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This review has 16 positive votes and 0 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
If you're a Star Wars fan who’s been waiting for a game that will let you live out your childhood fantasies then Kinect Star Wars will either be a dream come true, or a complete nightmare...
From the very start of the game there are a number of game modes available to you: Jedi Destiny, Pod Racing, Dance Off, Rancor Rampage, & a Duels mode. In Jedi Destiny you witness Jedi Master Mavra Zane training her padawans on the wookie home planet Kashyyyk sometime after Episode One. You get to go through training learning how to wield a lightsaber and using the force all while seeing some familiar faces. Yoda, Obi-wan, and Mace Windu all make an appearance, but don't expect much from the voice acting(I hate sound-a-likes). After the tutorial levels are finished the game significantly picks up in pace and you'll constantly be in motion.
This is where the lack of polish starts to show. Very rarely will you be able to make precise strikes with your lightsaber, it's more of just swinging your arm around wildly hoping to hit something. Force controls are mapped to your off hand and you can force push or grab enemies and throw them around but again it's not very responsive. There were countless times when I tried to grab an enemy but accidentally sent him flying across the screen. While at first these little mistakes don't make too much of a difference, later in the game it can become very aggravating. Failing constantly because the Kinect can't detect you is just down right annoying and when the game also has unevenly spaced checkpoints it could mean that failing will result in replaying the last five to ten minutes all over again.
In most levels your character is on foot but the game mostly plays itself until it hands the controls over to you resulting in game-play that feels a little awkward. Even when the game does hand over control to the player it's just to do the same thing over and over again(swinging your arm wildly around). When your not on foot you'll be playing various vehicle segments. The vehicle segments work well enough but you're mostly on rails just aiming a gun or adjusting your position.
Thankfully, the campaign isn't the only playable mode. Pod Racing is great! The controls work really well in this mode and the thrilling sense of speed and chaos in the middle of a pod race translates great into a game. The only gripe I have with the Pod Racing is that you have to hold out your arms constantly which means you'll be taking regular breaks so your arms can rest.
Galactic Dance Off mode tasks you with dancing for points and stars which unlock additional songs, most of which consist of pop music that has been remixed with Star Wars themed lyrics. This mode will probably have the die hard fanboys crying foul but honestly this game mode is also one of the best in the game. The music is fun to listen to and watching your friends try and pull off the dance moves is a blast. Not to mention seeing Han Solo and Lando Calrissian dancing around on your TV screen is just hilarious. The only problems I ran into in this mode was the Kinect still having problems tracking my body movements(that or I'm a bad dancer). Also, why can't we preview a song before we play it?
Rancor Rampage is another really fun mode but it has it's problems. In this mode you to take control of a Rancor and smash your way through familiar settings on various planets. Controlling the Rancor can be quite a challenge even for skilled players and can make this mode either a blast or a bust.
Lastly, the Duels of Fate mode places you in a one on one fight against an enemy of your choice. The better you do in a duel the more enemies you can unlock to fight(finally unlocking Darth Vader himself). However, in every duel you have to slowly work your way through a ridiculously dragged out fight that has a great deal of difficulty tracking your body movements. This mode is one of the worst in the game...
Kinect Star Wars isn't a bad game. The endless complaints from fanboys will probably never cease but don't let that fool you. This is actually quite a fun game and if you're a Star Wars fan then I would say rent it and see for yourself...
3 STARS OUT OF 5 |