Elemental Gearbolt

by Elemental Gearbolt

Product Features

• WORKING DESIGNS GAME
• Shooting Game
• Very Rare

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002SWCK
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,772 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

GameSpot Review

With the recent release of Time Crisis, Point Blank, and now Elemental Gearbolt, it finally appears that a good number of gun games are coming out for the Sony PlayStation. Or, at the very least, a number approaching the volume of PS gun peripherals currently on the market.

Elemental Gearbolt is, if anything, unique. It's a first-person-perspective rail-based game that combines gameplay of two genres: traditional gun games and shooters. As in Time Crisis and Virtua Cop, EG's gameplay occasionally pauses in spots to let you pick off enemies at your will. But overall, the pace is more like Panzer Dragoon (whose graphics and sci-fi/fantasy theme it generally mirrors), which keeps you consistently moving along.

The Elemental Gearbolt premise, explained and furthered by extended animated sequences, puts you - either by yourself or with a gun-toting friend - up to the task of trying to vanquish an empire that has overtaken the land. The goals within its six stages of play are simple: Wipe out the troops and sub-bosses, shoot fairies free from the jeweled magical prisons that envelop them, and take on the main bad guy himself.

The mechanics of having to collect more ammo and reload are withdrawn, as your gun is apparently magic-based. Three elemental weapon options are available, which vary in degrees of damage, speed of fire, and blast radius. The fire elemental setting provides a slow but very powerful shot that can destroy most enemies in a single attempt; the water elemental expels three weak but fast shots; and the lightning elemental works like a shotgun, slowly scattering a hoard of wide medium-powered blasts. The fire elemental is primarily used within the beginning areas of each stage for wiping out the onrushing swarming masses. The water or lightning elemental can provide quick shots for destroying fire from the sub-bosses and boss, while a companion, if present, bombards them straightaway with the fire elemental setting.

Once a level is finished, you are presented with the "trade-off" system, which lets you decide if you want to take your bonuses in the form of experience points, score points, or percentages of both. Bonuses come from the number of enemies destroyed, coins collected, and from how many consecutive hits you have accomplished. Though your motivation for getting a high score seems to be solely braggadocio, advancing levels through experience points will increase maximum health, just like in an RPG.

Namco's incredibly accurate GunCon is optional in Elemental Gearbolt, but it's not necessarily needed, as the enemies are quite large, and shooting in their general direction seems to cap them fairly easily. Unlike in Time Crisis, foes don't shoot at you from far away, although you can shoot at them the second you see them, with the rail bringing them quite close, quickly.

Besides the obvious threat of huge menacing sub-bosses, the real challenges seem to come from freeing all the encased fairies and pulling off a high number of consecutive shots. Sometimes when you emerge from around a corner, one or two visible fairies might be in your line of sight, but you'll only have one or two seconds to shoot them before you've carried on, staying with the pace of the game. And even though being square on your target isn't absolutely necessary to make a successful hit, the occasional bobbing views will sometimes frustratingly throw you off completely.

In bringing Elemental Gearbolt over from Japan for US audiences, Working Designs has performed a number of improvements on the game. Where it was once fairly easy, it's now pretty tough. You're no longer able to play through the game in its easiest mode, and even the normal setting sees you fighting for you life and searching the screen for health-restoring elixirs. They've also added 12 hidden chalices throughout the game, which correspond to the different elemental weapons, increasing the power of the one it works in accord with.

In its original state, the Japanese EG was a likable break from the norm, though overall a little too quick to beat. Working Designs' revisions have made it a much more challenging gun game - one that's now much easier to recommend. It's not quite at the level of Namco's Time Crisis or Point Blank, but it's far and away a lot more fun than Midway's Maximum Force and Area 51. --Joe Fielder
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Product Description

Elemental Gearbolt is, if anything, unique. It's a first-person-perspective rail-based game that combines gameplay of two genres: traditional gun games and shooters. As in Time Crisis and Virtua Cop, EG's gameplay occasionally pauses in spots to let you pick off enemies at your will. But overall, the pace is more like Panzer Dragoon (whose graphics and sci-fi/fantasy theme it generally mirrors), which keeps you consistently moving along. The Elemental Gearbolt premise, explained and furthered by extended animated sequences, puts you - either by yourself or with a gun-toting friend - up to the task of trying to vanquish an empire that has overtaken the land. The goals within its six stages of play are simple: Wipe out the troops and sub-bosses, shoot fairies free from the jeweled magical prisons that envelop them, and take on the main bad guy himself. The mechanics of having to collect more ammo and reload are withdrawn, as your gun is apparently magic-based. Three elemental weapon options are available, which vary in degrees of damage, speed of fire, and blast radius. The fire elemental setting provides a slow but very powerful shot that can destroy most enemies in a single attempt; the water elemental expels three weak but fast shots; and the lightning elemental works like a shotgun, slowly scattering a hoard of wide medium-powered blasts. The fire elemental is primarily used within the beginning areas of each stage for wiping out the onrushing swarming masses. The water or lightning elemental can provide quick shots for destroying fire from the sub-bosses and boss, while a companion, if present, bombards them straightaway with the fire elemental setting.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest games in the light gun genre, May 17, 2006

By 

Jay McGavren "jaded gamer" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Elemental Gearbolt (Video Game)

Switch between multiple weapons at will. Each has its own uses, though I find myself sticking to the fire weapon most of the time. Beautiful graphics (by PS1 standards, anyway) and a dramatic classical soundtrack. The dub of the anime-style cutscenes is awful, but that's the only serious flaw in an otherwise fantastic gaming experience.

Don't buy unless you own a light gun, however. You can play with a standard controller and crosshairs, but you'll be seriously missing out.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best shooter game I've ever played!, May 3, 2004

By 

Paul Arnone (Munising, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elemental Gearbolt (Video Game)

This game is so awsome. I have to make this short because I'm ni class right now, and I don't want to get caught not looking up the history of Fermant's enigma, so I will say this much. It is a fun, entertaining, and challenging game. The enthusiasm to play this game is isane when you start to play it. It's definitely hard though, no question there. Plus I would HIGHLY recconmend a Guncon or something like that. Excellent animated FMVs to watch, and the story is really cool. This game could easilly be made into an RPG if you want my opinion.

5.0 out of 5 stars Elemental Gearbolt, May 17, 2011

By 

Tom Konkler (SAINT PAUL, MN, US) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elemental Gearbolt (Video Game)

I Just bought a used copy of a PlayStation game called Elemental Gearbolt and it looked like it never was open brand new so thank you. It was in much much better shape then i ever thought it would be so thank you.I haven't had luck every time with buying games online by the way the sellers name is media werk