When Conker's Bad Fur Day came out on the N64 back in 01, it had the unfortunate luck to come out toward the end of game development. Nintendo had started promoting their next console, the Gamecube and this fact, coupled with the fact that Conker was retailing for an ungodly $70+ made many people miss this game. What a treasure it was to be missed.
It is the first game that meshed the genre of platforming with third person shooting. It also introduced context sensitive situations where, at the push of a button, different things would happen. Both of these have become old hat now, especially the mixing of genres. You can look at Jak and Daxter for the PS2 to find that. On top of revolutions of gameplay, this was the funniest game I have ever played.
And so it's out again on the Xbox, bearing beautiful graphics, re-recorded dialogue and some shifting of difficulties. The graphics in this game are probably some of the best, if not the best, seen in an Xbox game to date. This doesn't surprise me, though, given that Rare creates beautiful games. What did surprise me was how they toned the game down as far as difficulty goes. The original game was hard, downright frustrating in some parts. Now, Rare either tamed down the difficulty (as in the Saving Private Ryan level) or completely cut out a section (as in a sequence involving underwater travel and an electric eel used to power different generators). Both sections were insanely difficult and not forgiving in the least.
Part of the problem of the first game was the pacing at the beginning. Some reviewers here are misinformed when they say the game is not a "shooter" that it is a "platformer." The beginning levels are very platform heavy, true, but give it some time. It isn't until later stages where you are facing zombies and tediz that the gameplay focus switches to a shooter type from platforming. I enjoy both parts but it would have been nice to have a better mixing of the two genres. However, since this is basically a port of that game I'm glad they didn't change it.
Along with awesome graphics, the audio portion of the game has been completely redone. The dialogue has been re-recorded (using the same people), and the music has been redone to perfection. All of this in Dolby Digital surround.
Basically, my biggest recommendation for the single player comes in the form of what is in this game. Where else, for instance, can you fight the operatic Great Mighty Poo, hit a boiler plant in his brass balls, ride a raptor, bite a caveman in the ass with said raptor, lava surf, be a bat, ride in a tank, have bullet time, hit on a cavewoman, jump on a female flower's "petals," shoot zombies, meet Death, get drunk, urinate on Fire Imps and partake in many movie parodies? Honestly, the list can go on and on.
Then, on top of this wonderful single player game, a game I have played over and over on the N64 and will probably play over and over on the Xbox, is the Live portion.
I haven't played the Live portion too much but I think people will be divided on it. Especially the console gamers used to games like Halo 2. There are six classes that range from the bazooka carrying demolitionists to the airplane flying sky jockeys. Each character has their own weapon set complete with upgrades and special abilities. All of this in an arena that is objective based instead of simply death match based. This involves large arenas to play CTF and other games similar to this. But there's strategy involved not only in how to get the flag from point A to point B but also in the classes which opens up a variety of ways to accomplish your tasks.
For instance, do you have your sky jockey transport troops into the thick of things and provide cover fire? Do you have your Sneeker troops sneak in with their up close and personal melee weapons? Or do you rain devastation with your bazookas? There's so many choices for tactical strategy. Conversely, there's a lot of room for things to go sour. I think the quality of the people playing, not only in how they play but also in personality, will determine whether this Live experience will be a fun one or a horrible one.
The Live portion seems to be more in line with PC online games, like Counter Strike, where there's a little more strategy involved. Don't get me wrong, Halo 2 has strategy but if you play Counter Strike the way most Live people play Halo 2, you wouldn't last very long. And I think that same type of strategy will carry over into Conker's Live portion. I could be wrong. I hope it's very successful because Rare put a lot of time and effort into fine tuning it. We'll see.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing you online and I hope you pick up this game because the quality inside it shines. Look to Rare to lead the way into Xbox 360. Not only with Conker but in the games they have ready for X360 Launch. Thanks, Rare, for bringing Conker to a new generation of players who probably missed out of the game the first go around.
