Pinpoint precision controls, witty dialogue and a solid campaign make Conduit 2 worth owning.
Space shooters, especially done in the first-person perspective, are a dime a dozen these days. Everyone one of these games contains their own threatening alien race where you play the role of hero to save the world from their impending attack. Conduit 2 definitely falls into this atypical generalization of the genre as you play as Michael Ford fighting against the Drudge. Thankfully, the game's controls and interesting weapons save it from succumbing to mediocrity.
Conduit 2 picks up nearly moments after the end of the first game. Michael Ford is still chasing after John Adams so he can pretty much kick the crap out of him for nearly bringing the world to the brink of destruction. Returning to help Ford is the progenitor known as Prometheus, whose spirit is trapped in the All-Seeing Eye, a piece of alien technology that lets Ford scan objects and hack consoles. They set out on a mission to collect the spirits of the other progenitors to give Ford enough power to stop John Adams.
The gameplay is pretty straightforward as far as FPSes go. You have a primary weapon and a secondary weapon, and you can only carry two at a time. Conduit 2's arsenal contains a mix of human and alien weapons. Most weapons have two modes of fire, such as the Deatomizer's rapid fire and charged bola blast, while others will let you look down the sights or the scope for precision aiming. All the weapons are built rather well, and the alien weapons have some interesting biological designs to them, with some impressive reloading animations. Ford can also lob grenades with a flick of the nunchuck, and they come in classic fragmentation, flash and life-sapping radiation variations.
Perhaps one of the of the coolest guns in the game, maybe even in FPSes, is the Eclipse. The Eclipse is an assault rifle with unlimited ammo, but it overheats. It also has the ability to turn the player invisible, but it begins to freeze up and malfunction if you stay invisible for too long. It's not really a powerful weapon, but it pays for itself with unlimited ammo and tactical applications. You can move from spot to spot while invisible and pick off your enemy one at a time while never worrying about ammo pick ups. Another noteworthy weapon is the Phase Rifle that not only lets you see enemies through cover but also lets you shoot them through it. It's weapons like these that make Conduit 2 so much fun to play.
The ASE also comes in very handy for scanning for invisible objects and artifacts that you can glean information from. Not only will you learn tidbits about the game's universe this way, you'll also attain credits to be used in the game's store to buy new weapons and upgrades for existing gear. There will be blueprints of weapons you can find that will unlock them so you don't have to waste the credits to purchase them, and you'll also find coordinates to access new levels. These side-missions have no real goal. They're actually multiplayer stages with a never-ending stream of enemies that lets you get acquainted with the map while looking for more hidden goodies.
Conduit 2 has a smattering of boss fights. While it's appreciated to have one to cap off a long plow through a level, it's also dissatisfying by how easy they are. They do attack you, but they never put enough pressure on you to where you feel like you're going to die, and their patterns are predictable. If anything, they almost feel like a chore as they have a great amount of health that needs to be whittled away. Still, they are a nice change of pace from the run and gun gameplay.
The AI is very inconsistent, however. Sometimes they'll be deadly accurate with their aim while other times they'll stand completely in front of you waiting to be shot. They fall victim to their own friendly fire, but if they shoot explosive ordinance and it blows up in their faces, they'll be unaffected. There are even glitches such as them getting stuck in a door, but they can still fire at you, enemies appearing out of thin air and even enemies getting stuck and spazzing out while hovering off the ground.
The game's graphics are a mixed bag. While the weapons are creatively designed and contain a good amount of detail, the enemies are rather generic and the environments don't look incredibly inspired. The special effects are pretty decent, with bullets putting holes in everything and the alien weapons' projectiles giving off nice trails of energy. There are quite a few glitches, however. Sometimes visual cues will not kick in. You won't be told when you can pick up a new weapon, or your objective marker will just disappear. You can also mistakenly drop a gun that will vanish before your eyes.
Audibly, it's pretty well-rounded. The sound effects enjoyable, with every gun have a distinct report. The alien weapons sound alive with their own energy, and there's a satisfying "THWACK" when you deliver a kill shot. Explosions have a good bit of punch to them as well. The soundtrack is good, but if they could only have made the songs as terrific as its opening them, it would have been much, much better. The voice acting won't win any awards, but it's still pretty fun to listen to, and it helps to establish the fact that the game doesn't take itself that seriously. The voice actor of Michael Ford does a great job delivering some of the game's clever dialogue.
Conduit 2 doesn't bring enough new to the FPS genre to make it stand out amongst its peers, but it does enough well to avoid it from slipping into the depths of obscurity. Well-placed humor makes a rather average narrative more entertaining, and a few scripted events keeps the action moving at a great pace. Add fantastic weapons, excellent controls and the ability to continue playing after the campaign is over, and you have a worthwhile title to add to your collection. Plus, there's a good number of online modes to try out in multiplayer if you want to play with friends. Conduit 2 is worth a purchase and at the very least a rental.