The Video Game Critic

I saw Elebits (Wii) available for $30 at my local store, and went for it. My thoughts so far:

Different than what I thought it would be. Much more of a puzzle game than an action romp, despite the appearance of your gravity gun. The physics engine is really good and moving objects feels fantastic. Although I had to laugh at this Matt Cassamassina quote from IGN:

 "Rather, it will bounce off the building as a ball might [large objects like trucks]. Some objects have a heavier feeling to them, which is great. However, that floaty, bounciness is an attribute that all the items, big or small, share in common - a disappointment."

Wha? Does anyone really get that in depth over stuff like this? I'm not sure I've ever thought to myself: "Wow, that object didn't quite bounce the way my protractor and graphing calculator said it would." No wonder I can't trust mainstream review sources anymore.

At any rate, the game started off a bit slow for me, but we'll see if it grows on me as time goes by. I will say this: the kiddie premise is, in this instance, really irritating. The voice overs are even worse than Sonic, if that is even possible!

-Rob

There was an article in Game Design magazine/gamasutra.com online with a case study on the making of this game last month.

It's always interesting reading what went right and what went wrong during the development life cycle.  I found it interesting that one of his biggest concerns at the end was that some of the 3d models were more detailed than others.  Kind of funny actually.  He seemed to think that all in all it was a success.  It was a launch game and made use of the controller well enough.

If I ever see this game on the cheap side of things I'll pick it up.

I've been playing this a ton in the past day or so. It has been growing on me alot, and I'm at the point where I can recommend it.

But it makes a terrible first impression, though, which almost made me put it on eBay after my first hour or two of playing it. But I'm glad I didn't, it's an excellent game that uses the Wii controls better than most.

-Rob