Elebits Review

By Mathew Kumar Published 20 December, 2006

[I'm still appalled - Ellie]

Version tested: Wii

At E3 this year I got to try out the demo of Elebits. At the end, I turned around to hand the controller to the next person in line (who happened to be GoldenEye designer Martin Hollis, but that's neither here nor there), who asked me what I thought of it. "It's alright," I said, "but the final version better have more to it than just zapping tiny creatures and flinging objects about."

A few months later at the Montreal International Game Summit, Reggie Fils-Aime told me (and a few hundred other people) that it did. "That's a game that's got something special to it," he said in his keynote. "A lot of people are going to be surprised by that one." Excellent, I thought. It does have more to it than just zapping tiny creatures and flinging objects about.

It turns out I would have preferred it didn't.

Elementary

Elebits - Konami's Wii debut - plonks you in a world entirely powered by tiny creatures with a silly name. Except, oh no! They've all gone and hidden after a huge lightning storm! With that, it's up to ten year-old protagonist Kai to sort things out by grabbing his dad's "capture gun" and sucking the power right out of the hidden Elebits. "Okay," you're saying, "but what's my motivation?" Well, it turns out that Kai's parents research Elebits, and as a result you hate them!

'Elebits' Screenshot 1

Certain items require that you manipulate them in certain ways, like taps that you turn by twisting the Wii remote.

It's all controlled in a sort of first-person shooter style, using the nunchuck analogue stick to move and strafe in the accepted fashion while aiming and turning with the Wiimote. Turning can be a bit sluggish, because the viewpoint only shifts when the pointer's at the edge of the screen (some "expert" controls would've been nice), but then Elebits really isn't a game that demands speedy, dextrous control.

Instead, for the majority of the game, you find yourself standing still, zapping all the Elebits you can see on-screen and then using the capture gun to manipulate objects the other might be hiding under. What's more, collecting Elebits eventually starts to power up electrical items dotted around the room (computers, rice cookers, telephones), allowing you to turn them on and capture special, yellow Elebits, which increase the power of your capture gun. Once you're on a roll, you can progress from throwing pieces of toast all the way up to houses.

And that's basically it.

White Elephants

'Elebits' Screenshot 2

Finally! A safe outlet for my eternal urge to throw chairs at things telepathically!

Alright, it's not really. That's about it for the basic gameplay concept, but there are other things to bear in mind. First of all, using the Wiimote capture gun to manipulate objects is incredibly satisfying. You can pick them up, but also twist and wobble them, and of course you can fling them about if the need takes you. It can be difficult to move objects into and out of the screen (unless you hold the Wiimote naturally with plenty of room to move it backwards and forwards), but it's clear after a couple of levels that the biggest smiles are to be found in making a ridiculous mess.

The problem being that, after the first couple of levels, the game does its very best to stop you doing that. Instead, it progressively adds layers of complication. You're asked not to break any objects. Then you're asked not to make too much noise. Then you're asked, inevitably, to avoid making a mess at all. Doing so will summon evil black Elebits, who can break your capture gun and end the level. The result is that Elebits shifts from an enjoyably chaotic mess-'em-up into a game of quietly and gingerly reorganising rooms so they're free of Elebits.

Thank goodness, then, for the edit mode, where you can make the ungodly mess of your dreams and then, excellently, send it off to people on your friends list using WiiConnect24. You're limited to editing levels you've unlocked during the story mode, but you can still create wonderfully complex levels full of physics-baiting towers, built out of breakable objects just begging to be knocked over in search of Elebits.

Bitty

'Elebits' Screenshot 3

There is a huge variety of different Elebits, though they never really seem to do anything all that interesting.

Multiplayer mode (only available offline) is a little less elegant. It's meant to be competitive, and the twist is that only one player can control the camera, with a bodged solution that has it randomly switch between players every 60 seconds. Going up against all the interesting multiplayer games already out on the Wii, it doesn't get very far, and the most fun you're going to have with your mates will be building new levels.

