'Conduit' leads new games lineup
By Phil Villarreal
Pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.02.2009
"The Conduit" (Wii, $50, Teen)
Finally, the Wii has a beefy first-person shooter capable of competing with the "Halos" and "Killzones" of the world.
"The Conduit" may be generic, with its forgettable story and staccato corridor-crawling level design, but it feels like a breath of fresh air on the Wii, which doesn't have a ton of stuff that pleases hardcore gamers.
"The Conduit" is a passable single-player experience but an absolute mindblower online, with 12-player matches that use the "Wii Speak" peripheral to let you talk smack to strangers you're fragging online.
The setup is smooth and intuitive, and it's refreshing to compete in an online shooter setting that's not overrun by trolls who have been honing their skills for years. The Wii's point-and-shoot mechanic seems to level the playing field, making it unnecessary to memorize elaborate controller layouts.
"Fight Night Round 4" (360, PS3, $60, Teen)
After taking a few years off, the premiere boxing game steps back into the ring with a nuanced take on the sport that captures its bloody, ugly intricacies.
Stocked with a roster of current and past fighters, including cover boys Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, the game lets you re-create epic matches from the past or create a fighter in your own image by scanning your face into the game and starting your virtual career.
The game action is tight and focused and less static than previous boxing games. The graphics are superbly detailed and often grotesque in their rendering of bruises and cuts. In past games, punches would either land cleanly or be blocked altogether, but now the game takes partially blocked punches into account. Boxing in the new "Fight Night" is uglier, less showy and thus more true to life.
"Guitar Hero Smash Hits" (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, $40-$60, Teen)
Although it's obviously an easy cash-in by Activision, "Smash Hits" is also a valuable pickup for "Guitar Hero" freaks who would like to rock out to 48 of the best songs to be released on the first few "Guitar Hero" games.
It's sad that you can't rip the tracks to your hard drive to play them with "Guitar Hero World Tour" in the way you can do so with the "Rock Band" games. At least "Smash Hits" is a full-blooded "Guitar Hero" release, though, complete with online play and a music studio that lets you create your own tunes and download the work of others.
The $60 price tag for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions is a bit high. It's a good bet that if you wait a few weeks you'll be able to find the game for $20 cheaper.
"The Legendary Starfy" (DS, $30, Everyone)
The starfish hero who has been big in Japan since his 2002 debut finally makes his way to the United States with mixed results. In addition to a robust main quest, the side-scrolling platformer is jammed with bonus features and minigames but doesn't do much to distinguish itself from the swarm of other similar games.
You guide Starfy through oceanic environments, solving puzzles and dispatching easily-offed enemies, but you don't get a real sense that he's swimming. Starfy seems like he's floating or maybe jumping around on the moon.
Starfy and his game are too milquetoast to make much of an impact, but his adventure is a decent time-waster.
"Prototype" (360, PS3, $60, Mature)
Amidst a viral outbreak that has transformed some of the populace into swarming, superpowered creatures, you play as a super-powered amnesiac anti-hero who can destroy tanks and entire armies with his fists, summon supernatural forces and walk up walls.
You feel an immense sense of freedom and strength as you romp through the city, destroying your enemies as pedestrians gawk at your feats. If you're low on energy, you can attack innocent bystanders, siphoning their energy and living with the consequences of your nefarious deeds.
As you race through the destruction, you can piece together clues that tell you about your past. But it's the liberating sense of unmatched power, and not the story, that keeps you playing.
"UFC 2009 Undisputed" (360, PS3, $60, Teen)
A robust but overcomplicated mixed-martial-arts simulation, "UFC 2009 Undisputed" looks to be the start of an annual series documenting the fast-rising pugilistic sport.
You can create your own fighter or control one of a slew of real-life pros, choosing your fighting style and altering it on the fly. You can be a fists-flying, jump-kicking dynamo or a gritty, hard-nosed grappler who wrestles opponents to the ground and smothers them into submission.
The online setup is solid, and the presentation has most of the bells and whistles you'd expect from a UFC TV production, complete with in-depth replays with commentary.
The game's byzantine techniques are tough to master, but, as with any fighting title, you get what you put into it.
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