Elefunk - PS3 Network review

Engineering. Not so fun. But throw in some elephants, and you’ve got the premise for an addictive puzzler. You must herd elephants from point A to B. Except that en route there are chasms, fire pits and nasty swamps that spell out Nelly death. Therefore, you must build bridges for your animals to cross, and are equipped with up to eight different types of constructions to do so. These initially include different shaped metal girders, which can be rotated and attached to secure joints dotted around the scenery, but later include rope and wood. Simple, right? Wrong.

The weight of the elephants (sometimes combined with meerkats and monkeys) will cause the bridge to shatter and buckle if you haven’t constructed it with mass, physics and cruel, cruel gravity in mind. Unfortunately, the game is devoid of any tips, often leaving you chewing your nails to stumps because you simply cannot figure out why the effing bridge won’t beeping hold. This really isn’t helped by the mournful look your elephant gives you as he plummets to his doom over and over and over again.

However, when you finally watch your pachyderm dancing, safe at his destination, the sense of satisfaction is almost obscene: and this is what’ll keep you coming back for more. Throw in a fiercely competitive scoring system (which counts down like a timer, then adjusts points according to the number of girders used) plus the overwhelming cuteness of the elephants, and you’ll happily dedicate hours to honing your building skills.

Aug 22, 2008