by Greg - 01.03.07
Elebits has been a game that I’ve been looking forward to ever since the first screenshots were released. How can any game where you can toss houses around be bad? It turns out that it isn’t. In fact, it is one of the best casual games to hit the Wii thus far.
Elebits provides a feeling of pure catharsis. The desire to destroy things is something very instinctual to the human race. This game taps into that by giving the player a gun that controls gravity and letting them go wild. The worst parts of the game are the parts where arbitrary conditions are imposed on the player. I recognize that they are just trying to add depth to the game, but it just ends up limiting the fun factor.
Some people have labeled Elebits as a “children’s title.” It is an appropriate title for children to play, but I don’t really think that it is something purely for them. In fact, I think that I get more out of this game as an adult than I would have as a kid. The storyline is also a lot darker than one would expect. Sure, the outcome is as bright and cheerful as you would expect. In the beginning, however, this kid wants to kill those Elebits. He isn’t just jealous. He wants revenge. He spouts the line, “I don’t want to touch them with my bare hands,” before he gets his dad’s gun out. He is out to eliminate these creatures with extreme prejudice. Alright, maybe I’m probing this game a little too deeply, but can you blame me?
This game is a spectacular look at what the Wii’s controller is capable of. My girlfriend summarized it better than I can, “This is the second most intuitive control scheme that I’ve ever seen, just after Animal Crossing.” I’d have to agree with that for the most part. The controls in Elebits are intuitive. There is a thirty-minute tutorial, but you could really just jump in without bothering with it. Essentially, it controls like a first person shooter. However, it does take advantage of the Wii’s motion controls in several brilliant ways. Some of the coolest moments are when you reach out and then pull back to open up a drawer or when you twist your wrist to align a piece of bread in just the right way to stick it in a toaster. My only complaint is that opening a door can be a huge pain in the rear.
The storyline isn’t really all that deep or complex, but I still couldn’t wait for each new cutscene to come. The artwork is beautiful, there’s really no other way to describe it. I’d kill for an art book or a series of posters with more of those paintings. The in-game graphics are great. Everything is bright and colorful, and there’s no mistaking what an object is or what it does. It may not be a showcase for the latest in HD technology, but it still looks brilliant.
Where Elebits runs into problems is in the technical department. Several of the levels suffer from a ridiculous amount of slowdown. I could barely play a couple of the amusement park levels. The framerate would dip into the single digits in places. There’s really no excuse for that. The Wii can handle this kind of thing, Konami just needs to take more time and optimize any sequels.
Many reviewers have panned this game for not being deep enough. Why does it have to be any deeper? Elebits is the very definition of mindless fun. When you get home after a crappy day at work, do you want to play thirty hours of a complex game with an intriguing storyline that requires all of your concentration? No, you want something to relieve some stress. Elebits is the perfect “sit down and play” game. Each level takes between five and twenty minutes and then you’re done. I would actually advise you not to play the entire game in one sitting. Play it as it was intended to be played, a level at a time when you want to blow off some steam or take a break from the latest Final Fantasy. Elebits never gets any deeper than a game of hide and seek, but it doesn’t need to. A game doesn’t need to be deep to be brilliant; it just needs to be fun.
Elebits is fairly short, but the replay value is enormous. You can unlock additional play modes for each level and you can even create your own levels. This is also the first game to use Wii Connect 24. I put in my disk for the first time and found out that I had a couple of screenshots already waiting for me. You can send custom levels or screenshots to anyone on your friend list. It’s a cool addition that I hope many games add.
For the most part, Elebits is a pretty good game. In fact, I’d go as far as to call Elebits a brilliant “proof of concept.” I hope that Konami makes a sequel that fixes a few of the technical issues that drag the game down. For now, this is still one of the best uses of the Wii’s unique controls out there as well as one of the best stress relief tools that I’ve ever seen.
Score: 7.5/10
