GC 2006: Elebits Hands-On Preview

AMN editor Josh Wanamaker went hands-on with Konami’s upcoming Wii title, Elebits, at the company’s BBQ event late last week. Check out his full hands-on write-up below.

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Have you ever been stricken with an uncontrollable salivatory problem when presented with the existence of a particular title? A game that looks like such a good time that playing it could be likened to a form of perversion by certain individuals? I have. Several titles immediately come to mind, like Katamari Damacy, Half-Life 2, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Deus Ex, and…oh, lets just say Elebits. Last Wednesday I was fortunate enough to attend Konami’s annual “Summer BBQ” event, and finally got my hands on this ridiculously entertaining title.

For those not in the know, Elebits is the latest title from Akihiro Ishihara (creator of Idol Master) and Shingo Mukaitouge, who’s better known for his two most popular titles, Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania. Elebits is a bit of a departure from the usual work we come to expect from these guys, and it’s generally one of the most interesting titles slated for the Wii’s launch window. Elebits takes place in a world almost parallel to our own, but with one significant difference: they don’t have any fossil fuels. According to the material we’ve seen thus far, 10,000 years ago a colossal bolt of lightning brought the creatures called Elebits to the world, and bestowed humanity with light and heat, providing humans with the necessary means for survival and the development of civilization. The Elebits provide all electrical energy to a world that is naturally devoid of it, and for generations this arrangement of the Elebits powering all of civilization is stable and uninterrupted. One day, however, it seems the Elebits go on strike! All power to every appliance, city, car, and everything else in the world vanishes in an instant. The player is tasked with capturing as many Elebits as possible and ultimately (we assume) saving the world.

To that end, the player is equipped with an energy manipulation device (called a “Capture Gun” by the Konami Rep) which emits a beam of coherent light that allows for the manipulation of just about everything in the game world. This device is very similar in both look and function to one of the early development tools/weapons included in Half-Life 2, called the “physgun”, which was subsequently removed before release of the game yet later reinstated through various mods. Elebits is played through an FPS point of view, and indeed the only significant difference between Elebits and a standard FPS game is the lack of violence and destructive weaponry. The player progresses through each stage in the game by capturing Elebits and leveling up the Capture Gun through the acquisition of “Watt Points”, which are collected every time you zap an Elebit. Since just about everything in any given stage can be manipulated, the player’s ability to interact with the environment is increased as more watts are collected, and in turn the more the player manipulates the environment, the more Elebits are discovered and zapped. Progression through each stage is focused around this collection of Watt Points, with specific objects and obstacles being too heavy to manipulate until the surrounding environment is cleared of those pesky Elebits and the Capture Gun has gotten strong enough to move the obstacles. Eventually the Capture Gun is powered up to such a level that larger objects, like cars, trees, and entire houses can be picked up and tossed around.

Elebits

This was my first chance to actually play with the Wii-mote, and while I initially considered the idea of the thing to be completely ludicrous, actually experiencing the ridiculously intuitive learning curve of the controls opened my eyes to the possibilities inherent in the design. What I once considered foolhardy I now consider ingenious and innovating in the extreme. Elebits takes full advantage of the Wii-mote and “Nunchuk” control stick by requiring realistic movements to perform certain functions. For example, to open a door, the player must hold the capture beam on the door knob, twist their wrist and then “push” forward or “pull” backward with the Wii-mote. The analogue stick on the Nunchuk is used to move forward, backward, and to strafe, while the Wii-mote is used to aim and fire. The player can tap the A button on the Wii-mote to fire short bursts from the Capture Gun to zap Elebits and press buttons, or hold it down to manipulate objects in the environment.

The gameplay of Elebits is not without its powerups, and in the build we were presented with we saw only two, however more are presumed to be included between now and the launch of the console. One was a Homing Laser, which lasted for 15 seconds and would automatically zap any Elebit the player ran the targeting reticle over. The other was an Elebit stunner called an EMP Ball, which would knock any Elebit within a certain radius right on their butt, making them easier to capture. These items are a part of the environment, and are activated only when the player smashes their containers open against the level geometry.

Elebits

From the information provided by the Konami Rep, we can expect Elebits to incorporate multiple modes of play and many different gameplay mechanics to further expand on the possibilities provided by the control scheme and storyline. One example of this told to us was a stage in which the player must use stealth while moving throughout a house at night, being extremely careful not to knock over pots and pans (or anything else), lest they wake up the owners and fail the stage. Considering the nature of the game, these stages will provide a significant challenge comparatively, as it seems the “regular” stages will have the player virtually disassemble the interior of some buildings while hunting for Elebits. The main campaign of the game will be based around 15 stages in total, all timed challenges in which the player must catch as many Elebits as possible and power-up as much of the surrounding environment as they can. It has been confirmed however that a “free-play” mode will exist, giving those of us that enjoy just screwing around a chance to do so without the burden of a time limit to hinder our fun. As far as multiplayer capabilities are concerned, we’ve been told the game will support 4 players on a single Wii; however no online multiplayer modes are currently included. This is a shame, because there are few things more fun than throwing houses at people. There is a silver lining to this particular cloud, however, as the Konami Rep reported the dev team is investigating an online multiplayer component, but whether or not they’ll have the time to implement it before the Wii launches is unknown.

Of the eighteen so far confirmed titles that will be available for the console within the launch window, Elebits is certainly geared up to be the most exuberant and outgoing. Or, as my thesaurus is telling me, it will also be the most chipper, ebullient, sprightly, vivacious, and affluent title of the bunch. It’s certainly a title developed along a different line of thinking, and it doesn’t necessarily conform to any established genre, which is probably what makes it so endearing, other than the fact that it’s just plain fun. The gameplay may be relatively simplistic, but I think Katamari Damacy all taught us a valuable lesson about the qualities of simplicity. Elebits will be the first title I pick up for my Wii.