Game Room: November Roundup

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Dec 1, 2010

Game Room: November Roundup

Get Kinect'd

When the Wii’s motion-controller debuted in 2006 and started selling like hot cakes, both Microsoft and Sony were forced to take notice and re-evaluate their position in the high-def console arms race. Sony answered with the recently released Move motion-controller, but Microsoft took the intuitive step of removing the controller from the equation all together, replacing it with the Kinect sensor. The Kinect sensor (see inset) is comprised of a camera, visual sensors and several microphones, all of which work together to track your movements and voice in 3-D space. The unit also has a motor that moves the sensor left, right, up and down to calibrate and track you if you’re moving during a video chat. The Kinect connects to the Xbox 360 via a dedicated cord on the newer slim units or via USB on the older Xbox 360 models. A power source is included for the older connections. You can place the Kinect above or below a TV, but it needs to be within a few inches to maximize responsiveness. The Kinect manual recommends at least six feet between the sensor and the edge of your standing/playing area. In reality, though you need seven-to-eight feet for a single player game and something closer to 10 feet for two player games, especially titles that track your entire body and require jumping. And you’ll need to consider your height and the height of your ceiling, as jumping is a component in several of the games released so far. It’s important to note that room lighting will affect calibration and the sensor’s effectiveness in tracking your movements. Kinect definitely functions better in well-lit rooms.

Kinect'd Cont.

Kinect’s voice and gesture commands can also be used to navigate other services on Xbox Live, such as ESPN3, Zune Music and Video. You can set up a local Kinect ID that allows the unit to recognize your voice and body, though a unique Xbox Live account is required for each Kinect ID. From the Kinect hub on the Xbox dashboard, you can use the Video Kinect service to chat with other Kinect users or anyone on a computer using Windows Live Messenger. The downside of this feature is the image quality of the connect camera, which isn’t on par with HD web cams currently on the market. Most of the launch titles are very kid-friendly, and it’s clear Microsoft is targeting a larger, more causal audience with the Kinect. We expect that some future titles will cater a bit more to hardcore gamers, though it remains to be seen if serious gamers want to play titles that require them to stand throughout or are willing to sacrifice input lag and the precision of controller-based games, especially first-person shooters. As a standalone peripheral the Kinect doesn’t fail to impress, but the longevity of it is clearly going to rest in the hands of future games. Score: 9/10

Kinect Adventures

Kinect Adventures is the pack-in game that comes with the Kinect hardware. It features five mini games including Rallyball, 20,000 Leaks, Space Pop, Reflex Ridge and River Rush.  20,000 Leaks and River Rush are the most engaging of the games, but once you spend a few hours with Kinect Adventures you’ll realize there’s not a lot of replay value. All the games allow for a second player, but you’ll need to make sure there’s enough space between you and in front of the TV. The graphics in Kinect Adventures are all pretty solid and the game definitely shows off the potential of the Kinect. Score: 6/10

Kinect Sports

Kinect Sports includes versions of the following sports; soccer, beach volleyball, bowling, table tennis, track & field and boxing. The games require a wide variety of movement from simply swinging your arm to return a table tennis serve or running and jumping in place during a hurdles race. There’s a little bit of lag between your physical actions and what happens on screen, though it’s more noticeable in a game like table tennis versus bowling. The games all have a learning curve as you explore how to best move to achieve the best results, but it’s mostly one-to-one and natural. The graphics and sound are handled well and there’s plenty of replay value especially in local and online multiplayer action. This is definitely the game you’ll be breaking out when you have friends over to check out Kinect. Score: 8/10

Kinectimals

Kinectimals drops you onto a fictitious island and lets you pick among a host of super cute exotic cats. From there you set off with your pet and a guide to explore the island. As you discover and unlock new parts of the island you have the chance to play with your pet through a host of mini-games and activities. The visuals in the game are very impressive and go a long ways toward creating an engaging experience and bond between you and your pet. The game suffers somewhat from non-intuitive movements and overly complicated menus, but Kinectimals is a solid addition especially if you have kids or animal lovers in your household. Score: 7/10

Your Shape Fitness Evolved

For a peripheral that’s predicated on activity and motion, an exercise game is a no-brainer. Your Shape leads the way with a well-crafted fitness program that is easy to use and takes itself seriously. To start the game scans you so it can properly track your movements. In each exercise you’ll have a virtual trainer explaining and showing you the proper form. You are represented on screen by a colored amorphous skeleton showing how the sensor views you. Sensor recognition is sometimes an issue that leads to the game calling you out for bad form. While it can get a little annoying, you’re still exercising and burning calories. The game focuses heavily on cardio exercises as well as legs and upper body, but you can add free weights to increase the benefits.  Score: 8/10

