great. As good as GoldenEye 007 but GE might still be better. I'm not really sure as art style is different. The game's frame rate seems to be locked at 30 or maybe a bit higher most of the time. There are moments where it noticeably changes (gets higher and hits 60 I think or something like that) and then goes back to normal. This happens when you end up in an area with nothing. The frame rate jumps and becomes more smooth before going back to normal. I had that happen to me a LOT in Infamous which is why I recognized it. The frame rate online is stable in 6v6 or 5v5. Though the lower number of players there are at the start of a new match improves the frame rate. For example 3v3 (assuming 6 player FFA too) in multiplayer appears to have a higher frame rate. Game is noticeably smoother with numbers that low. However I haven't experienced any slow down during the action in the single player or online yet.
They did a great job with the character models, especially the enemy armors. Though I'd like to see more of Andromeda.
Her voice is pretty nice. Even the new voice for Ford has started to stop annoying me. There are some cheesy moments though. It's not as if the game has become less serious (you are still dealing with an alien invasion and crap has really hit the fan so to speak in the aftermath of the first game) compare to the last one. Just that Ford seems to have a personality now and seems like the type of person that tries to inject humor into a serious situation to stay sane.
The enemy AI is decent. Game starts on "Guarded" which is one just above the lowest setting but I increased it to "Elevated which might be considered "Normal". Interesting to see enemies flipping over tables or soda machines (wish there was more variety in how these looked) for cover. Trying to flank you. Some of the more armored enemies will simply rush to melee you or hit you with shotguns at point blank range. These are pain to take down. It's nice to see their armor get shot up and glow due to being constantly fired up upon. Then there are the snipers that seem to acquire you pretty quickly if you get to close to their area. Curious as to how aggressive they'll give on the highest settings. Also no infinite spawning either. Once you clear an area it's cleared. I was glad this was the case in GoldenEye and I'm glad it's the case here. Though there are still the Drudge wall pods you have to take out. Those are still annoying. Not just one on the wall but there could be 4 or 5 in the area you have to take out. Rushing into areas simply seem like an easy way to die. Though being cautious has still gotten me killed a few times. Charged shots hurt. The use of the Drudge so far has been good. Not being swarmed by them like last time (story reason for this). Some of the bigger ones have given a a bit of a horror twist to them in how and when they appear. Took me by surprise a few times and left me somewhat scrambling and wondering when I'd have another encounter like that. There is also a section I just finish that was decently scary for the most part. Or if scary isn't the right word nicely tense filled might be better.
I've done some online play but I've had issues with getting matches. Could be launch issues but there was one update when I originally logged in. Sometimes the lobby wouldn't populate. Or it wouldn't fully do so after a match if people dropped out during it. Online play is also deliberately slower then Call of Duty: Black Ops. Here's how the online breaks down.
There are four main playslist modes you can pick from.
Big Team Grab Bag - A collection of team games. 12 Player max game size.
Free for All Grab Bag - Free for all objective-based and deathmatch games. 8 player max game size.
Hardcore Team Games - Team deathmatch and basic objective games with no radar and no lock-on. 8 Player max game size.
Hardcore Free For All - Pure deathmatch with no radar and no lock-on. 6 Player max game size.
You don't just pick deathmatch and only do deathmatch matches over and over again. After each match you can vote on a new map and based on that map you have different modes. So choice could be a map that has VIP (one person is the VIP and you get points for killing them) and the other choice could be another map or the same map but mode is ASE basketball (collect the ASE and throw it through hoops around the map) or it might a Capture the Flag mode.
Local split screen and custom online games I believe as well are different though. You can have more control of the type of game you want to do at that very moment. Here you can do the same thing over and over again. You also have options to increase everyone's running speed, screw with the gravity, etc. Things people would hack the game to include you can do yourself with friends you invite into games. You get into the Invasion mode via the split screen option as well I think. Invasion mode seems to be like the Zombies mode in Call of Duty WaW and Black Ops. However you have bigger areas to move around and you can pretty much hunt the enemy. After you clear them out another wave comes. Not sure if you can do this online and not just locally though. It can be done solo though if you wish and you can determine the level of difficulty.
The game I feel deserves to do well. It's a far better game then the original in every way sans the lack of voice acting from Keven Sorbo. It's worth a gamers time and a very good effort from HVS. Could there be improvements? Yes. I hope the online issues are patchable. Some abilities seem unfair. The single player could be less cheesy and still be improved in various ways if HVS is able to do a Conduit 3 for the Wii or even Wii 2. I'd be willing to give the game an 8ish out of 10. As a result. my score of Conduit 1 would have be altered to a 6 out 10 instead of a 7.
Topic: The Conduit 2 confirmed. (Read 45113 times)
