Elebits
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Genre: First-Person Adventure
Rating: E (For Everyone)
Number of Players: 1-4
Expected Release: December 19, 2007
Elebits Gallery

In one of the more original titles to be released this December, Konami's Elebits is taking the Pikman approach to selling games by keeping the details short and letting the game speak for itself. It breaks down like this: For decades tiny little Pikman-like creatures known only as Elebits have been powering the Earth's energy supply, when suddenly and without warning they all disappear. The hunt is on to find out why and return electricity to the world, one Elebit at a time.

The story line is pretty simple and unique, and so is the game play. Players search high and low for the mischievous little Elebits, lifting chairs and opening cabinets with a physics manipulation / energy zapper gun that will remind gamers of Half-Life 2. However, there's one small problem with a gravity gun - it uses energy, so players wont be able to pick up and manipulate the heaviest objects right away. Think of it as the primary form of progression in the game. Find more Elebits to get enough power to find even more Elebits - as I said, simple. Using the Wii remote, players will start off small opening cabinets, moving pots and lifting chairs. Before long, you'll be hanging whole houses above your head!

Every single object in the world will be vulnerable to interactivity, according to Konami. Even the mundane process of opening doors becomes a little less so as players twist and pull the Wii-mote like the real thing. Heck, virtual door-opening may not be a huge selling point for Elebits, but it's little touches like that which will make Konami's quirky title one of the sleeper hits of the year. And with four person multi-player functionality, it will be an experience everyone can enjoy. True, it is primarily a single-player title, but up to three friends can join along side you in a Hungry Hungry Hippos meets Hide and Seek competition, where it's a race against the clock to see who can toll up the most energy finding and capturing the colorful creatures.

On an interesting note, my power went out not once but twice while writing this preview. Now, I'm not going to go right out and say the sudden power outages can be attributed to Elebits, for the better sake of my sanity (and my job!). Though, it's definitely weird. It's not like this kind of thing happens every day to a writer. Why couldn't this twilight zone stuff happen when I was reviewing Playboy: The Mansion?