Dance Central

Dance Central taps right into the ever-expanding rhythm music market by offering a slick dancing game that allows you to serve your friends in the comfort of your home. The concept is pretty simple: follow the on-screen dancer by completing ordered moves set to music. The songs in the game are varied, though a longer play list would be nice. The animations in the game have a unique style that you’ll grow to appreciate, and the assortment of dance moves is staggering. On higher difficulty levels the game is a serious challenge to even experienced dancers.  For the dancing impaired, Dance Central features a training mode that allows you to learn a dance one move at a time at your own pace. Occasionally the Kinect sensor will miss or misinterpret a move you’ve made, but it’s not a big detractor unless you’re working on a high score. There’s no career mode in the game, but it’s probably a better party game anyway. Score: 9/10

Joy Ride

Joy Ride is basically a kart racing game where you steer with your hands as if you were holding a wheel. You also use your body to turn, activate boosts, and to jump the car to perform aerial stunts. The core of Joy Ride is pretty solid with a host of racing options like career, stunt, power-ups, drag racing and more. As you progress you’ll unlock new vehicles and challenges. The tracks and environments are colorful and engaging. The problem with the game is the handling of the vehicles. Driving game veterans will feel the lack of steering precision derived from controller-based games. Joy Ride also supports split-screen multiplayer action. Score: 5/10

MLB 2K 11: Hello Halladay

Phillies’ superstar pitcher and this year’s National League Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay, will grace the cover of 2K Sports’ annual baseball franchise. Halladay and the Phillies fell short against the eventual World Series champion Giants in the NLCS, but the right-handed ace still posted an amazing 21-10 season with a 2.44 ERA and 219 strikeouts. MLB 2K11 is scheduled for a March 11, 2011 release on all platforms.

NBA Jam

BOOM SHAKA LAKA! The arcade hoops classic returns with all of the ridiculous features you remember: flaming basketballs, backboard shattering dunks, still-frame head shots – only now, they’re spruced up with high definition graphics. A new spin-move is added to the pass-shoot button mashing controls, but other than that this remake is all about recreating the glory of the over-the-top original. New technology maintains smooth 2-on-2 gameplay during classic campaign mode, while remix game modes offer up side games like boss battles and 21. Don’t worry about a simple title becoming boring, there are tons of unlockables from classic Knicks like Patrick Ewing to classic Knicks fans like the Beastie Boys. And for the first time ever you can also challenge or team-up with friends online. Score: 9/10  Game Room Video Review: NBA Jam

Donkey Kong Country Returns

The original Donkey Kong Country (1994) on the SNES was a groundbreaking game that took everyone’s favorite Nintendo ape to new graphical heights. The Wii sequel pays homage to its’ 2-D side-scrolling roots and immediately establishes itself as one of the premiere titles on the console. The plot is pretty simple: A pack of Tiki-styled bad guys have hypnotized Donkey Kong’s jungle buddies and swiped his bananas.   Single player mode puts you in charge of Donkey Kong. As you progress you’ll be joined by Diddy Kong, who will hop on your back and power-up your jumps and allow you to take more hits from enemies. In various levels you’ll ride the classic rhino, in a mine cart and shoot across the screen in a rocket barrel. You can also play the game co-op with the second player controlling Diddy. The graphics are colorful and clever, as are the myriad sound effects and music. You can play using the nunchuk, but classic control is much better. Each level has K-O-N-G letters and hidden puzzle pieces to collect as well as time trial races. All of that adds a lot of replay and makes total completion of the game a serious task. The levels slowly ramp in difficulty with an emphasis on precision jumping. For the more casual gamers Nintendo did include an auto-play feature that gives you the option of advancing if you’re stuck. We’re happy to see Donkey Kong back in a great and challenging title. Pound your chest big guy, you’ve earned it. Score: 10/10

