I shot a Nerf dart at a giant robot and it blew up. True story.
Nerf N-Strike Elite is the second entry in the Nerf-based on-rails shooter franchise on Wii. The latest game, which comes with the new Nerf Switch Shot Ex-3 blaster, is shockingly fun, but its brevity holds it back from greatness.
Unlike the first entry in the series, which was composed of mini-games, this game features a story mode about the four young members of the N-Strike Elite as they combat evil robots. Naturally, the only way to destroy these robots is to shoot them with Nerf darts, and the only way they can hurt you is by doing the same. The story mode is entertaining and has enough variety to carry it through the two-hour escapade. Unfortunately, the only replay value is to complete harder difficulties and get upgrades for your guns, which only affect the story mode.
This time around, the bundled Nerf gun has a new feature: the Red Reveal. This transparent rose-colored piece of plastic allows you to see enemy weak spots and hidden messages. It's a cool gimmick, but it's never used as anything other than that. Also, it limits the cooperative nature of the game. You can romp through the story mode with a friend, but unless you've got two Nerf Switch Shot Ex-3 blasters with the Red Reveal attachment, then only one of you can see certain parts of the game. However, you can go through alternate areas with a second player, with or without a Nerf gun peripheral, that you can't access in the single-player mode.
Along with the hidden messages that give you codes to unlock different weapons, there are also tons of canisters throughout the levels that can be used to upgrade your weapons. You can purchase new weapons, upgrade their stats, or buy new barrels, scopes, and more to customize your guns. The four characters each have four different weapons, so there is a lot to upgrade.
Sadly, the only other mode in the game is the Blasting Range, which is a short course you can go through and try to get a high score. That's the huge problem with Nerf N-Strike Elite: the lack of content. All it has is a short story mode and the same shooting range for each gun. The co-op is fun, and the Nerf gun aesthetic is nifty, but there just isn't a lot to do.
