Wednesday 24 Jan 2007

00Elebits

Konami brings you a revolutionary game of hide and seek with their first game for the Wii, Elebits. So, you want to know what you will be searching for? Well, Elebits of course! If you don’t know what Elebits are yet, let me take a few minutes to describe these mischievous little creatures.

What exactly are Elebits? And how exactly are they going to save the world?

Elebits, although very small, are actually quite important creatures to the world. Without them the world would be in darkness, for these little critters are the source of the world’s power. The world has been without electricity, gasoline and nuclear power for more than 10 000 years, the only energy source has been mischievous and mysterious creatures called Elebits. There are many different breeds of Elebits, each with their own unique look and personality. While humans and Elebits have always lived in harmony, these friendly beings love to cause trouble, and it’s up to players to track them down and put an end to their mischief.

Elebits, essential to the growth of mankind, have lived in harmony with mankind until a lightning storm causes them to act strangely and go into hiding, abandoning their duties. Players assume the role of Kai, a young boy, and must now search for the Elebits and restore them to their friendly state.

Misbehaving Elebits

Players can equip Kai with numerous tools that will help him to find the Elebits. The Capture Gun can capture Elebits but can also be used to lift, move and rotate objects. The power of the Capture Gun increases as players capture Elebits. Capturing the critters will also activate items in the game world, including appliances and machines which players can use to capture more Elebits.

Innovative use of the Wii Remote

Konami has really pushed the limits of the Wii with this unique game. Players will use the Wii Remote to push, pull, lift and even throw anything in the environment within their reach as they try to track down the Elebits. Of course all of the on-screen action matches the player’s movements. Players will be able to interact further with the environment as they capture the Elebits, using them to provide power to the different implements and apparatus which will help them in their search for more of these playful creatures. Players will notice that as they capture the Elebits, their power-generating abilities will create additional options for the player to make use of in the ever changing environment. Players’ lifting abilities will be increased as they progress through the levels in the game.

Players will encounter more than 15 different types of Elebits when playing the single player story mode. As players travel through more than 25 stages, they will become familiar with the Elebits traits and quirks which will assist the players in catching them. You can even look forward to challenging a friend as you play simultaneously and see who can collect the most Elebits, or work cooperatively to restore the status quo, but more about that later.

Let’s talk strategy

As I have already stated, Elebits are mischievous critters, so players will have to search quietly for these power-generating creatures, sneak up on them and nab them. However, if the Elebits are hiding, players may also have to engage the opposite approach by creating a commotion to scare them out of their hiding places.

This open play system encourages players to devise their own strategy to round up the stray power sources, using stealth to sneak up on them or creating noise to scare them out of concealed areas.

Using a futuristic device, players can push, pull, lift and throw anything they come across to discover their secret hiding places and obstruct escape paths for the Elebits. Each location gets progressively illuminated as the errant Elebits are collected, with lights gradually coming on and power restored as more and found. As players capture Elebits and harness their power-generating abilities, numerous options and additional opportunities unfold to find even more Elebits in the ever-changing environment.

More about game modes

Players can also create stages in the edit mode of the game, selecting where items are placed and placing Elebits. Players can invent goals for the stages, all of which can be traded over Nintendo’s WiiConnect24 service.

The multiplayer mode allows up to four players to play at the same time. In this mode players will compete against each other, the object being to see which player can gather the most wattage in the allocated time. Players can also compete in any of the single player levels in multiplayer mode as well as in any levels which have been created by the player in edit mode.

Ok, which one is it…Elebits or Eledees?

We previously reported that Elebits had undergone a name change in Europe. If you missed the article, the bottom line is that the European Elebits had its name changed and will be sold as Eledees. It still remains a mystery as to why the name had to be changed for the European territories. Some are under the impression that rumours led to the name Elebits being trademarked by another company in the United Kingdom, while others say that it’s because the little electrical critters light up like LEDs, hence the name Eledees. The game play will be the same though, it will just be sold under a different name.

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