At about this time last year, Wii fans were eagerly awaiting the release of The Conduit, which promised fans a "real" shooting experience far from the rail-style shooters that had become commonplace on the system. Flash forward a few months, and you can hear a collective sigh of disappointment. The Conduit wasn't a total failure at bringing shooting to the Wii, but with some dodgy mechanics and a short online campaign, the game fell significantly short of its full potential.

However, it seems the folks at High Voltage Software have taken the criticisms of their first game to heart and have gone back to the proverbial drawing board with Conduit 2. We were able to get some hands-on time with this title as well as go to a closed-door presentation detailing some of the new features that will be in the game. And from what we've seen, Conduit 2 looks like it will be a huge improvement over its predecessor.

One of the first things we noticed was how much smoother the controls were. While The Conduit has some fairly simple point-and-shoot controls, Conduit 2 uses the power of the WiiMotion Plus peripheral to deliver a smoother shooting experience that doesn't have the same "jumpy" feeling that permeated the original. The WiiMotion Plus also allows for greater precision when you are shooting, which makes it easier to pick off enemies in the distance.

Although our hands-on time was limited to the multiplayer components of the game, we were able to see the story mode up close in a meeting with High Voltage software. And what we saw there was quite promising. We weren't told much about the story as a whole, but we do know that the protagonist is again Michael Ford, and the conspiracies presented in the first game are expanded substantially.

The level we were able to see takes place several hours into the game. Our hero is on a boat in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Apparently the area has had some problems with a Leviathan eating ships, and in order to keep your ship from being dragged down to Davy Jones' Locker, you'll have to fight this tentacled monster. This boss level required the main character to run around to some turrets scattered around the boat and shoot at all the glowing bits on the Leviathan. The turret mechanics seemed to work well, and the Leviathan went down without a fuss.

The generic boss battle is actually a good thing. So many people want to experience a "classic" shooter on the Nintendo Wii, and including something like this, which recalls games like Gears of War and Resident Evil 5 makes this game feel comfortable for fans of the genre.

One thing that developers were quick to point out during our meeting was the improved environments in Conduit 2. More area around the main character will be interactive this time around, and we were able to watch the person demoing the game shoot up and interact with various items in the room (such as a pool table). Also notable is the variation of the enemies. Those who played the first game may remember that waves of cookie-cutter enemies marred the landscape in large battles. However, the enemy generation system has been revamped, and you can expect to see all kinds of enemies surround you in battle instead of just endless clones of a handful of enemy models.

Conduit 2 is looking like a much better game than its predecessor. The first Conduit was a good attempt, but small mistakes were made that kept it from becoming the quintessential Wii shooter that people were hoping it to be. However, Conduit 2 is already looking very promising, and may fulfill the promise made by its flawed predecessor. Look for it to release exclusively to the Wii this fall.

By Amanda L. Kondolojy
CCC Staff Contributor