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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: EA Games Publisher: Electronic Arts |
Last year players were introduced to a unique and surprisingly fun, though a bit repetitive, kid focused light gun shooter game, “Nerf N-
Strike.” Electronic Arts bundled a fully functional gun that worked as a Wii peripheral, a clever idea that made it more than just a product
used to cash in. The game sold well enough for EA to create a follow-up sequel for the 2009 holiday season with similar light gun
action with a fully immersive adventure in the form of “Nerf N-Strike Elite.” The younger the gamer, the more likely they will enjoy this
action of the game still feels a little weak bet that is mostly because of the fact that the family friendly non-violent feel of the game and
the game play tends to lag a little bit. However, there are some good ideas and fun moments in the game, and once again it doesn’t
feel like it is simply a cash-in product.
The original “Nerf N-Strike” was a variety of mini game challenges that tested the aim and shooting of players with an assortment of
real and fictional Nerf guns. For “Nerf N-Strike Elite” the designers went in a different direction, more in the direction to arcade shooters
where players go along for the ride as a group of four kids infiltrate a futuristic structure that is very weak against foam ammunition.
Also, the adventure is very crony and cartoony in order to appeal to 12 year old taking down a multi-billion dollar fortress protected by
robots. It is handled very skillfully by the EA team, the scripted moments of the game are well produced and the voice acting is
professionally acted out by younger actors.
The game’s main draw is its Red Reveal mechanic, moments within the action where players are encouraged to flip the transparent
plastic lens up on their gun and look through it at the screen to find specific targets. It is a basic effect, one that players have probably
seen many times with various contests; here it is used as a game play mechanic. At many points in the game players will look through
the lens to see weak spots on enemies, or to reveal the proper target in order to unlock doors that impede progress. Unless players
are less the five years old, the highlighted objects that need to be targeted will be very obvious, even without the use of the lens.
However, it does make locating hidden codes more fun to look for, players will see large walls of text and since the blocks are so
cluttered it is hard to see the code without the lens.
“Nerf N-Strike Elite” has a good take on two player game play, the adventure doesn’t change but if players have a friend to play with they
will have the ability to go through areas that aren’t available in the single player game. All that is needed to play is a second Wii
Remote, though it would be a lot more fun if players had an additional Nerf gun, but the investment isn’t really necessary since it only
works as a simple point and shoot peripheral.
The shooting mechanic of the game is similar to the original game from last year; the foam projectiles that players are firing out of their
gun have a lightweight feel to them. There isn’t much in the way of tactile feedback when players are shooting enemies and whether
that is intentional or not the fact remains that it doesn’t feel very responsive to shoot at the enemies because there is very little response
out of the game other than the explosions. The game is very non-violent and that may be a bad thing in the perspective of some
gamers, even when players lose a life they don’t die, but instead the game simply freezes and asks the player if they want to start at the
most recent checkpoint. This weakens the experience of the game a little bit.
The game is full of cheats, extras and customization for the players to stay interested with, and the replay value of the game is
surprisingly high since players will have to revisit areas of the game in order to grab the game’s currency to purchase weapon
upgrades. Sadly, it suffers from the usual light gun shooter issues; even with all the extras the game tends to get a little repetitive and it
is hard to maintain interest in an extended gaming session, so luckily the game is broken up into campaigns that help to break up the
action a little bit.
The game itself is a very much improved design over what the original “Nerf N-Strike” game was last year, the adventure elements
lends itself for more captivating game play than the arena based challenges from the original game. However, it is still a bit of a
lightweight when it comes to immersive game play, it is a good gaming choice for parents who want to see less violence in the games
that their kids play at home, but it is the non-violent direction of the game that tends to affects the game play for older gamers. Even with
that lowered impact of the game, “Nerf N-Strike Elite” is a really good kid friendly choice that has got a good amount of bang for the
player’s buck.
Strike.” Electronic Arts bundled a fully functional gun that worked as a Wii peripheral, a clever idea that made it more than just a product
used to cash in. The game sold well enough for EA to create a follow-up sequel for the 2009 holiday season with similar light gun
action with a fully immersive adventure in the form of “Nerf N-Strike Elite.” The younger the gamer, the more likely they will enjoy this
action of the game still feels a little weak bet that is mostly because of the fact that the family friendly non-violent feel of the game and
the game play tends to lag a little bit. However, there are some good ideas and fun moments in the game, and once again it doesn’t
feel like it is simply a cash-in product.
The original “Nerf N-Strike” was a variety of mini game challenges that tested the aim and shooting of players with an assortment of
real and fictional Nerf guns. For “Nerf N-Strike Elite” the designers went in a different direction, more in the direction to arcade shooters
where players go along for the ride as a group of four kids infiltrate a futuristic structure that is very weak against foam ammunition.
Also, the adventure is very crony and cartoony in order to appeal to 12 year old taking down a multi-billion dollar fortress protected by
robots. It is handled very skillfully by the EA team, the scripted moments of the game are well produced and the voice acting is
professionally acted out by younger actors.
The game’s main draw is its Red Reveal mechanic, moments within the action where players are encouraged to flip the transparent
plastic lens up on their gun and look through it at the screen to find specific targets. It is a basic effect, one that players have probably
seen many times with various contests; here it is used as a game play mechanic. At many points in the game players will look through
the lens to see weak spots on enemies, or to reveal the proper target in order to unlock doors that impede progress. Unless players
are less the five years old, the highlighted objects that need to be targeted will be very obvious, even without the use of the lens.
However, it does make locating hidden codes more fun to look for, players will see large walls of text and since the blocks are so
cluttered it is hard to see the code without the lens.
“Nerf N-Strike Elite” has a good take on two player game play, the adventure doesn’t change but if players have a friend to play with they
will have the ability to go through areas that aren’t available in the single player game. All that is needed to play is a second Wii
Remote, though it would be a lot more fun if players had an additional Nerf gun, but the investment isn’t really necessary since it only
works as a simple point and shoot peripheral.
The shooting mechanic of the game is similar to the original game from last year; the foam projectiles that players are firing out of their
gun have a lightweight feel to them. There isn’t much in the way of tactile feedback when players are shooting enemies and whether
that is intentional or not the fact remains that it doesn’t feel very responsive to shoot at the enemies because there is very little response
out of the game other than the explosions. The game is very non-violent and that may be a bad thing in the perspective of some
gamers, even when players lose a life they don’t die, but instead the game simply freezes and asks the player if they want to start at the
most recent checkpoint. This weakens the experience of the game a little bit.
The game is full of cheats, extras and customization for the players to stay interested with, and the replay value of the game is
surprisingly high since players will have to revisit areas of the game in order to grab the game’s currency to purchase weapon
upgrades. Sadly, it suffers from the usual light gun shooter issues; even with all the extras the game tends to get a little repetitive and it
is hard to maintain interest in an extended gaming session, so luckily the game is broken up into campaigns that help to break up the
action a little bit.
The game itself is a very much improved design over what the original “Nerf N-Strike” game was last year, the adventure elements
lends itself for more captivating game play than the arena based challenges from the original game. However, it is still a bit of a
lightweight when it comes to immersive game play, it is a good gaming choice for parents who want to see less violence in the games
that their kids play at home, but it is the non-violent direction of the game that tends to affects the game play for older gamers. Even with
that lowered impact of the game, “Nerf N-Strike Elite” is a really good kid friendly choice that has got a good amount of bang for the
player’s buck.
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