Review: Elevator Action Deluxe

Posted by Brad T on September 13th, 2011 | 0 Comments | Tags: Elevator Action Deluxe

Elevator Action Deluxe is another old title with new life breathed into it.  When comparing it to the other titles its not unlike Spelunker HD.  Elevator Action Deluxe doesn’t stray too far from its source material.  It adds some updated (and needed) tweaks to gameplay that makes for a much more engrossing corporate espionage experience.   And if you don’t like the tweaks, they’ve included the entire original game in here as well.

Elevator Action Deluxe follows a spy (with a killer haircut) around collecting secret documents that are secured behind Red doors in different office buildings.  The object is to get to each red door and the exit before time runs out in each level.  In order to achieve this task, you must avoid (or kill) anything that gets in your way.  This includes other spies, mines, soldiers, and numerous pneumatic devices that try to kill you or obscure your path.  You’re armed with 3 hits and a trusty pistol with limited range.  Behind other doors you’re able to find better weaponry/traps such as an RPG, Machine Gun, or a Mine.  There are also environmental objects that you can take advantage of.  Use the elevators to crush your enemies, drop a lamp on them, or trap them behind a shutter.

Visuals are faithful to the original, with familiar color schemes and design.  They’re bright, cartoony, and clear.  The music certainly fits the game, very secret agent like.  It doesn’t vary that much though, so it was a bummer I couldn’t play my own music over top.

Levels begin very straight forward, allowing you to grasp the basics quickly.  Your jump is just about as weak as Spelunker’s so that takes some getting used to.  Each level has a medal system that has specific guidelines for obtaining them.  If you complete the level, you automatically receive the bronze, with silver and gold requiring a certain score or certain condition to be met, such as not being detected by any enemies or beating the level in a certain time frame.   There is also a great leader-board system that encourages you to go back and beat your best scores.  I played a ton of it the night it came out and briefly held the top score in the US for levels 2-1 and 2-2.

My favorite way to play was in those first few levels.  You could run from door to door, un noticed.  Finishing a level undetected without having to resort to killing any of the guards was a very rewarding gameplay experience.  Then in later levels, to get the gold, I had to blow up 10 guards with an RPG.  This tugged and pulled in different directions.  I really enjoyed the Solid Snake Route, but in most of the later levels, you just can’t play like that.  This disappointment was softened when I jumped into multiplayer.  Play style completely changed as my buddy and I tackled a dozen or so levels.  Working cooperatively, I would knock out lights while my partner in crime would rifle through the secret documents.  After completing the level, the game records the score of the better player (but doesn’t report it to the scoreboards for obvious reasons).  After finding this out, even though we were working towards the same goal, there was an ever so subtle competition going on to see who would die less or collect more of the documents.

There is also head to head multiplayer in which we really compete over getting the secret intel.  The best way to describe this experience is chaotic.  Constantly running around trying to trap your opponent while still getting to the intel without him laying a trap outside your door.  There were certainly opportunities for griefing, but hey, that’s how I play multiplayer.  Shame they couldn’t pull off online with this one though.

While maybe not as deep as Spelunker, Elevator Action Deluxe has a ton going for it.  I enjoyed the time I had with the title, and it can get downright maddening in later levels.  (And don’t get me started on the original version, gamers were a different breed back in those days) Elevator Action Deluxe teaches you to make sure to look before you leap…Or take an Elevator.

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.

---