The Conduit is a futuristic first-person shooter video game developed by High Voltage Software for the Wii console. The game uses a new game engine called Quatum3, which has been designed by High Voltage specifically for the Wii. It’s quite a well made engine judging by the game play as the engine allows a number of effects such as bump mapping, reflection and refraction, and gloss. It is a very good effort by High Voltage to bring the Wii experience as close as possible to that of a PS3 & 360; they have really pushed the Wii’s limits hard with this title.

The story line follows a newly trained agent called Michael Ford who, while on a relatively routine mission to stop terrorism in the US capital, gets embroiled in a fire fight with an alien invasion. The alien race is known as the Drudge, and they use portal-like Conduits to teleport and deploy troops over Washington D.C. I’m not going to give any spoilers away with regards to what happens to Mr Ford. All I’m going to say is that it is a typical story line for a First Person Shooter. It works well and does the job.
The story line is generally told through cut scenes between the levels. However, there are small plot enhancements inside the levels through communication with Ford’s bosses. In addition to this, there are television and radio broadcasts to look out for in the missions as these further enhance the background knowledge of the game.

Apart from the run-of-the-mill FPS game play, The Conduit includes a unique feature called the ‘All-Seeing Eye’. This object is used by the player to uncover secrets hidden in the game, solve small puzzles as they go along, and detect traps as well as enemies. It’s a nice addition to the normal ‘shoot and kill’ aspect found in all FPS’s.

The Conduit’s game play is reminiscent of Metroid Prime 3. In my personal opinion, the control system is bit more refined and solid than that found in Metroid. It seems that the developers has taken the best bits from Metroid and Medal of Honour Heroes 2, and in turn have steered clear of the poor attempt at FPS game play on the Wii that Red Steele produced. In fact, the controls are so detailed and well thought out that there is the option for the user to completely redefine the control configuration. Best of all is that these controls can be altered as you go along without even leaving the mission. However, I found that the best set up was the default.

On top of the controller customization, High Voltage has also included a complete HUD customization menu. The user can move and place HUD elements on the screen wherever they please. Again, this can be done without leaving the current mission. I found that, again, the default way is the best way, however, it is very nice option to have included in the game.

The game features all of your basic weaponry such as pistols, SMG’s, rifles, and grenades. In addition to these it also features a number of alien like weaponry that have a number of unique fire techniques. The alien weaponry follows the same line as Metroid’s main weapon where you can charge your fire for a bigger hit. All the guns feel good to shoot in game as the physics are generally well put together. The only problem I found on this was some slight collision detection problems with walls and bullets. So steer clear of trying to catch the thin edge of an alien round a corner.

The last BIG feature of The Conduit is the multiplayer. It features 13 competitive modes in online play, with 7 different maps, and 15 weapons. The main categories are Death Matches and Team Based. Both categories have a number of sub-game modes such as “Three Strikes”, “ASE Football”, “Team Objective” (a ‘capture the flag’ like mode), and many more. Each of them are very enthralling and can be played with “Friends, Regionally, or with World Wide Players”. I found the online mode to be the biggest selling point of this game. Matches are started relatively easily and matches are very well balanced. After only 5 minutes of playing you will find yourself getting plenty of kills! A tip from me is to remember you do have grenades; use them, they are very helpful!

The online game play also supports Wii Speak, although I am yet to find anyone using it. I have thought about investing in one, they aren’t that expensive on eBay these days.

All in all SEGA’s second mature game for the Wii (after Mad World) has been a success in my opinion. I think FPS fans are going to be very happy with this title. I’m a big Counter Strike player and have found The Conduit a great and fun challenge. High Voltage haven’t created a revolutionary FPS title but have certainly put together the most comprehensible Wii FPS yet. Hopefully we will see more games like this from them in the future, but not just yet, as The Conduit will have you hooked for a few months yet!

Final Score: 9/10

My interview time with Izuka-san had to be shared with two other sites, SEGANerds and NiGHTSintodreams.com. This didn’t bother me too much as I was incredible nervous ahead of my first ever professional interview, and I was also relishing my chance to meet such a great game designer.

We’ll that’s the background to my story, here is the interview in full:

Nintendo Life: When did development for Journey of Dreams start?

Takashi Iizuka: The idea came about 2 Years ago. Development began 1 and a half years ago

Nintendo Life: Years ago rumors came about, for a game called Air NiGHTS, a proposed sequel for the original game. Motion control was rumored to be the main idea for the game back then. Was Air NiGHTS a real game, and did it have any bearing on Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: At the time SEGA had been playing with the idea of motion control on their consoles. Air Nights was a prototype game testing out the technology. Nothing came of it, and development stopped.

