Nerf N-Strike Elite

Nerf N-Strike Elite is a Nerf rail shooter video game developed by EA Salt Lake and published by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo Wii, released on October 26, 2009.

It is the sequel to the 2009 video game Nerf N-Strike. The Nerf N-Strike Double Blast Bundle, containing both games, was released in 2010.

Versions of the game come packaged with a Switch Shot EX-3, a blaster that can be converted for use with a Wiimote, as well as a Red Reveal accessory and three Whistler Darts.

Gameplay
Nerf N-Strike Elite features story-driven levels, similar to the Rise of the Robots and Robot Reaction game types from Nerf N-Strike. The player takes on the role of one of the N-Strike Elite, using a pool of blasters to defeat enemies blocking their path. Unlike the previous game, this story mode can be played with one or two players, and features three difficulty modes.

The game also features a Blasting Range game mode, which features variants of the core game's blasters and a firing range to practice on.

A new aspect to Nerf N-Strike Elite is the modification of blasters, through equipping different accessories, upgrading stats, and painting new color schemes. Upgrades and parts are purchased through an in-game currency, "canisters", which are collected by firing at them during the game's story mode.

Another unique feature to Nerf N-Strike Elite is the inclusion of the Red Reveal accessory. While it is not necessary to play the game, it can be used by the player to reveal secret unlock codes, enemy weak points, and more.

Plot
The story begins with the N-Strike Elite - Tango, Komodo, Raven, and their leader, Shane - arriving at an underground maglev station, instructed by Jackal to board a maglev to a facility hidden in the a canyon. He explains that B.O.B., the antagonist from the previous game, has returned and is planning another diabolical scheme to take over the world. The Elite are attacked on the way to this facility and fend off a swarm of Gadflies, as well as a large combat helicopter.

When they reach the compound, they accidentally trip an alarm, which mobilizes a large squad of enemies against them. Down in a series of caves, they disable a security station, as well as generators powering the anti-intruder defenses. Traveling through a hydro-powered dam, they arrive at an aircraft hangar, where they board a helicopter. Jackal remote controls the aircraft so his teammates can destroy anti-hacking control pods for the robots. The helicopter is downed by a Juggernaut, but the N-Strike Elite survive the crash.

Now stuck on foot, they head for an underground facility to regroup with Jackal. Here, he reveals that he tricked the N-Strike Elite into destroying the security system so he could capture B.O.B.'s facility for himself and use the robots for his own private army. He plans launch a rocket full of B.O.B.'s previous troops to take over the world for himself.

Determined to stop Jackal's scheme, the N-Strike Elite hurry to the rocket, where they discover B.O.B. being controlled by Jackal. After one last fight with B.O.B. and defeating him, they enter the control room to discover Jackal is not there. Over communications, he explains he had been planning world domination for a long time. Komodo hijacks the rocket's controls, in order to divert the rocket and fly the N-Strike Elite off to find Jackal, wherever he may be hiding.

Characters

 * B.O.B.
 * Jackal
 * Komodo
 * Raven
 * Shane
 * Tango

Blasters
Nerf N-Strike features not only real world Nerf blasters, but also fictional ones. Variants of these blasters, the "Mega-blasters", are available only in the Blasting Range game mode.

By default, the only available blasters are the Maverick REV-6, Raider CS-35, Stampede REV-12, and Vengeance REV-8. Additional blasters must be unlocked, either by purchasing them with canisters or entering a cheat code.

Real blasters

 * Longshot CS-6
 * Longstrike CS-6 (Longstrike Falcon)
 * Maverick REV-6 (Maverick Midnight)
 * Raider CS-35 (Gold Raider)
 * Recon CS-6 (Desert Recon)
 * Vulcan EBF-25 (Ultimate Vulcan)

Fictional blasters

 * Cerberus CS-12 (Mega Cerberus)
 * Crusher SAD-G (Super Crusher)
 * Goliathan UB-1 (Grand Goliathan)
 * Hammerhead GL-1 (Sharktooth Hammerhead)
 * Hydra SG-7 (Aquatic Hydra)
 * Icarus HM-7 (Oak Icarus)
 * SemperFire RF-100 (SemperFire Ultra)
 * Spartan NCS-12 (Jungle Spartan)
 * Stampede REV-12 (Stampede Ghost)
 * Vengeance REV-8 (Burning Vengeance)

Modifications
All standard blasters can be modified to the player’s liking, with various stat upgrades, accessories, ammunition types, color schemes, and more.

