Elements of Destruction puts you in control of the mad scientist Dr. Herbert who has dedicated himself to getting revenge on his old employer, the AIC. He has threatened them but they have ignored him so Dr. Herbert decides to use his weather control device to show them what he is made of. The device allows him to transform into pure energy and dispense natural disasters where he likes at the blink of an eye.

Gameplay:

Dr. Herbert has 3 types of natural disasters at his disposal - Tornadoes, earthquakes and lightening. Each can be upgraded throughout the game using points gained from meeting certain targets during missions. Destroying buildings and the like is very simple, the type of disaster is selected using a circle menu with the right analogue stick and is executed with the A button. Using attacks will drain the energy bar which recharges by itself or can be recharged using stations around the map. The objective of the game is to cause as much damage as possible and you are ranked on how much damage is done. It starts of simple, destroy a few barns and some houses but as the game progresses the number of structures that need to be leveled will increase, but the five minute time limit will remain. The AIC wont just let Dr. Herbert go about his business unchallenged however and will use a number of contraptions to hinder him. For example there will be shock towers which absorb earthquakes as well as drain energy, so lightening or a tornado must be used. This gets even harder when there are mobile devices to absorb your energy, for example tesla tanks which follow the player around and later on it gets quite messy with all the various enemies chasing after you. There are 4 locations in the game and apart from the first one, they each have two normal levels and then a boss fight at the end which adds a little variety. Thankfully the boss fights involve taking on Dr. Herberts old inventions so he is aware of the weaknesses, however these are highlighted a bit much during the game. Elements of Destruction takes place in snow based levels in Switzerland to the golden sands of Bermuda and the levels do get larger which coupled with the time limit means that sometimes its best to learn the locations of specific targets and replay the level. Having just four different locations may seem bad, but since there is only three types of attacks that can be used, the game would just get too boring if it was stretched out anymore.

Graphics:

The game uses fairly basic 3D visuals, but there are some nice effects and nothing looks horrible. Some of the environments do seem quite dull and lifeless though and apart from some of the enemies which chase you around everything else is stationary.

Sound:

As well as some soothing background music during missions, Dr. Herbert also gives some commentary on his actions in a stereotypical nerdy mad scientist voice like something from a retro's cartoon villain. The sound effects for the lightening and the other attacks sound average but they do the job.

Longevity:

The campaign won't last more than a couple of hours, but getting gold on all the missions and completing the more challenging survival mode will take up a bit more time. There is also split screen and online multiplayer if you can find anyone to play with. The co-operative mode is fun, but the lack of variety in the maps comes into play again and can get quite boring fast.

Overall:

Elements of Destruction is a nice simple little game that can be beaten in one sitting. The game is perhaps a little too simple though and the lack of variety in the attacks and the way they are used means the element of destroying buildings can become tiresome. For the achievement hunters and those who like a challenge, acing the survival mode adds some more time to the game but overall the game doesn't have anything new which will get you going for another play through.