Elemental Gearbolt

"Fantasy RPG shooter? Hmm, thats a new one on me."

The light-gun shooter genre, what a very unappreciated and never fully developed genre it is. And with good reason as most companies don’t really bat a wink at it as they focus mainly on other more moneymaking deals. Heck in fact, if you ever want a good light-gun game the only people to turn to would be Sega or Namco (and occasionally Konami and Capcom). Needless to say that really sad as light gun genre can be just as good just as any others out there. But thanks to a certain school shooting and finger pointing it’s slowly twisting in the wind. But why talk about the genre’s downfall when you can talk one of the better games made for it. A unique little title from Working Designs that also part RPG, Ladies and Gentlemen: Elemental Gearbolt.

Skinny: Well being a RPG (as well as a anime), the plot a little complicated. A kingdom is at war with others and the king (some blonde-haired dude) is sick of it. So he plans to use this great power to recreate the world in his own image. Some kinds of spirits get wind of this however and activate their own secret weapon, two elementals with extraordinary firepower, to stop him. Theres also a little tragic love story in between. But you’ll probably be to busy trying figure out the main story to worry about that.

Play Dials: Can be played two ways: by controller or (if you have it) by light gun preferably Gunco. Controller is pretty standard though trying to get the cross-hair across the screen to hit the enemies in time can be a work in frustration. And it doesn’t get much better when you try to use your two other powers (more on that in a minute). Light-gun wise it much better, shots come off good and accuracy is dead on using the button on the side to get switch ammo. The one thing that flaws both selections is the pause between shots, which isn’t very helpful when fighting faster enemies. But overall it works out in the end.

Core: Not a bad piece of work. Once in you select a number of players (one or two), then from three groups of difficulty: practice, normal, or hard. While the last two speak for themselves, practice is basiclly just a warm up to the real game offering only three levels. The real game is a five level journey as groups of very strange looking soldiers and monsters attack from all angles. Sometimes having green circle around them to warn you of their strike a la Virtua Cop. Some go down in one shot others need more to be laid to rest. However there not just one type of firepower in your arsenal but three (fire, lighting and water) to help you out and that actually adds a bit of strategy and replay value as you try to figure out which baddie and boss is weak against what. More interesting is the “trade off” at the end of each level (or Act) where you can decide on experience to make you stronger against attacks or points to upgrade your status, a pretty nifty idea. Even with all this though, the game does have a tricky learning curve. If your playing alone, wind up eating it, and decide to continue. You have to start all the way from the beginning of that level which can lead to moments of throwing your controller against the wall. And the fact you only get four continues (that you share in two player games) won’t encourage some players. Those who do go the distance and beyond, however, get some bonus goodies in the options section so it might be worth it. Still if your looking for a light-gun challenge, EG is it.

Eye-candy: Usual 3-D stuff. As stated, Enemies look weird though pretty unique. Landscapes are well designed if not a little blocky. And the anime drawn FMV scenes are well animated though the Playstation limits slow it down a little.

Noise: Hey it’s a fantasy RPG. So expect some beautifully orcastrated music as you blast up baddies. Sound is a bit dumbed down so don’t expect any big explosions. Voice talent is also a little on the quiet side but they come out cleary and understandable. And here the biggest socker. It’s actully dubbed decently (*Gasp*).

Final Call: A very good light-gun in a very underapperciated genre, dispite some flaws and rough challenges. It really worth playing and at least will give your light gun a workout from the dust collection. Though when it come to trying to find the game itself, well your on your own there buddy. Thats my two cents, keeping a genre alive this is MrSkip, out!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/23/03, Updated 07/23/03