Elebits Review (Wii)

It's an interesting concept, an anti-gravity 'gun' that can lift heavy objects and throw them about the place. In Konami's first game for the Wii, you can cause havoc in a house and then start trashing the streets!

In the game's world, there are no energy sources other than Elebits. Strange little creatures that give power to lights, cookers and all other devices. The story is so bad that I won't go into any details about it other than, you have a cool capture gun, and you must find and capture Elebits that are hiding in each level.

There are two types of Elebits, Normal Elebits and Power Elebits. There are many different varieties of normal Elebits. Collecting normal elebits is the main objective of the game. You are tasked with collecting a certain number of watts of normal elebits to power various devices in the area, and eventually clear the level. Power Elebits are collected by activating a device in a level. They increase the power of your capture gun, so that you can lift heavier objects. There are also three special hidden pink elebits. If you find all of these in a level, you unlock that level in 'freeplay' mode, without any time contraints.

The game controls very simply, just as you would think it to. You use the Remote to aim by pointing at the screen. When you reach the edges of the screen you turn in that direction. A or B acts as your fire button. You can press once to fire a beam to capture an Elebit or hold the button to grab an object then move the remote about to move the object about. If you let go of the button while moving, you can easily throw objects into the air. After playing for a while you will be able to catch things too.. Maybe a juggling game will be next! The nunchuck is used for moving (analog stick), ducking and going on tip-toes for them awkward high to reach elebits. Some objects in the game require you to do more than just point at the screen. For example a tap in the kitchen will need you to twist your hand, as if turning a tap yourself, for the power elebits to start pouring out. Also the toaster needs a slice of bread to activate it..

Graphically, Elebits is very responsive, more like Trauma Centre than Red Steel, the framerate is high and only rarely drops when there is a lot happening on screen. The physics are the big star of the game. It's literally possible to balance things of top of each other. The game looks great too, it doesn't contain the frightening jaggies seen on early screenshots of the game.

The story mode doesn't get boring, new elements are introduced as you progress. Including levels where you cannot make much noise and levels where you mustn't smash anything. New types of elebits appear all the time too, from flying ones, to black ones that you must not shoot at.

Apart from the main story, there are other modes to keep you busy, including a multiplayer mode, where up to four players can battle for elebits. The view is shared, one player has the movement controls and the others play like an on-rails shooter. It can get out of hand when all four people are throwing tables about though The other mode that will keep you busy, especially if you know someone else with the game, is the level editor. Here you can design your own levels, place objects and elebits wherever you want, and even send the level to a friend via WiiConnect24.