That's certainly been my experience in the couple of weeks I've spent on this, during which I've struggled with how I feel about it. There are glimmers of comparison to Katamari Damacy lurking in the way the game scales, and I was a bit worried - thinking back to the E3 demo - that I might just be treating it dismissively. Was Katamari, in demo form, not just a silly game about rolling rubbish up in a ball?

Well, no it wasn't. Katamari had bags and bags of charm from the off, and while the Elebits themselves are cute, nothing else about the game is memorable (for the right reasons anyway - you might struggle to dislodge the odious cut-scenes). And where Katamari opened up the possibilities without messing up its simple controls, Elebits starts off complex, and then only makes things worse with each new restriction.

All of which rather betrays Reggie's belief that it was "something special". There's nothing special here. Elebits is a fairly competent FPS tidy-'em-up with a great edit mode, but that's all.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
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About Mathew Kumar

Read more articles from Mathew by visiting the Mathew Kumar archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Toonster #1 5 years ago

    0_0

    how'd you get an early copy?

    edit: hrmm... not quite sure whether I should trust the review or not. I've heard good stuff about it from other sites. I thought the 'restrictions' you mentioned in the review were supposed to help add some challenge in the later levels. What about the power-ups? What about the longetivity?

    Oh well.
    Edited by 2 at 20/12/06 @ 07:29

  • TakeTheVeil #2 5 years ago

    Wow Eurogamer hates the Wii!

    ...only joking.. but to be honest, from past experience, i always expect launch titles to be shit.. although i really loved a game called Kurishi?..maybe?.. for the PS2.. involved blocks and stuff.. though maybe it wasnt a launch title

  • Keyz #3 5 years ago

    Well it's not as bad as Monster 4x4: World Circuit but it's still stale.

  • sharpfish #4 5 years ago

    So... worse than Gears then.

  • Rankin #5 5 years ago

    So is this an import review or is this actually out over here soon?

  • Xerx3s #6 5 years ago

    So... worse than Gears then.

    It's even worse than Halo. :/

  • cooper #7 5 years ago

    I think it's out both in the US and Japan. It's supposed to be released in Europe in March.

  • Scuzz #8 5 years ago

    That game was called Kurushi, cheers for reminding me of it though, been trying to remember its name for a long time.

  • Blerk #9 5 years ago

    Wii and Dreamcast bashing in a single thread? We are truly blessed! ^_^

  • linkster #10 5 years ago

    I love it, didn't like Katamari though.

  • Muddtallica #11 5 years ago

    Six, eh? That's a little surprising, this seems to be getting some good write-ups, even a bit of a cult following elsewhere. I guess it's one of those "not for everyone" games...rental, maybe.

  • MadMirko #12 5 years ago

    So... worse than Gears then.

    And... as good as Genji.

  • Lost_in_Darkness #13 5 years ago

    How can something that adds some much needed challenge be derided as a bad thing?
    Matt, you fail at this type of game if all you want is simplicity all the way. Bad review, I don't agree with it. From what I've played of it (which is quite a bit), the game's a solid 8.

  • MadMirko #14 5 years ago

    Bad review, I don't agree with it.

    Hold it! (ahem)

    It's bad because you don't agree with it? That's not the kind of reasoning that convinces the reviewer. ;)

    It seems that this game polarizes a lot. I have seen rave reviews, and people blabbering on all about its goodness, and then there are reviews like this one, where the person just wasn't captured by the game. Nothing wrong with that.
    Edited by 1 at 20/12/06 @ 09:20

  • trevd72 #15 5 years ago

    the only reason i got a wii is because i made enough profit from my pre-orders on ebay to have one for free. I am pleased it was free cos i am starting to doubt the little machine. it seems only zelda is any good and that is, like it or not, a gamecube port.

    i have a shed load of 360 goodness to play through and a few rather good ps2 titles, when am i going to see the same hight quality in the same numbers for the wii. 2 good games a quarter is not enough.

    and now we hear that the big three titles may have there release dates knocked back.

    and while i am on....the VC games are to expensive especially when they are crippled by borders and pal speed. they are making me choose between perfect emulation of the best available rom for free ( i know, i know, i know - its wrong, but i would say that releasing crap and duping unwitting consumers into spending over the odds is equally wrong) or paying money for games with borders and that run 20% slower.
    Edited by 1 at 20/12/06 @ 09:37

  • morriss #16 5 years ago

    Another top score. Worst launch titles ever from EG?