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**Word of Warning for Parents** Don't let Conker's cute little noggin fool you, this game is for mature audiences only. Kids need not apply with Conker. There is violence, crazy amounts of profanity, sexual references and violence. If you're under the age of 17, might want to stick with something else!A drunk fowl mouthed squirrel with problems urinating in public. What's not to like right for XBOX gamers? Well. The stardom this crazy squirrel had with his introduction on the N64 turned some heads for sure. Nintendo lost out to Rare by them going to Microsoft, or did they?
The money Microsoft spent to acquire Rareware seemed like a smart move 3 years ago. Or is it? RememberGrabbed by the Ghoulies? Most heard of it, but it was certainly not one of Rare's memorable games and considering it was their first game on the XBOX, people were ready for Conker. Conker has been delayed countless times and it was certainly a hotly anticipated title. I was expecting the delay to do some marvelous things for the franchise and I wanted Rare to redeem themselves. I personally expected this to be the best XBOX game ever as I am a big Conker junkie as I still played Bad Fur Day on the N64. Suffice to say, I was a bit disappointed when I found out the single player is a remake of "Bad Fur Day" from the N64 with XBOX graphics. While newbies to Conker will love this game, you might want to consider passing it buy if you've played Bad Fur Day.
As stated above, the adventure aspect of the game is a virutal remake of Bad Fur Day with better graphics. Certainly points up for gamers who have not experienced it on the dead N64, but what about the people who have? I played this game already and many others have too. Sure the luscious sweeet graphics are amazing and it's certainly one of the better looking XBOX titles I've seen, but I was wanting more, so I guess that's where the multiplayer comes into play. But back to Bad Fur Day. How about some new levels? Or a new adventure all together? Mind you, I like remakes too, but I didn't wait 3 years to play Conker's Bad Fur day all over again. If you never played the game before, expect naughty language, sexual innuendos, and some of the funniest moments in video game history. This is still one of the funniest games ever produced. Just don't let the cuddly looking characters fool you, this is for mature audiences only.
The multiplayer offers the game a little more replay value, but I personally have not played it enough to give it my honest opinion. If you don't have XBOX Live, you can still play the multiplayer solo or with a friend. The game takes control of the other characters and refers to them as dumbots. I've played a few levels, it's basically every man (well squirrel or Teddy) for himself. The objectives are not very clear, and it's clearly more fun playing on live than with the computer controlled teammates and opponents. I can say with confidence the multiplayer is not a Halo killer, but I know some people are diggin the action when they go online. The game supports 16 simultaneous players at once if you go online.
Rare disappoints me. I didn't want to play Bad Fur Day again. Sure, it's a great title, but it's nearly 5 + years old now and I wanted to play something new. But like I said, if you haven't played it, you're going to love it. But those of you that have played it before might want to look at something else to buy. Conker is a great game, but it's remade. Good for some, bad for many.
Best Deals for Conker: Live & Reloaded - Xbox
Conker: Live and Reloaded is a remake of the classic Nintendo 64 game Conker's Bad Fur Day. Bad Fur Day came out towards the end of the N64's life, right about the time Nintendo was starting up the Gamecube hype machine. So it would be understandable if you have never heard of the game. Not learning from their previous mistake, Rare released Live & Reloaded at a similar time in the Xbox's life when everyone's attention was on the Xbox 360. So once again it was overlooked by most, which is unfortunate considering that Conker: Live & Reloaded is not only one of the finest platformers ever created, but it is also quite possibly the funniest game ever made.You play as the entire game as Conker, a small red squirrel with an alcohol addiction. After a night of partying and heavy drinking, he tries to stumble his way home to his girlfriend, but wakes up to find himself lost. He sets off to find his way home, but can't seem to get anywhere without getting in a bunch of trouble. You won't believe what happens to him all in the span of one day.
The gameplay is similar to some of the other great platformers like Donkey Kong 64 or Rare's Banjo-Kazooie. As you would expect, you will be jumping, smashing, shooting, and solving puzzles for all of the games 12 or so hours of gameplay. The game also makes good use of context sensitive action, something the original game was one of the first to do. You basically walk over certain pads and press a button to do any number of certain things. A few of the boss battles make good use of that mechanic, requiring you to use them to win. It seems pretty basic now but when the game came out it was pretty new. The third person shooting action controls great and some of the later stages of the game feel as if you are playing a 3rd person shooter.
