CONKER: LIVE & RELOADED (XBOX)
What originally started as another cute ‘n’ cuddly platformer became one of the Nintendo 64’s most controversial and adult games. Yes, Conker’s Bad Fur Day was one of the most potent games in the console's life-cycle, but also debatably one of the best – a technological feat which pushed the boundaries of not only graphics, but also audio with full-voice over for the first time. Fast-forward to 2005, and Xbox owners are getting Conker: Live & Reloaded. A full-blown remake of the original with the addition of a multiplayer component, has Rare pushed the boundaries of gaming once again?
Players once again take the role of Conker, a character which aesthetically appears to be one of those fuzzy N64 characters like Banjo, but actually more resembles one of those drunken youths you see on the 10 o’clock news. He is foul-mouthed, alcoholic, and one night he gets completely slaughtered. After puking on a stranger’s shoe, he proceeds to pass-out, and wakes up to find himself completely lost. Without revealing too much of what happens, Conker goes on a wacky journey to try and return home, meeting multiple eclectic characters with their own brands of humour and style. It’s worth noting that the story is identical to the original, so if you’ve experienced it before then it will be extremely familiar territory. If you haven’t, however, you’ll experience a humorous game, albeit with some slightly outdated jokes.
Bad Fur Day was heralded by critics for mixing two seemingly disparate elements together into one game – platforming and shooting. Of course, by 2005 this is something many a game has done since, so it isn’t exactly new territory. And Rare weren’t exactly making a hybrid to be frank – what occurs here is two-thirds platformer and the last third third-person shooter. The sudden switch from slower-paced platforming to fast-paced shooting is extremely jarring, and some players may find themselves at a loss as it becomes almost an entirely different game. But, as they say variety is the spice of life, and it’s nice to have a change of pace, albeit one with the subtlety of an iron-hammer hitting you in the jaw. And with a good 15 to 20 hours of campaign, at least it’s lengthy.
The platformer side of things consists of mainly jumping,
attacking the occasional bad-guy and solving creative, yet mostly easy,
puzzles. There are also a lot of contextual actions, for example turning Conker
into an Anvil to crush nearby enemies. While Rare were the essential pioneers
of platformers back on the N64, some nasty frustrations creep up on Conker.
Combat can be pretty frustrating, with a reliance on combos to kill enemies or
running back and forth if you cannot execute those combos. It can become
tiresome either way, with death being a common occurrence. The jumping sections
also suffer from occasional problems, whether it’s unresponsive jumps, death
because Conker simply won’t stop moving, and a lack of decent directions to
help guide the player through the campaign, causing a lot of wasted time from
trying to gain your bearings. Overall though, the platforming can be pretty fun
and refreshing considering the decline of the platformer around the game’s
release.
Once you make it to the last third of the game, Conker decides to switch into a third-person shooter. It controls like a lot of other shooting games on the market, and though simple is free from a lot of the tedious frustrations that can crop up in the platforming sections, even if it can described as a bit shallow. You blast your way through a variety of enemy types including Zombies and Tediz, which are basically Nazi Teddy Bears, and is a strange as it sounds. The shooting sections also contribute to one of the game’s new features – online multiplayer.
Once you make it to the last third of the game, Conker decides to switch into a third-person shooter. It controls like a lot of other shooting games on the market, and though simple is free from a lot of the tedious frustrations that can crop up in the platforming sections, even if it can described as a bit shallow. You blast your way through a variety of enemy types including Zombies and Tediz, which are basically Nazi Teddy Bears, and is a strange as it sounds. The shooting sections also contribute to one of the game’s new features – online multiplayer.
Taking the side of either the Tediz or the Squirrels, you
duke it out on objective-based maps including Beach Dead, which is taken from
the entire section spoofing Saving Private Ryan. You can choose from multiple
classes with varying attributes and weaponry, and with a healthy selection
you’re sure to find a class which suits you. The classes are a tad bit
unbalanced, with the heavier grunts taking the lead over the more petite
classes. And vehicles are a little bit awkward to handle too, making movement
around the map more troublesome. Multiplayer is definitely intimidating – maps
are huge, and require trial-and-error to learn, and a cumbersome HUD compounds
this problem. It is pretty satisfying, however, to nail the perfect kill once
you get a handle on this whole component, and it definitely adds to the overall
package.
