As The Hour Glass Turns..So Does The Reviews Of The Conduit

Its been a long time since I’ve seen drama being raised over a game review. In fact the last time I remember ‘game review drama’ for the Nintendo Wii was way back when Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess released. Jeff Gerstmann who was working for Gamespot then, gave Twilight Princess a 8.8. From all the backlash he received, you would have thought he dropped anthrax on a small town.

Now that The Conduit is out, there’s already shades of drama rearing its ugly head. I’ve tried to discern the reason why this is, and I think I have an explanation. I call it the Obama complex. So many people have faith in Obama and his ability to bring hope and change to the country. So much so that I’m sure many will be blinded by their hopes, even when he makes a mistake. In the same way, The Conduit is the hope that many Nintendo Wii owners have. The hope that more games will be released for them, and that The Conduit will somehow act as a catalyst for that.

Things started out nice, IGN gave a solid score (8.6) and review for The Conduit. It seemed like perhaps other sites would fall in line. Then it happened, the unthinkable — negative thoughts started popping up around the internet.

It started with 1Up’s Garnett Lee, who wrote a blog post concerning The Conduit’s single player:

So, in the meantime, what about the single-player game? For all the promise it held in the demos we saw the final game turned out decidedly ordinary. Sure, the controls are super-customizable but that amounts to an elaborate workaround for making the Wiimote/Nunchuk setup usable for a first person shooter. All the control fidelity in the world couldn’t save the Conduit from its mediocre core design anyway. The story lacks anywhere near the character development or intricacy to pull off its lofty conspiracy theory aspirations. The level design comes off equally mediocre with a stand-em-up and knock-em-down linear progression of rooms, corridors, roads, and tunnels. Neither does the game’s signature All-seeing Eye orb (the thing Michael has in his hand in some of the shots) get used for much more than a magic flashlight to reveal things invisible to the naked eye.

It’s that gap between where The Conduit comes in at versus what it could have been that will be the most frustrating part for Wii gamers who’ve been looking forward to it. That’s another reason I’m anxious to see how the multiplayer works out. Based on single-player alone it’s hard to give The Conduit a very strong recommendation. Standout multiplayer could help make up some of that ground.

This post led to a reaction from RawMeatCowboy at GoNintendo,

Sure, the controls are super-customizable but that amounts to an elaborate workaround for making the Wiimote/Nunchuk setup usable for a first person shooter. – Garnett Lee

There are some people that just don’t like using the Wiimote/Nunchuk for first person shooters. That’s a lot different than saying that they aren’t usable. Looks like a lot of gamers are really set in their ways. Complaining about using the Wiimote/Nunchuk for a first person game is like badmouthing custom key strokes/mouse speed on a computer.

The post, and the reaction to the post has undoubtedly led to comments on the two sites. People are criticizing Garnett Lee for badmouthing The Conduit for its controls. The reason is that they believe he’s criticizing The Conduit for allowing players to customize, which should be a good thing.

My Two Cents: I think Lee could have worded some things better with that statement, because in an indirect way it does sound like he’s criticizing the controls. When in fact I believe he’s actually applauding High Voltage for allowing control customization. Maybe he’s not as adept at Wii controls as some of us who’ve been playing the console substantially. There’s nothing wrong with that, when it’s in a blog post.

It seems that people aren’t reading his entire post though. Lee’s argument is that The Conduit is mediocre on so many levels in terms of single player that even though the controls are customizable it really doesn’t add a whole lot to the experience. I also applaud Lee for making a blog post about single player, instead of just writing out a review…

Which is more than I can for this next piece of review drama

While Lee’s post kicked up a bit of dust, Tae K. Kim’s official review on Gamepro has led to a furious backlash. It’s even spilled over from the site onto the NeoGAF forums.

I thought that many of the people upset with Lee were a bit nit-picky. However, I can see why some people would be upset with Kim’s review of The Conduit. When, honestly they should have just discredited his review from the very beginning.

I haven’t had the chance to play The Conduit yet, so I can’t say whether or not I agree with Kim’s thoughts on the game. As someone who writes reviews though, I’m extremely disappointed with his article. After the first paragraph I didn’t really buy into what he was saying…

Let’s get the inevitable comparisons to Goldeneye out of the way right now: The Conduit is the closest you will get to recapturing the magic of Goldeneye on a Nintendo console. I can’t speak for the multiplayer because I didn’t experience it first-hand (several other GamePro editors did, though, and their impressions are posted in our The Conduit multiplayer preview) but the single-player campaign is definitely reminiscent of Rare’s classic; go ahead, fanboys, let the scream of joy out — I’ll wait. You done? Good, because you won’t like what I have to say next.

I guess I’m not really upset with Kim, as much as I am with Gamepro for allowing this to be the official review of the game. Kim hasn’t even played multiplayer yet. Further into the article he states that he skipped many of the cutscenes, and didn’t bother looking for some of the game’s extras. How can I trust someone’s review of a game if that person hasn’t played enough of it to comment on all aspects of the title? I’m actually more offended as a video game writer, than as a fan of the game or the Wii itself.

What was Kim thinking when writing this? The worst thing you can do when writing an opinion piece is to admit lack of experience.

There are other certain parts of the game that he criticizes, and has received flak for. Specifically the graphics, which apparently everyone is just drooling over. Again, I haven’t played the game myself so I can’t form a valid reaction.

The funniest part about the whole thing is that he gives the game a rather positive score (3.5/5 stars).

———————————-

I always find it amusing to read reactions to game reviews. It’s all taken so seriously by people, that it becomes sad at a certain point. What makes us so infuriated when we read someone’s views that are different than our own? It’s like a flip gets switched, and all of sudden WE’RE TYPING IN CAPS because someone critiqued a game we like or love.

To quote the famous saying from the 90′s — take a chill pill.