512Andy GarciaElevator Action 3D is a modernized version of the classic Taito game released back in 1983. As in the original, users play a spy attempting to retrieve top-secret documents from buildings. The difference now is that the game switches perspective and is played as a first-person shooter.
In each building there are 10 floors to sneak through and to clear each one, five documents must be found. Standing in your way is an intricate maze of elevators and floor designs, not to mention enemy spies on the hunt. To add more difficulty, the missions are also timed so it’s imperative to find your bearings and move quickly. The mission is a failure if your three lives are lost or you do not make it to the exit with all five documents before time runs out.
To make matters a little fair, extra time is added once each one of the documents is recovered. Also, building maps are available to show where the documents are hidden, what the floor layouts are, and where elevators are located along with what floors they service. Using these is highly important if you wish to be successful and make your escape.
Some floors will also feature extra health, since you can only take five hits, and others will have a power-up called Nanosense. Consider Nanosense the same as bullet time because it slows enemies’ movements down while you fill them full of lead. Another advantage is the ability to shoot out lights and get protection under the cover of darkness against enemy spies.
Moving about the floors, collecting documents and eliminating enemies are controlled with only the D-pad. Players can also crouch or access the building maps using keypad buttons. This is handled easily but there are moments where it’s possible to get stuck along the wall if you get too close to it. It usually happens when running from danger so just pay attention where you’re going. The game has a dark environment with limited use of colors and sound, so it doesn’t seem as inviting as the original.
Elevator Action 3D remains true to the original in terms of the game play. The difficulty increases rapidly, which bodes well for those who enjoy the FPS, but unfortunately not enough was done to really make it feel like a 21st century game. Not that it should have been turned into a Splinter Cell clone, but just a little more would have helped.