By taking this side of the debate, I fully realize that I am probably fighting a losing battle. I can appreciate that some of you may have already pressed on to the next page and registered your yaaay Conduit vote, while barely glancing at my words here. I know this because the Nintendo community is wildly excited for The Conduit -- and I find that rather baffling. But let's get one thing straight, right from the beginning: I am by no means suggesting that The Conduit will be a bad game. I simply think the hype cloud that has engulfed the title since its unveiling is disproportionately large. It's too much.
I struggle to understand it for a few reasons. For a start, the game strikes me as incredibly generic. In defense of High Voltage, they've been very open about the game's inspirations, even confessing to us how they "stole shamelessly" from Halo, Half-Life, Resistance: Fall of Man, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and GoldenEye. There's nothing wrong with borrowing ideas from terrific titles -- developers do that all the time -- but I also see no reason why such a magpie of a game should be hyped to the nines.
I mean, shadowy alien conspiracies? War-torn, crumbling cities? Muscle-bound dudes shooting guns at the kind of aliens we've encountered hundreds of times before? Really? There's little that is new or original here, particularly in the art design or concept, and thus there's little reason for me to get terribly excited.
There will be those who suggest that the Wii is lacking a game such as The Conduit, and that this justifies the current swell of excitement, to which I also say: Phoo-ey! As a single-player experience, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption remains one of the most atmospheric experiences on the console, while against all odds, EA's Medal of Honor Heroes 2 provides an online experience for 32 players (16 more than The Conduit) that has been described by reviewers as "excellent," "impressive," and "seamless."
It's also worth mentioning that if The Conduit appeared on a platform other than the Wii, it would barely register a blip on the fanboy radar. Compare it to the ingenuity of Portal, or the vision of Half-Life 2, or the staggering feature-set of Halo 3, or the polished excellence and balance of Call of Duty 4, and suddenly The Conduit looks rather run-of-the-mill. The Conduit is likely to be a solidly made shooter with some engaging gunplay, yet it's enjoying the kind of hype usually reserved for games that can be considered a far more significant leap forwards.
I'll stress this again, so you don't all come round and raze my house to the ground: I don't believe The Conduit will be a bad game. I also don't blame High Voltage for wanting to draw attention to their baby, and hope that it sells well for them. But I do believe the whole project has become grossly overhyped. If you do want to get colossally excited for a game with art design from five years ago and no splitscreen multiplayer (something that its inspiration GoldenEye boasted in 1997), then be my guest. As for me, I'll await the game's release with a clear head and more modest expectations.