There are a few negative things that you could say about the gameplay though. For a good part of the game, your only weapon that you have is a baseball bat. So combat will basically boil down to running up to an opponent, whacking them, and then jumping out of the way to dodge their counter attack. But then again, the game doesn't focus much on this type of combat. The only people you will be whacking are those that are walking around the environment that are in your way while you are going about your business. The main focus of the game is solving puzzles, jumping around, and boss battles. And when you get to the later portion of the game, you will have weapons and even vehicles which will make this a non-issue. Also, there are one or two sections of the game that are pretty difficult, such as a race over some lava while dodging dinosaurs that will probably take you 5 or so attempts to finish. But overall, these are just minor complaints that should not hinder your enjoyment of the game much.
The world of Conker is great. Instead of feeling like a bunch of separate self contained levels, all of the areas of the game are connected and you can usually pick the order in which you want to do things. The massive graphical upgrade the game got really helps make the world feel alive. The environments are very detailed, and the fur on the characters looks awesome. Conker: Live & Reloaded is easily one of the best looking games on the Xbox. The graphical style of the game is similar to that of Kameo for the Xbox 360 with lots of lush settings and cute characters that cover up some pretty brutal and mature gameplay.
What sets the game apart from other platformers is its great sense of humor. Some of its humor comes in the form of crude jokes, but most of it comes from parody. For example, there are a few sequences in the game that parody movies like The Matrix or Saving Private Ryan. Surprisingly, these sequences are still pretty funny even though those movies came out quite a while ago. Other parts of the game, like the entire sequence when you battle the Mightypoo, are so outrageous and crude that you can't help but laugh. The dialog in the game is also well written with a lot of humor, but obviously intended for a mature audience.
After you finish the game's excellent single player campaign, there is a whole new online component that Rare created. The multiplayer games are large scale class based battles with vehicles. Matches pit the Tediz against the Squirrels in a variety of scenarios. If you can imagine a smaller but more action packed Battlefield 2 then you should have a good idea about how it plays. Some of the matches are set to a World War 2 theme where the Squirrels play as the Allies and the Tediz play as the Nazis, while other matches are set in the future. All of them are a blast to play, making the online extremely addicting.
Overall, Conker: Live & Reloaded is an extremely fun game. If you never played the single player game before, Conker will offer some of the best platforming gameplay out there. If you have played the old game before, the updated graphics and the whole new addicting multiplayer component makes the game worth buying over again. Every Xbox (and Xbox 360) owner that enjoys platforming games should check out Conker: Live & Reloaded.
Honest reviews on Conker: Live & Reloaded - Xbox
I can't understand why anyone would want to say 'If you had Bad Fur Day on N64, don't bother with this' If you had Bad Fur Day,DO bother with this. This is Bad Fur Day times 10! Live & Reloaded is one of the best examples out there to showcase the potential XBOX has for truly great graphics. Next only to maybe Chronicles of Riddick and the Doom 3 games, Conker is the best looking game out there. All that is lost between the 64 version and this one is the offensive punch it provided when it came out. Nowadays, what with games like GTA: San Andreas using the f-word more times than N.W.A. and Al Pacino in Scarface, and redicluous amounts of gore in games like Manhunt, Conker is actually what would be described as a TONED-DOWN M-rated game!
But that doesn't mean this game isn't still fun! Bad Fur Day is included in full on this package, so if you have an Xbox and aren't big into the whole Live thing, the great platform/third person shooter that was Bad Fur Day on N64, is better looking, easier to control and just as fun!
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Conker: Live & Reloaded - Xbox
As you play through the campaign in this game, you will laugh and laugh and cry and laugh some more. As the game goes on it gets funnier. I cant say the same about the multiplayer though. Its pretty unbalanced and is only really fun if you are playing balanced teams where there are equal number of classes. Overall, tohugh i find this very fun.PROS:
Very fun single player.
Many multiplayer maps/modes/options.
Wonderful graphics.
LIVE Play
Lots of variety in games
CONS:
Unbalanced multiplayer
CAnt hear people talking very well in multiplayer when voices are routed through tv speakers.
Lots of cussing in Live play.
The single player is pretty hard for the logically-challenged.
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