  • mazzl #17 5 years ago

    i must agree with trevd72 on this one, my roommate got a wii since monday and wii played a fare amount of sports(tennis) wich is good fun, but reading all the reviews brings up ONE thing, there is only 1 descent game and thats zelda, witch goes for 59 euro's not exactly the pricepepoint Nintendo promised with their cheap gameplay console. so yesterday i bought mario 64 for the virtual console 10 euro! a bit of a ripp off.. still, it's a nice console and the controller is really good especially for sport games. common Nintendo bring some descent games!

  • Darren #18 5 years ago

    Only 6/10?!?

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    I'm gutted... I was really hoping for at least an 8 as the game looked fun from the footage I saw on N-Gamer DVD. :(

    And so the wait continues for the *great* Wii games... there must be some out there, right? Surely...?

  • Scientist #19 5 years ago

    "Oh well, the ultra-tard posse will be waking up soon (in a council estate near you) so get ready for another 200+ posts of "tis iz not teh real next gen, Wii is teh shit" and such like."

    Oh, the irony...

  • bluebird #20 5 years ago

    So it's a nice idea badly implemented, big shame.

    They may be onto something here though. Using the Wii controller to throw stuff around is a great idea, as is using the Katamari-like ever increasing scale of stuff to throw around. Implemented correctly, it may be one of those things you can only do on a Wii, and could be tremendous fun! Just like that manipulator gun in halflife 2 was fun to play with.

  • IAmBatman #21 5 years ago

    > even a bit of a cult following elsewhere

    Because cults(sic) like to pick up on very average games that are a bit 'out there' and give them praise they don't deserve, just so they can pretend to be cooler than the casual gamers the Wii is supposed to be targetted at.

    See also: Psychonauts.

  • nickthegun #22 5 years ago

    "Oh well, the ultra-tard posse will be waking up soon (in a council estate near you)"

    Set your alarm clock early, did ya?

  • oerhoert #23 5 years ago

    <em>i must agree with trevd72 on this one, my roommate got a wii since monday and wii played a fare amount of sports(tennis) wich is good fun, but reading all the reviews brings up ONE thing, there is only 1 descent game and thats zelda, witch goes for 59 euro's not exactly the pricepepoint Nintendo promised with their cheap gameplay console. so yesterday i bought mario 64 for the virtual console 10 euro! a bit of a ripp off.. still, it's a nice console and the controller is really good especially for sport games. common Nintendo bring some descent games!</em>

    First: Nintendo has never promised that the games would be cheaper than this-gen games, they've only said they'd not be more expensive. At least that's what I've read.

    Second: For Super Mario 64, 10 euro is a bargain. Virtual Console prices are quite high if you start to buy mediocre titles you know nothing about, but <em>please</em>. SM64 is vastly better than most of the games coming out today, almost ten years later. If that's not enough to part with 10 euro, what is?

    I'm by the way quite content with my Wii at the moment, since I'm enjoying Gunstar Heroes, Ristar and Ecco the Dolphin for the first time, along with good games like Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam and Wii Sports, solid ones like Call of Duty 3, OK-but-fun ones like Red Steel and Super Monkey Ball and of course the fantastic Zelda.

    Haven't even really started on Madden 07, but they say that's a good one as well, so I'm happy for now. I also have a range of GameCube titles waiting to be played, which I never got around to on the actual cube.

    It's not like it's not common for early adopters to feel that there are too few good games on the machine, and obviously, the Wii hasn't shaken the earth with its lineup, but honestly, it's still possible to have loads of fun with it, especially with its extremely appealing backwards compatibility, with weekly releases of several elder titles as well as pitch-perfect GC support.

