Hands-on with The Conduit HD, Android’s first Wii port [VIDEO]

Great news making its way to Android gamers as another triple-A title has hit the Google Play Store. A well-received Wii game from yesteryear, The Conduit (HD) is now officially available for Nvidia Tegra devices, bringing all the action of the original, down to the small screen. Unlike its Wii counterpart however, The Conduit HD features Tegra-optimized visuals that improve upon the original, bringing enhanced HD graphics, more detailed characters, real time shadows and the like. Our walkthrough video going through the games first 2 levels can be found below.

Story

The story goes a little something like this: in a post apocalyptic future America is being ravaged by a virus know as “the Bug.” To make matters worse, there’s an invasion by an alien race known as the Drudge. Thing can’t get much worse than that, right? Well, a terrorist group has seized the opportunity left to them by these series of unfortunate events to make an assassination attempt on the president, using the president’s own secret service against him. Ouch. You play as secret service agent Michael Ford, the one agent who apparently never got the memo. Now it’s up to you to uncover the masterminds of the invasion, and stop the Drudge from taking over the world. Shouldn’t be too hard.

Gameplay

Gameplay is your standard first-person shooter fare. You shoot, you reload, and occasionally lob a grenade. Oh, there is this little orb thing called the ASE that can detect hidden objects and stealthy enemies, also lighting your path for when you happen to get lost. Touching on the left portion of the screen controls movement, while the right controls your view and shooting. Controls by default are set to make gameplay on the tablet a breeze. Simply aiming your reticule at an enemy will auto fire your weapon which, of course, may sound like cheating, but it works well for a genre that’s usually a pain to play with touch screen controls. Of course, a quick trip to your pause menu will let you go into full manual, should you choose.

Visuals

Graphics are sort of a mixed bag. Yes, it looks great for a mobile game, and leaps and bounds better than it did on the Wii. But somehow even with all the graphical settings set to max and the Tegra processor flexing it’s muscle, sometimes things still looked “flat.” Textures are high-res, true, and the Drudge look great when you get in close, but environments can sometimes look a little lifeless. Maybe it has something to do with a total absence of real-time physics or bullet holes when you shoot a wall, but now I just sound like a spoiled console gamer.

What the game looks like with “Wii” settings enabled (lawl)

Don’t get me wrong — The Conduit HD looks better than 99% of the first person shooters you’ll find on the Google Play Store and it makes sense. This was originally a console title, so there was just a little more time and effort put into the game than your typical Gameloft console-clone. Real voice actors, engaging cut scenes and story line. Best of all it’s NOT FREEMIUM. I can’t stress this part enough. That means you don’t have to worry about in-game currency, coins, sharing on Facebook or any of that mess. It’s weird to get excited about something like this, but honestly it lets you just simply enjoy the game, as it’s meant to be played, stress free. It’s refreshing, really.

The Conduit HD features:

• Pick-Up and Play Accessibility: The robust sensitivity of the touchscreen controls gives players a seamless sense of connection with the game.
• One of the Best Looking Games on Android: The Conduit looked awesome on the Wii but has been further improved by the graphics power of NVIDIA Tegra devices!
• Fearsome Enemies: Fourteen (14) challenging human and alien creatures work against you, and are more challenging through their use of cover and tactical thinking.
• Intense Weaponry: Unleash destruction with a huge arsenal of eighteen (18) different weapons, many of which utilize unique aiming and firing modes.
• Puzzle Solving Unlike Other FPS Games: Use a device called the All Seeing Eye (ASE) to reveal concealed objects and enemies, providing additional layers of gameplay.
• Unparalleled Customization: The Conduit can be adjusted for your style of play through changing the huge number of control options, layouts, and more!
• GameStop Controller Support: Enjoy more traditional control by using the fully supported Tablet Wireless Bluetooth Controller by GameStop!

Verdict

All-in-all we give The Conduit HD 2 blistered thumbs up. I had a ton of fun blasting baddies, not managing in-game currency, and uncovering the mystery behind the story. Good times to be had for all. The best part about The Conduit HD is that the first 2 levels are available free of charge. After you’ve been hooked, High Voltage Software offers the other 7 missions for just $5. Not bad for a game that was retailing on the Wii for around $50 bucks. And should you decide you want to take things a little slower, there’s even the option to break things up, paying $3 for levels 3, 4, 5, and another $3 for 7, 8, and 9. Options are good.

[The Conduit HD on Google Play]