Xbox 360 Kinect Game Review -- Your Shape: Fitness Evolved

Get fit from the comfort of your living room


Xbox 360 Kinect Game Review -- Your Shape: Fitness Evolved

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

by Trevor Tan

10:05 AM Feb 28, 2011

HOW can a game save you money? With Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (YSFE), you may not have to splurge on a personal trainer or gym membership.

Upon starting up YSFE, you are greeted by a boring white interface as the game scans and measures your whole body, including such details as your height, chest size, lip line, arm length and so on. All this information allows the game to make sure the menu interface is within easy reach of your hands, and ensures you maintain the correct position during workouts.

You will not be controlling some cute avatar - instead, your virtual image (albeit a fuzzy one) appears on TV. If you're not happy with how you look, you can change the colour and visual effects of your avatar.

After punching in your age and weight, YSFE will run you through a series of cardio and basic exercises to gauge your performance and tailor the workouts to your fitness competency. You can always retake the test if you think the tailored workout is not to your liking.

YSFE will also ask you some questions about your fitness habits and your fitness goals, such as whether you want to lose weight or tone your body.

There are three main components in YSFE: Personal Training, Fitness Classes and Gym Games.

In Personal Training, you get a workout programme personalised for your needs.

In Fitness Classes, you can opt for Cardio Boxing to get your heart pumping or choose Zen Energy (taiqi or yoga) for a light exercise.

If you want to have some fun with your workout try the Gym Games. There are four games here to play: Virtual Smash, where you punch and kick your way through virtual bricks; Light Race, where you tap your toes on virtual targets around your feet; Loop-A-Hoop, where you move your hips to swing virtual hula-hoops; and the surprisinigly enjoyable Stack 'Em Up, where you catch falling shapes on your head. It really gives your arms a workout.

The Gym Games are the only component in which you don't have to follow a virtual trainer (you can choose male or female). During the workouts in Personal Training and Fitness Classes, you have to stay in rhythm with the virtual trainer in order to gain points. If you fail to do so, your play space will turn gray instead of green, and you will lose points and incur the wrath of your virtual trainer, who will correct you along the way.

You will be doing plenty of routines - covering punching, kicking, leg lunges, squats thrusts and many more - and unlocking new exercises as you go along.

However, there is no way of customising your own exercise routine. To me, it is a glaring missing feature since it means you can't store your favourite exercise into the game.

YSFE really doesn't allow you to cheat, unlike some other motion-sensing games in the market. You not only need to raise your legs at the right height but also at the same pace as the virtual trainer.

Even during the taiqi exercises, YSFE will make sure your posture is picture-perfect before awarding you any points. The problem is, sometimes the sensor does not fully register your move. For example, I was only awarded 90 per cent for one routine when I am sure it was spot-on.

The lack of a solid soundtrack also dampens the mood, as the workouts can get really boring at times. Thankfully, there are already add-ons, such as Dance Workout: Bollywood, where you get a high-impact workout using Bollywood dance moves.



VERDICT

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is not really a game, but more of a personal fitness companion capitalising on the strengths of Kinect. It is certainly will give you a great workout but not exactly the fun you will expect from a game. A few more Gym Games might just do the trick ...



This review is only available online.


Source: www.todayonline.com

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Xbox 360 Kinect Game Review: MotionSports

Can you kick it?


Xbox 360 Kinect Game Review: MotionSports

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

by Nizam Ali

10:05 AM Feb 22, 2011

There is a small degree of similarity between Kinect Sports and MotionSports for the Xbox360, yet both promise a unique experience. Like Kinect Sports, MotionSports offers six sports genres to try your hand at: Skiing, soccer, football, horseback riding, boxing and hang-gliding.

Although Kinect Sports offers boxing and football as well, the gameplay between titles for both games is fairly different. I suspect there'll be a little confusion between "soccer" and "football" (which we know as American football) for some, but a glance at the cover image should clear things up straight away.

Once you load the game, an eager male announcer voice welcomes you and takes you through some calibration exercises. Here you are requested for three specific poses for capture - but rather than follow instructions, just strike any pose you want, the sillier the better. You'll know what they're for eventually ...

From the main menu, you can choose to try out the six sports genres in any order. Within skiing, there are a few events focussing on different segments of the sport, with ski jumping the most fun option.

In the Soccer module, you're placed in the shoes of a goalkeeper or a striker and you take turns to deny and score shots, with some challenges thrown in. Instead of a direct representation of your movement, gameplay is relegated to a "choose direction of reaction" format before the animation sets in.

Boxing will have you go head-to-head with an opponent. The game doesn't allow you to rush in with jabs - you can only throw a powerful blow after a series of successful parry moves.

Horseback riding is rarely included in many sports games so it's a welcome addition here. Gameplay is simple; you basically lead your horse through a series of obstacles.

Hang-gliding is my favourite module, because it allows you to glide through locations like canyons and a city while attempting to catch updrafts to glide further and satisfy challenges, before attempting to land on the bullseye.

While you can play these games with up to three friends in the same room by taking turns, some have competitive modes for two. The controls are pretty intuitive, though not always consistent. At times, your motions just fail to register and you'll have you retry a game over and over.

Still, glitches aside, MotionSports is still a worthy purchase among the current limited selection of titles.



VERDICT

MotionSports is a nice alternative to Kinect Sports, and makes clever use of the camera features of the Kinect sensor.



This review is only available online.

Source: www.todayonline.com

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