Gran Turismo 5

At long last the Gran Turismo franchise has finally made it to the PS3 as a fully-baked game. As expected the driving physics are top notch, and GT5’s tagline of "The Real Driving Simulator" is hardly a boast.  GT5 features a giant array of more than 1,000 licensed cars and 25 locations with more than 70 track variations. Cars are broken into two types: standard and premium. The standard cars look good, but not nearly as good as the stunning premium set, and you can’t use the cockpit view on the standards. The tracks and car visuals look amazing, especially up close, and an assortment of weather effects and night racing really lend a great deal of immersion to the experience. For the first time in the GT series, real-time collusion damage is featured, though it’s not visually impactful and seems a little tacked on. Driver AI is pretty weak, so the most common damage you’ll see is when you rear-end another car trying to pass. Driving is more accessible than ever for beginners as the game features an array of driver assists that simplify braking and handling. More experienced drivers can easily deactivate those. The career mode is grueling, featuring a lot of racing and not a ton of character. And often your car selection is more important than your skill level. GT5 is rich with different types of racing from NASCAR to World Rally Championship to karts. Car customization is solid, though not best in breed as compared to the current crop of next generation racing games. A course creator is available, though the options are surprisingly limited. Multiplayer options are a little lighter than you’d expect, but the upside is the capacity for up to 16 drivers olnine. If you have room on your PS3, GT5 takes an 8GB install to speed up the loading of tracks and cars. Score: 9/10

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

The latest iteration of the Need For Speed franchise is beautiful in its simplicity. It's basically cops vs. racers. Racers race, and cops try to catch them. You play both sides of the law through the single-player campaign and the robust online mode. Fans of Burnout: Paradise will love the crash sequences and methods of accumulating nitrous: drive against traffic, slipstream and near-misses. There’s a full array of makes and models for the cops and robbers, so if you think being part of the Fuzz is lame, you'll reconsider when you get to do so in a Porsche. The gameplay is refreshingly simple yet dynamic thanks to the weapons available: spike strips, EMP bursts, roadblocks and helicopters. Fans of racing games and especially this series will not be disappointed. Score: 9/10

Hands-on: Shift 2: Unleashed

We got a chance to spend some time playing EA’s follow-up to 2009’s Shift. Shift 2: Unleashed features a very intense and cool-looking helmet camera that tilts contextually as you lean your car into and out of turns. For fans of the cockpit view, this is the next step in that progression. A night race in the demo made the game feel like more of a gritty simulation and less like its’ arcade cousin, Need for Speed. The real-time car damage and crash animations were very strong as was the game audio.  This is one to keep an eye on for the gear heads out there. Shift 2 is scheduled for a March 8, 2011 release on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

The Call of Duty franchise has transformed into one of the most popular first-person shooters on the planet with staggering sales records. Fortunately the product is worth the hype. The story mode of Black Ops unfolds though the eyes of a captured soldier, Alex Mason, whose interrogation sets the stage for flashback missions. The missions take place in a host of countries and feature some cameos from historical figures like Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy. The game is loaded with intense action, but levels sometimes feel too linear and occasionally it’s more important to advance your position than to take out enemies. The AI in the game is underwhelming, but the amazing visuals, booming audio and very solid voice acting more than compensate. Black Ops features a solid assortment of weapons, though the differences between them are far more relevant when playing multiplayer as opposed to the offline campaign. The multiplayer options are impressive, especially the wager matches where you can bet CoD points used to purchase character upgrades. The improvement of the zombie mode is also a very welcome addition. Score: 8/10

The Shoot

The Shoot utilizes Sony’s Move controller in a basic point-and-shoot game with five different movie set motifs including western, sci-fi, zombie, mobster and underwater. Each set has four stages to pass.  You goal is to satisfy the director of each shoot by racking up points for accuracy and speed and for total targets hit. Taking damage also lowers the director approval meter. You don’t control movement, but from time to time you’re prompted to duck or lean to the side to avoid incoming fire. As you advance and score you’ll acquire power-ups that are used to quickly take out multiple targets. Unfortunately one of the attacks requires you to spin 360 degrees, which is pretty annoying when you’re playing standing up, and virtually impossible if you’re sitting down. The graphics are decent but are never impressive. The control is fairly responsive, so lag isn’t an issue. We know the Move is still new but we’re still waiting for some A-games to show it off. Score: 6/10

The Fight: Lights Out

For those of you afraid of getting punched in the face during a street fight, the PS3 Move offers up a safer option. Unfortunately, getting punched in the face might actually be more fun than playing The Fight: Lights Out. Using the Move to virtually box is a no-brainer, but the clunky controls in Lights Out mar the experience. Constant recalibration and a lack of one-to-one response time add up to a futile exercise in shadow boxing. The game aims for a gritty feel by using locales reminiscent of Fight Club (deserted alleyways, abandoned warehouses) and tutorials by movie tough-guy Danny Trejo, but thanks to the poor gameplay, the end result is more humorous than dangerous. Score: 5/10

