Good action movie destruction...
Truthfully the story isn't very important as the game is more therapy for those of a destructive bend. As you walk the path of revenge you wield the power to create lightning, earthquakes and tornadoes. Along the way you pick up some improved techniques for unleashing these powers as well as the ability to unlock some nastier forces of nature as well. All in all you're pretty much a pissed off guy with the weapons to back you up.
In the trial you get to test out your powers in the first couple of scenarios, the farmlands of Canada and the suburbs of "Hysteria Lane" in the U.S. Once your weather creation invention is online it turns you into this sort of energy sphere that you navigate over the world using the left thumbstick. To access your powers you just flick the right stick to highlight what you need. Select your power, use the A button to deploy it and depending on the power you either rotate the left stick to rotate the tornado, repeatedly press the A button for an earthquake or employ a old school golf swing mechanic to maximize your lightening strikes. Once the tornado and earthquake is deployed there is some technique in how you throw objects or create aftershocks but the controls are pretty intuitive and I had no problem picking them up.
While it's not explained very well, you apparently have about 5 minutes to complete the objectives in each level of the normal single player campaign. When you fail a mission by running out of time it says something about the AIC satellites finding you. I assume they're not too happy when they do because you have to retry the mission. The mission difficulty felt just about spot on for me. I had to repeat a few missions but I always felt that I had enough technique left at my disposal to try again without feeling overly frustrated. Your mileage will definitely vary, but you could probably get through the regular single player experience in day without problem.
There are a couple of other single player modes you unlock as you progress through the main story. Free-For-All is what you unlock first and that lets you spend as much time as you want blowing stuff up, with your ultimate objective to destroy everything on the map. Once you complete the game you get Survival mode which is a bit more challenging as your power meter is continually depleting making you seek strategically placed energy stations or destroy buildings for more power. Another addition to Survival mode are powerups. Powerups appear throughout the maps and they give you higher level forces and additional energy giving a nice strategic twist to the game. Each mode is a bit different but you are covering the same ground as you did in the normal single player experience so it can become a bit repetitive.
Multiplayer offers a few modes of play including online and split screen co-op and versus (Destruction). In Destruction the goal is to create more dollars of damage than your opponent. There are powerups on the map you can grab to give you temporary access to higher powered forces, unlimited energy, cash bonuses and double damage scores. These modes definitely help extend the gameplay.
Graphically the game gets the job done but doesn't make your jaw drop. The explosions, crumbling structures, and terrain all do a good job of setting the scene but you won't be overwhelmed. After multiple play throughs the game still retains the destructive satisfaction you need.
The music in the game is simple orchestration that doesn't detract from the gameplay in anyway. The guy that does the voice work is pretty funny and definitely has a few good one liners.
The satisfaction of destroying objects, using the forces of nature in creative ways and building up your arsenal really made the game enjoyable. I definitely recommended Elements of Destruction it's worth checking out.