Pity the gamer who uses game reviews to decide whether or not to purchase a game. I took two recent Kotaku and Gaming Age reviews for The Conduit–I picked them only because they were two most recent ones I saw. Two contradictions between the reviews jumped out at me.
Unfortunately, I think contradictions like this lead some gamers to look at the metacritic or game ranking average for a game, with the idea that the average somehow balances out these inconsistencies.
I’m with Al Franken — When you encounter seemingly good advice that contradicts other seemingly good advice, ignore them both.
On the map designs:
Kotaku: While much of The Conduit’s single player campaign is a bit monotonous, the levels you have to fight your way through offer up a pretty broad spectrum of settings and maps. The game has you working your way through the White House, the Pentagon, down city streets and inside bunkers. It’s a nice reminder that not all shooters have to take place on a battlefield.
Gaming Age: Unfortunately, the level design doesn’t always make the best use of the setting. Sure, you’ll see some landmark areas, but a lot of places will come off as too generic, in part because the game tends to tunnel you around a lot. Certain sections early on are just corridors and small rooms, with little exploration involved and a set-up that’s almost like a rail gun shooter. One section on a series of train cars especially feels that way, as you’ll open a door, gun down the enemies in front of you, move forward, and repeat. It’s not a big sequence, but it lacks any real innovation for a shooter. There are a couple areas, especially towards the second half of the game, that open up a bit more, but for the most part I felt like the areas you run around in were a little confined.
On the enemy AI:
Kokatu: The enemy artificial intelligence, the heart of any single-player experience in a shooter, is tragically flawed. Enemy aliens and humans occasionally get stuck behind things, continue to fire despite having no clear line of fire, and respond to obvious triggers in the game, allowing you to systematically clear a room with careful footwork.
Gaming Age: I was pretty surprised to find that the enemy AI was handled really well, as I expected the game to be a bit basic considering High Voltage hasn’t had a great deal of FPS experience up to this point. However, the enemies will react well to what you’re doing, and they won’t be content to let you hide behind cover and pop out with shots when you want to. They’ll either try to flush you out with grenades, flank you, or simply rush up to your location and melee you to death, so you can’t get by with sitting still.
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