  • Roamer #24 5 years ago

    So, the Wii launch is basically all about the fantastic Twilight Princess and a bunch of mediocre to decent games. Sounds like every other console launch, only with a fantastic instead of a good/great game as the standout.

    Oh, and since someone brought it up; seems to me that retailers are breaking the lower RRP Nintendo are going with by slashing the price on Xbox 360 games.
    Edited by 1 at 20/12/06 @ 10:05

  • spliffhead #25 5 years ago

    There is a great Wii game out there!

    Unfortunately Trauma Centre has no EU release date even though it was a launch game in US and Jap.

    FFS

    OT: Can I request a Pheonix Wright game too where you have to pose and point shouting objection?

  • cooper #26 5 years ago

    I keep hearing about this "Wii target market", but what is it exactly?
    I mean, I don't really care if Nintendo (or Sony, or Microsoft) makes loads of money.

    I'll buy any console that can provide me with some entertainment, but I don't get any out of stuff like Wii Play (the whole party/mini-game thing) and I found Wii Sports fun for 10 minutes. And I don't see how any "non-new-gamer" would be interested in that. A below average game isn't any better because it makes you jump hoops with a funky controller.
    Let's be honest, would anyone even consider getting Elebits if you had to play it with a standard gamepad? Do you really believe the Wiimote magically makes any game more fun?

    I was really looking forward to get all 3 consoles again this gen, but so far there are 2 games I may be interested in without knowing much (disaster day and no more heroes), plus Metroid Prime 3 - hoping the controls will be at least just as good as they were on the Cube.
    One last thought: if Nintendo was really so confident in the Wiimote, they would keep both controls methods in MP3 and let people decide which one they prefer.

    /end of rant

  • Rambaldi #27 5 years ago

    Yaaaaaaaaaaawn

  • Rambaldi #28 5 years ago

    Anyhoo, where's the bloody Cube Zelda review? It was out last Friday!!

  • superdelphinus #29 5 years ago

    Grrrrr - these constant pictures of families all together enjoying the Wii experience is starting to grate

  • quedex #30 5 years ago

    Don't get the joke in the review tagline. Why is Ellie appalled? Did she want to review it or something?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #31 5 years ago

    I'll buy any console that can provide me with some entertainment, but I don't get any out of stuff like Wii Play (the whole party/mini-game thing) and I found Wii Sports fun for 10 minutes. And I don't see how any "non-new-gamer" would be interested in that. A below average game isn't any better because it makes you jump hoops with a funky controller.

    And that is where you are entirely wrong. Novelty controllers do makes average games more interesting. Plenty of reviews say they've given Ubisoft's crappy racing games an extra point because of the plastic steering wheel case that comes with them, for instance. And have you tried playing Dancing Stage or even Guitar hero with a joypad? It is tedious in the extreme.

    And they won't appeal to non-gamers? Half of the folk sent to the Wii house by Newsnight Review of all things seemed to love it. Non-gamers are excited about wii in droves, even more so than they were about Eyetoy and Singstar.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #32 5 years ago

    Don't get the joke in the review tagline

    Ellie-bits.

    As in genitals.

    keep up.

  • oerhoert #33 5 years ago

    I think the pun is that it sounds like 'Ellie-bits' ... which is, I think, vaguely erotic.

    <em>Do you really believe the Wiimote magically makes any game more fun?</em>
    Well, utilized properly, it does do just that. More direct manipulation is commonly recognized as making things more fun to play with, and the Wii pointer functionality is very much a more direct way to interact than many of the other options.

    Of course, that doesn't mean that the games will necessarily be good, but it does give smart developers an advantage.

  • quedex #34 5 years ago

    Aaah, "Ellie-bits". Doh!
    Cheers. :-)

  • Der_tolle_Emil #35 5 years ago

    There is a great Wii game out there!

    Unfortunately Trauma Centre has no EU release date even though it was a launch game in US and Jap.

