Conker: Live and Reloaded: - I'm Going To Throw My &%$# At You

The Nintendo 64 is quite the memorable console, though many missed out on it due to a huge surge of anti-Nintendo feelings at it's release. One thing for certain is that this system was quite the powerhouse when it came to platformers. Not only did it feature the obvious powerhouse, Mario, but several new IPs (IP means intellectual property by the way) were created just to take advantage of the system's powerful 3-D graphics processor. One of these such IPs was created by Rareware, Nintendo's old second hand man. Conker was a game that was seemingly in development forever, and looked to be much in the vein of Banjo Kazooie. This changed forever one day when Rare streamlined the title for a Mature rating, incorporated a ton of gross humor and mature themes into it. Conker's Bad Fur Day went relatively untouched by the gaming public, and so it seemed only natural for it to once again see the light of day. This light of day has recently been seen on Xbox, with a remake of the original N64 game, this version is called Conker: Live and Reloaded. How does this remake fare? Read on to find out.

Okay so first off you should know that I'm a pretty big fan of the N64 original game. I've played it a plethora of times, and I really feel as if I can't quite get enough of it. This was my reason for picking up the Xbox game. Most people who enjoyed the original game likely aren't as diehard about it as I am, and to these people I can't recommend picking this one up. Why? It's pretty much the same game, but with fantastic graphics, and a multi-player mode which isn't even worth it's own weight in programming code. If you're like me though, and don't mind several more romps through the world of Conker than you should at least put this game on your list to consider.

Storyline
The game begins with Conker getting absolutely wicked drunk in a bar with some new buddies who are shipping out to war soon. Conker calls his girlfriend Berri, and leaves a message on her machine that he will be back a little late. Once it's finally time to head home, Conker begins his wobbly way home, but soon passes out in a field far from his home. After waking up in the morning, completely hung over, Conker meets a birdy scaring scarecrow who teaches him the true meaning of 'context sensitive'. This part of the game is a bit of a tutorial, but soon begins Conker's journey to get home so that he can recover from his wild night.

Meanwhile an oppressive Panther king is facing a pretty big dilemna. His cup full of precious milk continuously falls off of his little table, and after some research, his scientist discovers that the problem is related to the table missing a leg. This guy also figures out a solution, involving the use of a red squirrel to function as the missing appendage. You can probably see where this is going.

On paper the story sounds pretty crazy, and in reality, it is. The game is chock full of funny dialogue and zany plot revelations. I must admit that not all of the jokes still work, as an example, the Matrix reference feels a bit dated after seeing it in the original game. Character dialogue is still pretty humorous, with Conker being the unlikely hero who is being undeservedly put through hell on one of the worst mornings of his life. As Conker, you'll get up close and personal with poo, meet a drunken scarecrow with quite the sailor's mouth, and even spoof Saving Private Ryan. There's lots to see and experience, so it's best to jump right in unprepared.

Gameplay
Calling this game a platformer is really giving a barebones description of how Conker: Live and Reloaded actually plays. At the basis of gameplay, you control Conker as he runs around, and can jump. These are common ingredients for a platformer game, but Conker refuses to follow the norm by switching up gameplay every few minutes. As soon as the game falls into reptition, you're given a refresher in gameplay that comes in the form of context sensitive patches on the ground. Upon stepping on one of these and pressing the B button, you will be awarded a weapon/item, or Conker will perform a special activity needed for these specific areas. The scarecrow in the beginning of the game gives an excellent description of just how these work, and so you'll quickly learn to activate these whenever you spot them during the game.

The greatest example of context sensitivity comes during the battle against the great Mighty Poo boss. Though these spots sometimes reward you with random quirks, they are practical in that they give you just what you need to complete tasks around the levels. During the fight against the Mighty Poo, each time you activate the context sensitivity you'll be given rolls of toilet paper which are needed to destroy the boss. A lot of the time things will seem fairly random with this element, but this really gives Conker: Live and Reloaded some serious charm and individuality.

What this means for the main game is that everything is kept relatively fresh, even after playing for hours. One great thing about Conker is the genre bending element in the main game. The different chapters feel plenty diverse from each other, some having distinctively different gameplay elements. For example, the first few levels are mainly platformer oriented, but much later in the game things feel much more action packed, feeling much more shooter driven. What this allows is for a distinctive change-up as you play, and you'll see that the results shine through brilliantly. If you don't like certain aspects of one part of the game this gives incentive to keep playing, because you may find things turning out for the better.

