Conker: Live and Reloaded is a weak remake, but it's a weak remake of one of the greatest Nintendo 64 titles ever.
Conker's adventure begins with King Conker sitting atop his throne with a scowl on his face and multiple obscure characters surrounding him. How did he gain this power? The flashback starts with Conker drinking with his buddies, only to have himself getting wasted and wandering into an unfamiliar world. Conker snaps out of it remarkably quickly (thanks to some context-sensitive pair relievers), and journeys to find his way home. Little does Conker know that the mighty Panther King is out to capture him and use him to prop up his table. Also, a rampaging army of psychotic teddy bears known as the Tediz are also on Conker's trail. This mindless collection of purposeless non sequiturs may seem ridiculous, but Conker's adventure is actually quite intelligent comedy. The different characters that Conker encounters throughout his journey are wacky, colorful, and simply hilarious to watch. There are plenty of scatological moments throughout, but Conker shamelessly parodies legendary films like The Matrix and A Clockwork Orange in a funny, but surprisingly refined way. This is a game that makes fun of itself and everything around it at every opportunity, resulting in one of the funniest platformers ever seen in video games.
Conker's journey is a platformer, and Rare knows its platformers. Take a look at Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64: adventure-platformer gold. Does Conker's odyssey live up to the Rareware Nintendo 64 greats? Well, no, but it comes close. Conker's repertoire of abilities is slim, but quite versatile. Conker can jump, high jump, hover in the air (known as the "helicoptery tail thing"), and use context-sensitive pads throughout the course of the game. The context-sensitive pads, expectantly, let Conker perform a specific action especially for the moment. Is Conker feeling tipsy? Break out the pain relievers. Need to deal with some pesky bats? Light the winged nuisances on fire with a flamethrower. While the different context-sensitive skills cannot be used anytime, it can make the overall concept feel a bit odd. Why Conker randomly draws some machine guns that he can only use in that particular moment is never explained, but this idea ties in with the totally crazy humor well.
There's a solid amount of variety in Conker's adventure. While the platforming is a major part of the game, there is a good share of interesting and hilariously constructed puzzles throughout. Thanks to some clever level design that reflects the ridiculous storyline superbly, there's always something new around the corner. While a lot of these ideas are incredibly crass and dirty, like swimming in diarrhea or blowing the crap out of…well…crap, they are far from tedious or simplistic. Even some of the most traditional action sequences have a sense of polish. Conker's world ties its gameplay and storyline together in remarkably creative ways, even when the scatological nature of the game starts to show its guts.
But this is a remake, so what's new with Conker? Not much really. Though the game does explicitly (and rather comically) make reference to the game being a remake, the developers really didn't add much new to the main storyline. A new targeting system and improved camera control are good, but there are rarely ever moments in the game that feel new. No new missions, no extra storylines, just the original Conker's Bad Fur Day with some minute cosmetic differences (like Conker's attire). The lack of any improvements to the replay value is also a big issue. Compared to other Rareware platformers like Banjo-Kazooie, there are barely any things to collect aside from the main prizes, the money. The result is an extremely entertaining, but painfully brief adventure that desperately needed a refinement.
Conker: Live and Reloaded does have a team based multiplayer that is much different than the multiplayer in the Nintendo 64 game. The multiplayer is based around the conflict between the squirrels and the Tediz, and builds upon a class system, where specific classes have specific strengths and weaknesses. There are stealthy Sneekers, Thermophiles who love roasting enemies at close range, and the like. The problem is that these classes aren't particularly balanced. It's much more difficult to work together when certain classes take the lead and the rest are left in the dust. Unlike other more balanced multiplayer shooters like Team Fortress 2, Conker: Live and Reloaded can pretty much scrap the teamwork aspect. It's an interesting diversion, but the lack of any real coordination in the team-based gameplay makes Conker: Live and Reloaded's multiplayer more a hassle than a treat.
One of the first things that many gamers will notice in Conker: Live and Reloaded is the graphic design. It's beautiful. It could easily be mistaken for an Xbox 360 game (it actually looks better than even some current-generation 360 titles). The lighting effects are stunningly deep, textures are rich and realistic, and even the disgusting portrayal of the blood and poo has a refined sense to it. Crass or not, it's a fantastic looking game. The audio is just as excellent as the original, with some of the best writing and voice acting seen in a platformer. Chris Seavor's role as Conker is extremely well portrayed. The only dent in this otherwise stellar presentation is the editing of the dialogue, which makes no sense being on the Xbox. Some extra dialogue would've been appreciated, but this remains as one of the most hilarious collection of audio seen in any platformer.
Pros
+ Absolutely hilarious dialogue and presentation
+ Excellent graphics
+ Solid variety and clever action sequences
Cons
- Tedious multiplayer
- Very short
- Does next-to-nothing to improve the single-player story from its N64 roots
Conker: Live and Reloaded is a great game, but a poor remake. There's barely any extra content aside from the disappointingly unbalanced multiplayer and a new graphic design. It's a great graphic design though, some of the best on the Xbox. The humor is all there, too; it remains one of the funniest games released in recent memory. The gameplay is tight, challenging, and packed with diversity, offering stellar collections of unique gameplay elements that seamlessly blend with the raunchy humor. If you've never played the original Conker's Bad Fur Day, Live and Reloaded is essentially the same game but with multiplayer and better graphics, for better or for worse. Though the game doesn't break new ground in crass content the way that the original Nintendo 64 game did, it still is a fantastic adventure. Just don't expect any kind of serious gameplay refinement, because you're not going to get that out of Conker: Live and Reloaded.