If you have played this on the N64 you may be wondering if they have added anything to the experience. There are certain aspects that are different, mostly in the little details, for example it's item placement, as well as some of the frustrating aspects of the game, which have either been changed so they're more forgiving or just removed altogether. There have also been some aesthetical changes, for example the Mansion level has been given a makeover so that it looks more akin to Van Helsing, but it is mostly superficial. Aside from these changes it's mostly the same game you played on the N64, so if you played the original, you may be disappointed that they didn't change it much and it certainly makes the package less appealing.
Perhaps the best thing about Live & Reloaded is the graphics. This is hands-down one of the best-looking Xbox games ever made, if not the best. Close observation of the repulsive squirrel will reveal extraordinary detail from the smooth appearance of his fur to the great animation and expression of emotion. The environments are also extremely detailed, from a Stone Age Club to a Mountain of Shit. Yes, a Mountain of Shit, you heard that right. And the beautiful thing is only in the most intense moments does the frame rate suffer because of this extreme detail, creating a genuinely fantastic presentation for the hardware’s capabilities. During the multiplayer, the detail isn't quite as high here, but it still looks amazing. Even with the explosions going off all over the place in the multiplayer, it still runs smoothly and only rarely chops up.
If you have played this on the N64 you may be wondering if they have added anything to the experience. There are certain aspects that are different, mostly in the little details, for example it's item placement, as well as some of the frustrating aspects of the game, which have either been changed so they're more forgiving or just removed altogether. There have also been some aesthetical changes, for example the Mansion level has been given a makeover so that it looks more akin to Van Helsing, but it is mostly superficial. Aside from these changes it's mostly the same game you played on the N64, so if you played the original, you may be disappointed that they didn't change it much and it certainly makes the package less appealing.
Perhaps the best thing about Live & Reloaded is the graphics. This is hands-down one of the best-looking Xbox games ever made, if not the best. Close observation of the repulsive squirrel will reveal extraordinary detail from the smooth appearance of his fur to the great animation and expression of emotion. The environments are also extremely detailed, from a Stone Age Club to a Mountain of Shit. Yes, a Mountain of Shit, you heard that right. And the beautiful thing is only in the most intense moments does the frame rate suffer because of this extreme detail, creating a genuinely fantastic presentation for the hardware’s capabilities. During the multiplayer, the detail isn't quite as high here, but it still looks amazing. Even with the explosions going off all over the place in the multiplayer, it still runs smoothly and only rarely chops up.
Conker was infamous for its humour
back in the day, and though some of it is still side-splitting, some of it
misses the mark due to age. The audio definitely helps with the good though,
with funny voice-acting including the guy who played Conker in the original. The
music fits whichever crazy scenario Conker manages to drag himself into, and it
definitely adds to the action. The main thing about Conker is its Movie Spoofs,
which come fast and hard at you. The game references Alien, The Terminator, Saving
Private Ryan and more. Some of it is pretty humorous, with the funniest section
definitely being the aforementioned Shit-mountain, but most of the movie spoofs
aren’t as sharp as they were back in the N64 original because gags for these
films have pretty much been done-to-death at this point, meaning they feel
somewhat sour. But, some of them are pretty funny and overall the humour
usually manages to at least tickle the funny-bone.
Considering Conker: Live & Reloaded came out a good four years after the original, it was clear that something wasn’t going to hold up. The gameplay, though revolutionary at the time, suffers from a jarring pace, and the humour hasn’t entirely survived the past four years of pop-culture. However, Rare know how to craft a solid platformer, and despite the campaign’s issues, it’s still worth experiencing if you haven’t played the N64 original. Not to mention, outstanding graphics and a decent new online component sweeten the deal significantly. If you never played the original, I don’t see why you shouldn’t pick up this snazzy but flawed remake of one of the N64’s last gems.
Considering Conker: Live & Reloaded came out a good four years after the original, it was clear that something wasn’t going to hold up. The gameplay, though revolutionary at the time, suffers from a jarring pace, and the humour hasn’t entirely survived the past four years of pop-culture. However, Rare know how to craft a solid platformer, and despite the campaign’s issues, it’s still worth experiencing if you haven’t played the N64 original. Not to mention, outstanding graphics and a decent new online component sweeten the deal significantly. If you never played the original, I don’t see why you shouldn’t pick up this snazzy but flawed remake of one of the N64’s last gems.
VERDICT
Visual: 10/10
Audio: 8/10 Gameplay: 7/10 Longevity: 7/10 OVERALL: 7/10 |