    WHAT? I thought there was a release scheduled for Europe. I loved the DS version and will definetly buy the Wii version too, if it comes out of course. If not, hello Freeloader (if they manage to come up with one, I have my doubts due to the wiiconnect updates)

  • Rambaldi #36 5 years ago

    @Mentalist

    "And that is where you are entirely wrong...Novelty controllers do makes average games more interesting..And have you tried playing Dancing Stage or even Guitar hero with a joypad? It is tedious in the extreme."

    Indeed, but I would have no desire to play every single game I own or will own with a Dancing Stage mat, Guitar Hero guitar...or a Wiimote.

  • cooper #37 5 years ago

    @Mentalist(air): I thought DDR and Guitar Hero were above average games, even if they're not really my thing.

    Even if the novelty helped crap games, I don't think that would fool old-gamers to buy them. I wasn't very clear, but that was the point of my post - if it takes a new-gamer to appreciate the wiimote, then most (if not all) people posting here aren't part of the so-called "target market".

    I usually don't go by review scores, but going by the reviews Elebits got the same score as Wii Play, which I found offensively bad. I was just hoping the wiimote would make good games better, instead of settling for making bad games more appealing by adding arm-waving.

    Sorry if this sounds negative, but I'm really trying to be optimistic here :-)

  • #38 5 years ago

    "hrmm... not quite sure whether I should trust the review or not. I've heard good stuff about it from other sites."

    I feel exactly the same way. After seeing this demo'd at E3 this year, I just can't wait to get my hands on it. Put the right game in the wrong reviewers' hands and this is the result. Boo to you Mathew Kumar.

    @ Sofalover

    "Glad I didn't get a Wii, I would rather fire up the Dreamcast by the sounds of it."

    I roll on the floor laughing at you. You do not own a Wii so why are you here commenting on a Wii game - unless of course you have an interest in Wii which, if you did, you wouldn't be saying such a ridiculous thing. Ignorant.
    Edited by 2 at 20/12/06 @ 11:38

  • #39 5 years ago

    @ Lost_in_Darkness

    How can something that adds some much needed challenge be derided as a bad thing?
    Matt, you fail at this type of game if all you want is simplicity all the way. Bad review, I don't agree with it. From what I've played of it (which is quite a bit), the game's a solid 8.

    Alas, I very much agree. This isn't much of a review it's merely a discussion of a game with a conclusion to one's final thoughts.
    Edited by 3 at 20/12/06 @ 11:40

  • Aretak #40 5 years ago

    "I am an employee of a very successful company"

    Nintendo, I'd guess.

  • RexRunti #41 5 years ago

    The thing that has concerned me through out Wii reviews and threads is the "no release date for Europe" for so many of these games. This didn't use to bother me that much but when virtually every 360 game is released the same week as the US version and all the others so close it makes importing from abroad pointless, I thought that Europe would no longer be treated by such contempt by publishers. There is no excuse for it... stop it now.

    And hopefully I'll be wrong, and I'll have a wii as soon as i can, but i can't help feeling that COD3 etc belong on a PC, 360 or PS3 and Warioware games on the DS.

  • IAmBatman #42 5 years ago

    "roll on the floor laughing at you. You do not own a Wii so why are you here commenting on a Wii game"

    I roll on the floor laughing at you. You have not played this game so why are you here commenting on the 'bad' review?

  • crazyhorse174 #43 5 years ago

    In this day and age, should we really be making excuses for games based on the fact that they are launch titles?

    Theres been some cracking launch titles over the years - Zelda proves this (even if it is a port) - so why do we still get so much dross? I blame the testing - or more probably, the lack of it sometimes.

  • spliffhead #44 5 years ago

    Trauma centre MIA:

    [link url=http://news.spong .com/article/11358
    ]http://news.spong .com/article/11358
    [/link]

    I though Eurogamer guys/gals would have pick this up by now?

    No Ellie's bits either.

    Please make the freeloader soon datel!

  • stoopidgreg #45 5 years ago

    trauma center gets 9 and this gets 6? wtf

  • UncleLou #46 5 years ago

    And this is surprising why?

    TC is getting better scores than Elebits almost everywhere, lots of 8s and a few 9s.