SEGANerds: Where did you come up with the idea for the My Dream segment of the game?

Iizuka-san conducting the press conference pre-interview.

Takashi Iizuka: It was developed from the A-Life system in the original NiGHTS. While the original only allowed you to interact with A-Life in the missions. You now have a separate, small world, the beauty of A-Life, is it creates a place where the developers will not be able to predict what will happen.

SEGANerds: Why did you decide to give NiGHTS a voice? And why did you choose a female voice?

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Well the original game had voice clips for NiGHTS, but in Journey of Dreams I wanted to use more voice acting. The voice helps to add depth to the game play, and tell the story in the cut scenes.
NiGHTS is neutral, and therefore has no gender. The impressions of the character with regards to gender are totally up to the player.

SEGANerds: Will there be any unlockable content in Journey of Dreams? Like with Christmas NiGHTS -€“ you could unlock Sonic.

Takashi Iizuka: There will be some unlockable features, but I cannot say what they are. They are meant to be a surprise. But if players get high rankings, they will unlock features.

SEGANerds: Is there anything you would have liked to have changed or added to the final release of Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: No, nothing more. I feel that we have implemented everything we wanted to. I think we did everything we could do with the Wii’s features.

Nintendo Life: [JOKES] Nothing more you could do. Perfect!

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS]

SEGANerds: Which control method do you prefer?

Takashi Iizuka: I personally prefer the Wiimote controls, as you get the feeling of free flying with these controls.
But I suggest that fans of the original may wish to use the GameCube controller, as it is more like the Saturn controller, and is what players will be used to, at least at first.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Some people say that Bell Bridge (the games fictional setting), resembles parts of London. Is there any truth to this? And if so, why did you choose this setting?

Takashi Iizuka: Well like the character of Sonic is designed to be more like American style, NiGHTS has been designed to be more like that of European. So that is why the stages have the look of a more European setting.
It is also why the characters in NiGHTS have English accents.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: How many people worked on NiGHTS Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: There were 26 developers from Sonic Team USA working on the game. With the sound and CG developed in Japan.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Why was Jackal not included in Journey of Dreams? Is the Chameleon boss meant to be a replacement? In addition, will we see Jackal again?

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Well really I like the character, but if we created all the characters again we would be looking at the same game. We only wanted to keep Wiseman. [LAUGHS] It is a new game.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: The second biggest mystery of NiGHTS! What did the deleted boss Selph look like? Apparently there was a deleted boss from the original game called Selph.

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] How do you know about Selph?

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: “They”™ know.

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] They, who is they?

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Fans.

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Ah, ok.
Well the idea for the character existed, but he was never actually created.

Nintendo Life: In Journey of Dreams, NiGHTS has different masks, which he can use. What is your favourite mask?

Takashi Iizuka: It depends on the situation; I like the Rocket mask because you can use it to create your own strategy.
But my favourite will have to be the Dragon mask.

Nintendo Life: While we were having a play of your game a little while ago, we noticed that there is a counter in the game. The counter seems to change with each night you play. Does this have any effect on the game at all?

Takashi Iizuka: No. It is just there as a counter, for you to know how long/many times you have been playing.

SEGANerds: NiGHTS used the Saturn’€™s internal clock to add new game play/secrets to the game, depending on the date. Will the same feature be used in Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: No. For the Saturn, it was a new feature and a new challenge.
With the Wii, the Forecast Channel is the new challenge. However there will be seasonal events within the game, which will appear in the My Dreams section.

Nintendo Life: It has recently been announced that NiGHTS is being remade for the PS2. Will the game be released worldwide? In addition, are there any plans for a Wii version, perhaps on the Virtual Console?

Takashi Iizuka: There are currently no plans for the PS2 version to be released outside of Japan.

Nintendo Life: [TUTS]

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] It is being released in Japan, due to the high demand for the game. So there are no plans for a worldwide release… for now. As for Virtual Console there are no plans for a release either… for now.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: For gamers who played NiGHTS into Dreams obsessively, you could unlock rare Nightopians called King or Superpians. Will there be any rare Nightopians in Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: In the My Dreams section of the game it is possible to mix Nightopians with the Marens (baddies) to create new creatures.
There will also be Superpians.

Nintendo Life: Thank you very much, for your time and for making a new NiGHTS game.

Takashi Iizuka: Thank you.

I also have an audio copy of the interview in full (above is edited in places). Click Here to download it.