Stats
Each blaster in the game has four stats, which affect its performance.


 * Dart Damage: The amount of damage fired darts cause.
 * Max Ammo: The amount of backup ammunition a blaster has. This does not affect the amount of darts loaded into a blaster.
 * Rate of Fire: The speed at which blasters fire.
 * Reload Rate: The speed at which blasters are reloaded.

Color schemes
Blasters can be customized and repainted, with a Base color and a Detail color. Colors are unlocked in sets, which cost five canisters each. The first set of colors is unlocked by default.

Add-ons
All blasters can be equipped with additional accessories, which change performance. Some add-ons are based on existing, real-life accessories that come packaged with some blasters featured in the game. As such, some are equipped to blasters by default.

Scopes
Scopes allow the player to zoom in and see enemies from a distance. Also included in with scopes are flip-up sights, which serve a similar purpose.


 * 1.5x Flip-Up Sight - 4 canisters:The 1.5x Flip-Up Sight is based on the real life Recon flip-up sight.
 * 2x Targeting Scope - 8 canisters
 * 3x Targeting Scope - 10 canisters
 * 4x Flip Up Sight - 12 canisters: The 4x Flip Up Sight is based on the real life LongStrike flip-up sight.
 * 5x Targeting Scope - 15 canisters
 * 6x Targeting Scope - 20 canisters

Beams
Beams provide a thin beam of light that help the player aim at their targets, similarly to a red dot sight.


 * Dual Mode Light Beam - 4 canisters: The Dual Mode Light Beam is based on the real life Tactical Light.
 * Core Mode Light - 8 canisters

Barrels
Barrels are tactical rail accessories that allows the equipped blaster to fire one or two additional darts.


 * Bonus Barrel - 15 canisters
 * Twin Bonus Barrel - 25 canisters

Ammunition
All blasters can have their ammunition type upgraded between, from standard ammunition types to types that make sounds as they are fired, or types that leave a glowing trail in the air.

Clip system

 * Streamline Dart: Streamline Darts are based on the real life Streamline Dart. These can be fired by any blaster that fires darts; by default, clip system blasters fire these.
 * Streamline Sticky Darts
 * Streamline Whistler Darts
 * Streamline Howler Darts
 * Smoke Tracer
 * Nova Tracer

Non-clip system

 * Streamline Dart
 * Suction Dart - 3 canisters: A Suction Dart is based on the real life Micro Dart. By default, most non-clip system blasters fire these.
 * Whistler Dart - 4 canisters: Unlike its name suggests, Whistler Darts are based on the real life Sonic Micro Dart.
 * Howler Dart - 8 canisters: Howler Darts have a color scheme that matches the real life Whistler Dart. It has a longer dart head than the Whistler Dart.
 * Smoke Tracer - 8 canisters
 * Nova Tracer - 11 canisters

Missiles

 * Streamline Missile: Streamline Missiles are the standard missile type.
 * Suction Missile - 4 canisters: Suction Missiles have a similar appearance to Suction Darts, and have a suction cup head.
 * Whistler Missile - 6 canisters: Whistler Missiles feature a similar appearance to the real life Mega Missile.
 * Howler Missile - 12 canisters: Similar to Howler Darts, Howler Missiles feature a bigger head compared to Whistler Missiles.
 * Smoke Tracer Missile - 12 canisters
 * Nova Tracer Missile - 19 canisters

Grenades

 * Streamline Grenade: Streamline Grenades are the default grenade type.
 * Toehead - 4 canisters
 * Whistler Grenade - 6 canisters
 * Bumble Rumble Grenade - 12 canisters: Bumble Rumble Grenades are the Howler type variant for grenades.
 * Rudolph Grenades - 12 canisters: Rudolph Grenades are the Smoke Tracer variant for grenades.
 * Green Fury Grenades - 19 canisters: Green Fury Grenades are the Nova Tracer variant for grenades.

