Game On
It’s a new year, which means lotsa new things. Funnest of which are new video games for the new and old consoles and your PC. Woohoo!
Elebits
Konami
Wii
Move over Katamari Damacy, there’s a new oddball game in town.
Like Katamari, Elebits also begins inside a house that you rummage through while trying to beat the clock, but rather than playing a miniature Prince, you’re a regular-size grade 4 student named Kai who’s annoyed with his parents and just wants to watch his a favorite TV show.
Unfortunately, the electricity has blown out so you grab your dad’s capture gun to find and collect elebits — small, adorable electricity-producing critters.
The game is essentially hide-and-seek — though time and physics restrictions add a strategic twist — with vibrant and highly stylized graphics and a first-person shooter perspective. But what makes this an award-winning achievement is how Elebits uses the motion-sensitive Wii controllers.
In a few years time, its control scheme may seem quaintly wonky, but at the moment using the Wii-motes to open closets, shut drawers, turn on taps and, mostly, toss about furnishings (and eventually cars and even your own house) is quite a rush.
Bionicle Heroes
Traveller’s Tales/Eidos
Multiplatform
Given the success of the Lego Star Wars series, it’s no surprise that Eidos decided to have a go with another part of the Lego universe: Bionicle.
Launched in 2001, these older-skewing toys have their own mythology based on Polynesian culture, especially the Maori of New Zealand, which has played out in books, comics and direct-to-DVD movies.
Bionicle Heroes uses that basic "indigenous robot" background and a plot about a missing Mask of Life to propel its game forward and lets you play various heroic Toa Inika characters while battling the villainous Piraka.
Aside from the shoulder-mounted camera, the basic gameplay is the same as the Star Wars series (including building stuff, collecting Lego pieces, etc.) though it has a brightly colored tropical island setting. But even though fans will love it, BH lacks the sense of humor and pop culture influence of its Star-bound building block predecessor.
Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol
Blitz Games/Konami
Playstation 2
People have been dismissing the mega-popular American Idol franchise as glorified karaoke for years now — which gave Konami a bright idea. Why not ad an Idol skin atop their already successful Karaoke Revolution series?
Like Taylor Hicks singing radio-friendly soul, it’s a nice fit.
Using the EyeToy peripheral, competitors can even put their own faces in the game as they sing their heart out into the microphone (which comes bundled or not and can tell if you’re out of tune).
The Idol angle gives this singing simulator some new twists including playing through an entire TV season, from the auditions to hopefully snagging a virtual record contract while performing "Breakaway," "Proud Mary" or William Hung’s classic "She Bangs".
You also get to hear Randy say, "Dawg, that was pitchy", while Simon drops much meaner one-liners. Paula, however, refused to participate, so you’ll just have to get one of your friends to make nonsensical comments after each turn.
Star Trek: Legacy
Mad Doc/Bethesda Softworks
Xbox 360, PC
There may not be a new Star Trek series on television, but Legacy is the next best thing for all you trekkies.
Gathering the voices of previous captains, from William Shatner’s Kirk and Patrick Stewart’s Picard to Scott Bakula’s Jonathan Archer of the most recent show Enterprise, this is the first Trek game to span all five shows’ various eras. This also allows them to include all the ships and legendary villains including the Romulans, Klingons and the all-time best bad guys The Borg.
In addition to story mode, there’s also skirmish and multiplayer that lets you fire photon torpedoes in death-match or co-op. But be warned — this is no third-person game. Instead, Legacy is an action-strategy title where you control the ships themselves while traversing enemy-strewn space vistas.
It takes time to figure out the controls, but the patient players are rewarded with complex space combat. The inpatient players, however, may be infuriated enough by the lack of mid-mission save points to switch your phasers off stun.