The main problem I have with Conker is just how short the base game is. I can easily finish the quest in one sitting each time I play, even on my first try I didn't have much of a problem at all with this. Rareware must have realized this, and that's why they decided to include the option for multi-player, both online and offline. This particular developer was once the KING of deathmatch, but even with multi-player being an integral focus, they really screwed up here. Not only does the gameplay move too slowly for what Rare seems to be aiming for, but it's not fun unless you've got eight serious players on your team due to the overall pacing and size of the deathmatch levels. This is why I haven't spent much time with this mode, as I much prefer playing Conker offline, both single and multi-player.

Another bad thing about the multi-player is the fact that there are only 8 maps which you can choose from, further limiting how long you'll be able to put up with this mode. This game has been in development for so long, and I know Rare couldn't have put all the time into remaking the original title because there's very little changes, which takes away any excuse for there not being at least 16 maps. One nice feature however is the ability to switch your character class, right in the middle of an online match. There is a price to pay however, and this comes in the form of idle time. One mistake that this game suffers from are the spawn points, which make it very easy for someone just to memorize them, and charge in to kill you before you can even get a chance to defend yourself. Quite annoying to be honest.

Diversity is fairly high within the multi-player gameplay modes, which includes both straight up deathmatch, or mission based play. Both of these are played with teams, each team can have a maximum of 8 people on their side. These modes are played in third person shooter mode, with a decent arsenal at hand, and several different classes you can select to play as, each having their own weapons. There's certainly enough options here to offer a pretty big change up, but due to the slow gameplay and weapon strength/class unbalance, you'll probably find yourself bored here pretty quick. While playing offline multi-player, you can actually set bots to fill up some space, which is a rather nice feature.

Graphics, Sound, Controls, and Replay Value
The one thing that completely blew me away about Conker while reading previews and seeing the game in motion was just how beautiful it looked. Rareware is a very tech savy developer, and Conker: Live and Reloaded more than makes up for the travesty that was Grabbed By The Ghoulies. Conker makes excellent use of the 'fur shading' technique witnessed in Starfox Adventures. This technique, paired with a great use of lighting and water effects, and with a high polygon count makes this the most graphically impressive game I've seen on the Xbox this generation, even with it's cute and colorful graphics. One of the best elements to the title is the excellent style this world has, with exaggerated character features up the yin yang.

Some audio seems pretty much untouched from the N64 game, but this is in no means a bad thing. Though Conker's Bad Fur Day was on a cartridge, the audio didn't seem to suffer from this at all, with rich, catchy tunes taking up the background noise. Voice overs are pretty high quality, but some of the characters seem to be voiced by the same guy over and over, changing his voice to fit the given character who is speaking. The voices are half of what make the jokes funny though. Sound effects are nothing to write home about, as they're a pretty standard, what you'd expect ordeal. The Mighty Poo's opera style singing performance is classic.

Control is pretty generic platformer fare on the surface, but once the different context sensitive actions come into play you'll notice some changes. In the basic form of level, Conker can run, jump, and float in the air using his tail spin move, requiring only for you to hold A after jupming in the air. The camera is controlled using the right analog stick, and while it does seem to behave itself fairly well, you'll still need to keep your right thumb on it to ensure the timing on jumps and whatnot. These basic controls are what you'll need to remember in the beginning, but once you start getting weapons you'll need to remember to to use the R trigger to use them. Controls are really quite simple to learn, easy to memorize, and quick to master. Things don't even get too complicated once the game switches over to the third person shooter levels.

Honestly I can play through this game many times before getting bored, but I'm also a bit more dedicated than your average gamer. Because of it's short length, you'll probably find yourself playing through at least one more time to get your money's worth if you are dissatisfied with multi-player, and this offers up a chance to pick up on some humorous moments that you may have missed. What's nice is the option to skip cut scenes after you've seen them, cutting down a bit on repetition. Rare did do away with the most annoying part of the original game for this release (the part with the eel underwater), and so this makes things slightly less frustrating.

Final Recommendation
Honestly if you were a fan of the first game, and have the urge to play through again than I highly recommend picking this one up. Even if you aren't familiar with Conker, but think the single player premise sounds cool, and if you can dig the humor, than by all means, go for it. Just don't get this one for it's multi-player, and keep in mind that it's a little short.

Overall Rating: 8.4