Balls

 * Streamline Crusher: Streamline Crushers are the standard ball type. They feature a green color scheme, similar to common Ballistic Balls.
 * Silvershark Crusher - 3 canisters
 * Red Whistler Crusher - 5 canisters
 * Black Howler Crusher - 10 canisters
 * Smoke Tracer Crusher - 10 canisters
 * Orange Thunder - 15 canisters

Clips
Clip system blasters can be equipped with different clips that increase load capacity.


 * Standard Clip: The Standard Clip is based on the real life six dart clip.
 * Extended Clip - 6 canisters
 * Banana Clip - 11 canisters: The Banana Clip is based on the real life banana clip.
 * Drum Clip - 19 canisters: The Drum Clip is based on the real life thirty-five dart drum.

Crosshairs
Crosshairs change the on-screen crosshair that shows where the player is aiming.


 * Default Crosshair
 * Elite Crosshair - 5 canisters
 * Cross-X Crosshair - 5 canisters
 * Tri-X Crosshair - 5 canisters
 * Triangle Crosshair - 10 canisters
 * Bogeys Crosshair - 15 canisters
 * Hurricane Crosshair - 25 canisters
 * The B.O.B. Crosshair - 50 canisters: The B.O.B. Crosshair, as its name suggests, is based on the character of B.O.B.

Enemies

 * Gadfly VX-7
 * A light blue robot with four rotors that allow it to fly. Using the Red Reveal will show one of its rotors as a red weak point; shoot this red rotor to destroy it in one hit. It has two dart blasters and a rocket launcher equipped to itself.


 * Helicopter
 * A hovering robot that fires hyper bombs. It has a dart blaster built into it.


 * Train
 * An enemy train that fires missiles. Trains may appear carrying canisters.


 * Hyperbomb
 * A slow-moving robot missile that "travels through space-time at their enemies."


 * Specter
 * A yellow robot with two orange dart blasters. According to their in-game description, they are highly territorial.


 * Sentry
 * A robot that approaches close to the ground, but soon transforms to its full height to attack. It has a dart blaster and an energy shield, which can defend itself from dart fire.


 * Specter Hive
 * A row of five glass triangle barriers. Using the Red Reveal, one of the triangles will be colored red. Shooting the red triangle breaks the other four in the hive, revealing canisters. Shoot the wrong triangle causes the triangles to break and release a Specter.


 * Vileplasm
 * A green blob that latches onto the player's blaster and drains their shields. Once latched on, the player must wave their Wiimote around to knock it off and destroy it. According to their in-game description, they are a failed lab experiment.


 * Predator
 * A creature-shaped tank that burrows out of the ground. After attacking, it will dig back down into the ground.


 * Juggernaut
 * A large green robot with two rocket launchers and a pair of Gatling-style dart blasters. Destroy all the weapons on a juggernaut to expose its weak spot: its inner core.


 * B.O.B.
 * The main boss of the game, returning from the previous game.

Levels

 * 1) Track Attack: Survive a train ride while fighting off an onslaught of air robots.
 * 2) Play Time's Over: Get to the Station Five elevator.
 * 3) Pull The Plug: Destroy the generators in the electricity chamber.
 * 4) Don't Look Down: Get to the hangar.
 * 5) Prepare For Take Off: Head through the canyon and destroy the three robot control pods.
 * 6) Dead Air: Head to the next destination.
 * 7) Trust Issues: Head into an underground facility.
 * 8) 3...2...1...: Jackal has betrayed the N-Strike Elite team. Stop his rocket from blasting off.

Reception
Nerf N-Strike Elite received mixed reviews from critics. IGN gave it a 7.1 out of 10, praising the inclusion of the Switch Shot and expanded multiplayer from the previous game, as well as the game acting as a family-friendly alternative to arcade rail shooters like Area 51. It holds an average of 67/100 on aggregate website Metacritic.

Trivia

 * Despite the game's name, it has no connection to the N-Strike Elite series of blasters; it predates the series by three years.
 * Despite every character using an Icarus in the mission Prepare For Take Off, those not controlled by players will be using their default weapons.
 * Nerf N-Strike Elite included the LongStrike CS-6 as a useable blaster a full year before its release.