Graphics

Going back to this game for review purposes (and not for my personal enjoyment, as you'll hopefully take notice), one thing definitely stood out to me: the graphics are really damn good, even in this generation. There are a lot more graphical details than Bad Fur Day, and overall, it really shows what the original Xbox is capable of in terms of graphics. I'll even go so far to say that this game can stand up alongside today's Xbox 360 games with pride and a side of cockiness. If there's one thing Rare's been consistently good at over the years, it's having graphics that, for the most part, stand the test of time. However, the graphics are not entirely perfect, as the game, for some reason or another, suffers lag during The Great Mighty Poo's song. Not sure what happened there.

9

Sound

As I mentioned in my Bad Fur Day review, I find the original game's soundtrack to be a work of art by Robin Beanland. Being a glorified port, one of my favorite soundtracks gets a musical upgrade, and I quite enjoy every new and updated track on the same level of the original tracks. As if that wasn't enough, the new songs heard in multiplayer aren't so bad, either; Castle Von Tedistein's level, for example, does a great job of emphasizing the desperation that both opposing sides have of winning the war. However, when it comes to the other sound, by which I'm referring to the dialogue, the game takes a blow to the nads. Fans of the original know that it pushed the limits of what could be said on the N64, let alone video games in general. Yet, for retail reasons, Live & Reloaded censors words like "fellatio," "shithead," and "twat" when the original didn't. I feel the original nailed the dialogue in having some words censored out as well as being said, but it's ironic that this game is censored even more than the original version, especially when it's on a platform where one of the best-selling titles was the obviously family-friendly Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

7

Play Control

For the most part, the controls are the same from Bad Fur Day while offering both improvement and disappointment. Shooting and ducking have been replaced with the Right Trigger, a baseball bat allows a three-hit combo with the B button instead of the frying pan, and the camera has improved with the advent of the right analog stick. That's as far as the changes go. Single-player wise, the controls feel a little...slippery, if that makes any sense. Depending on the terrain, there are times I've noticed Conker sliding across it, which usually leads to a loss of a piece of chocolate. The controls don't feel as tight as the original did, and the replacement of the frying pan seemed unnecessary. As far as multiplayer goes, the controls take a while to get used to compared to BFD's multiplayer, but they're not bad once you get the hang of them. Unfortunately, even with the controls, playing on Live is (or rather, was) not a great experience, what with the glitches that people online love to abuse. Some are cool, like running around as only legs. Being able to summon airships when the match creator prohibits it? Not so much. Overall, I'd say that the controls were improved from the original, yet there are still flaws.

5

Originality

Most ports and remakes tend to stand the test of time. This is usually because, no matter what is improved in terms of graphics, sound, or story, the gameplay that attracted fans usually stays the same. Unfortunately, Live & Reloaded does not follow this rule. Bad Fur Day was definitely a game for its time; the amount of parodies and references were fresh and unique to the videogame medium. Yet, being a port with specific parodies and references, Live & Reloaded feels outdated. This is one of the reasons, in retrospect, that I feel that there should've been a sequel instead of a remake. There have been plenty of popular movies and new genres in the videogame industry since Bad Fur Day's release to warrant a sequel, in my opinion. As far as the multiplayer goes, it feels a lot more generic than the various amount of modes that the original version offered, what with war being the only option in various future and past flavors. To be fair, the multiplayer mode did offer a few new references not used in the original. Put simply, I feel that a remake/port of the game didn't benefit its originality.

5

Final Word

I must admit that I really anticipated and enjoyed the possibility of another Conker game back in 2005, even if it was mostly a port. I waited for the game, got it, and enjoyed the graphical and musical changes; hell, it was the reason that I got Xbox Live, and I'm sure that was the case for other gamers as well. Yet, upon that first week of multiplayer, the game started to reveal its ugly head. Removals of the older multiplayer modes, the cheat menu, and the glitches in the most advertised part of the game ended my enjoyment of the game. Now, I understand that the game was developed for Xbox owners to get a taste of what they missed in the hopes that it would sell well and it would get the sequel that it so rightly deserves. Yet, with the advent of the 360, specifically the ports of Banjo-Kazooie, Tooie, and soon Perfect Dark, I wonder if Live & Reloaded's existence essentially prevents the original (and better) version of the game from ever making an appearance on the Xbox Live Arcade. Fortunately, a recent Scribes says that it is still possible, but until that happens, I still wonder sometimes. As far as getting the game goes, I'd only recommend it if an Xbox 360 or original Xbox is the only system you have (as the game can be found pretty cheap in some game stores), you have an unreasonable dislike for the Nintendo 64, or if you're a graphics whore. If none of these apply to you, I'm going to say what I said in my Bad Fur Day review; ignore this game and get the original version instead. At the end of the day, Live & Reloaded isn't a horrible game; it just doesn't provide the overall package like the original did in terms of quality and comedic timing.

5

Overall Score: 6/10