GoldenEye 007

Thirteen years after GoldenEye 007 moved eight million units for the Nintendo 64 and changed the first-person shooter genre forever, Activision has re-imagined the iconic espionage title for the Wii. You remake a beloved classic at your own risk, but Nintendo’s update does the original justice. Beyond the obvious superficial changes – that's Daniel Craig in for Pierce Brosnan – much of the story remains the same. With gameplay heavily inspired by latter-day shooters like Halo and Call of Duty, the latest Bond adventure features a deep single-player mode to go with the multiplayer game that made the original so wildly popular. GoldenEye manages to tap into nostalgia without using it as a crutch. It’s far more than just a by-the-numbers shooter trying to cash in on its popular namesake; it’s the best first-person shooter for the Wii to date. Score: 9/10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Deathly Hallows the movie is pretty darn entertaining and worthy of repeat viewings. Deathly Hallows the game? Not so much. The game loosely follows the events of the movie, with Harry and Co. forgoing the friendly confines of Hogwarts to seek out the Horcruxes that are the key to defeating the evil Lord Voldemort. Sadly, the game casts an immediate Stupefy spell with a terrible opening act that lays the groundwork for disjointed action and wonky camera angles for many levels to follow. Most of said action takes places from a third-person perspective that includes a poorly executed attack and cover mechanic. Cover is mostly useless, as it makes your attack spells harder to aim and sometimes leaves you stuck in place with Snatchers and Death Eaters pummeling you from behind. In addition to endless enemy re-spawning, the AI of combatants are tactically on par with the efforts we’d imagine a first-year D-student at Hogwarts would muster. The graphics in the game are competent, but sometimes muddy. The voice acting is OK, but at times more than a little uninspired. This game needs a sock so it can be set free. Score: 3/10

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is the third game in the Prince-of-Persia-meets-The-Matrix, parkour-infused, throat-slitting simulator series and, while it’s very similar to its predecessor, it’s the best yet. Once again, the player assumes the role of Desmond Miles, the progeny of a line of master assassins waging a multi-century war against a secret army. Desmond is able to connect via a machine called the Animus into his genetic memories and relive his ancestor’s bloodthirsty experiences in order to solve a greater riddle taking place in modern times. To call the story farfetched is an understatement, but it makes for a great framing structure to the game’s missions which, in this game, are centered within and around Rome. Brotherhood is a direct sequel to Assassin’s Creed II, and, if you’re in it for the story, you’d be best served by starting from the first game (they’re all excellent). The single player mode is similar to the previous game, with the main addition of an assassin team you can recruit and deploy to make money for you or to help you out. Rome is by far the largest city yet in an Assassin’s Creed game, and there’s an endless amount of side missions to carry out. The most mind-blowing addition to Brotherhood, however, is the new multiplayer mode. Players enter a city populated with computer-controlled bystanders and as many as seven other human players. Each player is given a target to assassinate – one of the other humans – who are both hunter and hunted. The challenge is to stalk your target slowly, blending into the crowd, while also watching your back for other players hunting you. There are perks to unlock, including disguises and gas bombs, to make yourself both a more effective assassin and a more elusive target. It’s the most novel and addictive new multiplayer mode to come along in years. There&am

Kontrol Freek

A performance-enhancer for a controller? That’s the idea behind the Kontrol Freek line of accessories. Snap the Freeks on your Xbox 360 or PS3 control sticks and reap the benefits. The FPS Freek is designed to improve accuracy in first-person shooters by extending the length of the analog stick to give you 40 percent more linear distance from full stop to stop. The Speed Freek extends the width of the stick, allowing you to hug the curves of a track in racing games. The tactile surface of the TD Freek is tailor-made for sports games, giving the user pinpoint control and the ability to turn on a dime. Each button snaps on and off with minimal effort. For competitive players looking for an edge, the Kontrol Freeks could push your game over the top. Score: 8/10  

Pac-Man Party

If you are an adult looking to rekindle some of kind of Pac-Man Fever nostalgia, this game isn't for you. It's basically a collection of mini-games (about 45 in all) featuring Pac-Man and his ghost friends. The games range from merely strange (tennis) to the outright bizarre (take down a robot teddy bear). It's enough variety to keep kids entertained, at least. On the bright side, the game does come with the old arcade versions of Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug. Score: 4.5/10  

Game Room: November Roundup