During Gamescom we were to be found wandering the floor like children in the veritable candy store. In our all too brief time there we attended the Ubisoft press event to 'ooh' and 'aah' at the many projects the guys are hard at work on, including some exclusive Wii U launch titles.
But what did we get hands on time with on the Xbox 360?
Just Dance 4A series which has proven to be a runaway hit for Ubisoft is set to return on the Xbox 360 on the 4th of October this year. We'd already brought you some
Just Dance 4 gameplay in the
Moves Like Jagger trailer back in June. During Gamescom 2012 Ubisoft unveiled the
full setlist with a supporting trailer which revealed there would be 44 tracks included in the game from the off.
As we busted out our very best moves coupled with a fierce look of determination (which could have been easily misconstrued as a migraine) Ubisoft detailed that all of the dance moves featured in game are captured dance moves and are not 3D modelled. The on screen visuals are, as a result, very fluid and of course perfectly natural (unlike us). Kinect is pushed hard on this title as those of you with a suitably large bunch of uninhibited friends and a living room to match can fire up simultaneous 4 player dance offs. That's very cool.
We noted that despite the fact our "dancing" was akin to inhuman spasmodic jerking, the motion tracking was
excellent. We were able to try moving around to the very outer limits of Kinect's field of view and our movements were perfectly translated on to the screen for all onlookers to savour and enjoy.
An often under appreciated aspect of Kinect titles is the menu system. We've seen some games that swipe, some that poke, others that 'touch' and some which are plain broken.
Just Dance 4 has no such problems. Navigation is
fast and very neat
Back on the note of sharing the fun with your friends,
Just Dance 4 will feature a really easy to use Music Video Mode. In the quick demonstration we were provided with we saw just how simple it is to create a music video. There's no superflous options and complicated meny systems. It's just one mode which will record your best efforts and allow you to share the resulting video via YouTube, Facebook and of course directly to Xbox LIVE friends in game.
If you wish, you can share your creation with the official Just Dance TV hub. For those who don't know this is a hub for the user created music videos uploaded in game. Ubisoft remarked there are currently 6 million users of the app, so it's not exactly bereft of content. Users who join in will be able to access a "My Channel" which tracks all of their uploads and views as well as checking out their friends channels. Beyond there we have Community channels for massive groups sharing based around certain ideas. For example, themed dances will appear every couple of weeks challenging gamers to make a video to fit the request.
Marvel Avengers: Battle for EarthWe also spent some time in the company of some big name brawlers over at the
Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth stand. If you missed it we brought you a
new trailer direct from Gamescom which also included a handful of new screenshots.
In development by Ubisoft's Quebec arm, this is the very first time any character from the Marvel universe will have made a tentative step into the world of Kinect. As we stepped into the shoes of various characters (of which there will be 20 in total) we experimented with our new found powers. Each character has the usual fare of punching, kicking, slamming and smashing. More interesting is the face that every Marvel superstar has three unique special moves to experiment with and what Ubisoft have dubbed an 'ultra move' which rapidly brings you up close and personal for some fast and frantic action.
It's not plain sailing though as more adept players will be able to master the art of countering, the single move which can change a devastating flurry of pain into a full disarm and rebuttal. We were able to successfully counter our way out of danger and found the Kinect controls to be very responsive if a little unnatural to us at first. That's not a slight on the games handling of motion control, it's simply the first time this has been attempted and because of that it's always going to take a little bit of getting used to. This will be much easier in the comfort of your own home though!
If you're not too sure we asked the Ubisoft reps whether a demo would be available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace ahead of the November 6th release date. We were told that this should be appearing 'some time in September', so keep your eyes on our weekly Demo roundups for more on that in due course.
We experienced so much more that we'd love to write about here but alas, WiiU and such isn't within the TrueAchievement scope