Rarely does a game come around that contradicts my initial judgments. Most of the time I’m able to look at the cover and instantly tell whether or not I’d find it enjoyable but that was not the case with Nerf N-Strike Elite for the Wii. This game surprised me with how fun it was and how eager I was to play it again and again.
The game is can support up to two players and follows 4 teens on their quest to stop the evil robot B.O.B. Each teen has a specific arsenal of Nerf guns that you can unlock and upgrade to make more effective. Though the story line is short, it is fun to play through and provides a good challenge. After selecting your character and your blaster you go through the games waves of robot soldiers. The game does a good job of keeping a sense of real danger and fear of getting hit to often, despite every character using soft foam bullets.
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The game also comes with a free Nerf gun and scope attachment. The scope is used in the game and is called the red reveal. This item allows you to unlock secrets,find enemy weak points, and in some cases alternate routes throughout the levels. The game has three difficulties ranging from easy to hard. While the game is a bit kiddy in nature, the difficulty levels are no joke. You will need to replay the game a couple of times and upgrade your weapons before you can tackle some of the harder difficulties and even then expect to loose often.
The games visuals and audio are both up to par. The game features many colorful robots backgrounds and weapons and even allows players to customize their weapons with different color schemes. The voice acting is spot on with correct emotion for the game and even throws in a couple of jokes here and there. While the graphics are not on the same level as other third generation consoles they get the job done. Over all the game controls are pretty responsive and user friendly. The game itself is loads of fun. The only bad thing about the game is once you’ve finished upgrading all your favorite weapons, there is no reason to play it anymore especially since none of the difficulty levels change the story line in any way.
Conclusion
Over all the fun factor of this game gives it about 7 out of 10. The graphics are a bit lacking but not to the point were it annoys the user and the music is pretty good. The free Nerf Gun makes the game more enticing and can be equipped with your Wii mote to make a blaster for the game. Nerf N-Strike Elite can be picked up for 54.99 at Amazon.com
Good: Customizing the guns is half the fun. Unlocking certain upgrades helps make the games easier and makes the game a little easier. The use of the Nerf gun in the game and red reveal help give you the feel of actually being in the game.
Bad: The story line is really short and there is no additional prize from beating the game on its harder difficulties. Without the weapons upgrades, the harder difficulties can be hell on players swarming you with darts and bots that just won’t blow up.
