Thanks to Zach for the truly awesome Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again ‘EoD’ creation! My eyes are bloodshot…they hurt…and I know I should go to bed. Before I do that, I think I’ll do just one more level in The Conduit. No, I am not BS’ing you…I really do enjoy it that much! One level, and then off to bed…I swear! I’ll catch you all in a few, short hours. When I was leaving GameStop earlier today, I couldn’t believe that I had The Conduit in my hands. It’s not that I was more excited for this game than any other, it was just a great feeling to see High Voltage go so far and finally make it to retail. The early days of no publisher and petitions had spawned into publisher interest, and then things went into the hands of SEGA. Finally, here we are with the final boxed copy, available for all to pick up. It’s a pretty cool thing to see, all due to High Voltage stepping out of their licensed shoes in order to try something that better fit them. So how has my first day with the game been? Well, I got to the site about 45 minutes later than I thought I would when taking over for Bethany. That’s because I was trying to wrap up a level in The Conduit, and I was getting my ass handed to me. The reason had to do with me doing poorly, really poorly. Finally, I triumphed and finished the level…wiped the sweat from my brow, and hopped back on the computer. Thanks, High Voltage…you slowed GoNintendo productivity down! I haven’t tried multiplayer yet, as I wanted to get a real handle on single player. I wanted to learn the ins and outs of the game, at least from a gameplay perspective. Single player is a chance for me to get a handle on the weapons, a feel for the controls, and some time to customize buttons and sensitivity. So far, all is going quite well. I tweaked the placement of a few buttons and actions, but didn’t really go overboard. I turned up the sensitivity for looking around, but actually left the bounding box set on the default mode. I can turn fast enough that it’s not even an option. Outside of that, I mapped the bash attack to the Z-trigger, lock-on to up on the dpad (because I never use lock-on), and quick-turn to Wiimote thrust (once again, because I never use it). For single player, I have the perfect setup. I have a feeling I might have to change things once I get into the multiplayer arena. How am I enjoying The Conduit? Well, all the online chatter about the game being reminiscent of Goldeneye/Perfect Dark is exactly right. I don’t know if it was by intention or mistake, but High Voltage seems to have captured some of the feeling/vibe that those games gave off. I see that as a definite complement, even if first-person console shooters have gotten more advanced since those days. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I believe this retro feeling comes from both the level design, as well as the pacing. Things are pretty straightforward…you run, you gun, and you do it all over again. I didn’t realize how much I missed the, for the lack of a better word, simplistic days of those N64 shooters. On this front, the game is really meshing with me. I have to say that I’m a little baffled by the A.I.. I think I need to kick up the difficulty, if possible. Right now, the A.I. will impress me one minute, and then confuse me the next. I’ll have some really great battles where enemies run, hide, and then flank me. That’s what I want to see more of. Then there are other times when I’ll be in a room with two other enemies, and they just kind of stare at me for a bit. There’s way too much of a chance for me to do my damage. Long story short, when the A.I. works, it really works well. When it doesn’t, it’s pretty noticeable. Luckily, things work far more than they don’t. I told you earlier that I got my ass kicked a number of times, didn’t I?! The variety of weapons I’ve encountered thus far is a lot of fun as well. I’m trying out all the different weapons I can find. Right now, my favorites tend to stay on the human side, with a few exceptions. Overall, there’s that one pistol with the red sight that really kicks ass. I feel like a badass when I pop 4 guys in the head, one right after another. You know what else makes me feel awesome? Tossing grenades into clusters of enemies. Dear lord, how much easier could grenade tossing be?! You line up your site, you flick the nunchuk, and then you’re a hero. It took only a few minutes for me to get the hang of things, and now I’m lobbing grenades from one end of the sewer to another. Taking out four enemy spawn pods with one grenade is quite the smile-maker. Speaking of spawn pods/gates, I’d have to say that it’s a pretty interesting idea. You can’t just take out a few enemies and call it a day. You’re not safe until you destroy those pods/gates. Sometimes it can make things extremely hectic, but I love that feeling. As I was going through blowing up gates, I was getting the feeling of playing Gauntlet, but with a first-person perspective. As far as first person shooters go, I thought this idea of respawn points was pretty interesting, and definitely helps add to the intensity. Overall, I am having a great time with the game. I know the single player might be a little too commonplace for some, but I really appreciate the old-school vibe. Quite honestly, the one thing that is bothering me the most about The Conduit has nothing to do with the gameplay. I say this with a heavy heart, but I find Kevin Sorbo to be a horrible voice actor. Well, I should say that his performance in The Conduit is really substandard. I was super excited to hear more of him in the game, and now he just has me rolling my eyes. It’s too bad too, because everyone else on the voice cast is good/great! How was your first day with The Conduit? Leave a comment, let us know what you did, and how you feel about it all. I’ll be looking to join up with you guys in multiplayer soon enough. The GoNintendo podcast crew vs. site readers/podcast listeners challenge will be happening soon!

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GoNintendo ‘End of Day’ thoughts - My first day with The Conduit

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