Is Kinect an adventure worth having?
Kinect Adventures is the game that comes with your Kinect sensor. It’s the example of what Kinect can do, but is it an adventure worth taking?
The game is a handful of mini-games where you use Kinect in subtle ways to gain pins and points. The first game is called Rally Ball and has you throw a ball at a wall with the objective being to knock down all the bricks and rebound the ball back into it as it returns. It’s essentially a Breakout clone, but is effective and quite accurate. It’s also good fun and a fun way of showing off what Kinect can do.
The second game is River Rush where you are in a raft and have to move from side to side to avoid objects, while jumping to leap over other obstacles while collecting pins along the path. The jump reaction is a little bit mixed, but the rest is fairly accurate and it can be a laugh, especially with an extra person playing alongside you.
In Reflex Ridge you are on a rollercoaster track with obstacles all over the place. Essentially you jump up to go faster, but you get bonus pins for avoiding the objects by moving from side to side, jumping and ducking. It has quite a competitive edge to it as you race to the end with the most pins. As with River Rush, the jumping accuracy is mixed, but otherwise it’s good fun.
20,000 Leaks places you in an underwater glass cube as it’s attacked and leaks start to spurt. You have to position your hands and feet over the leaks to block them. It’s like playing a standing up version of Twister and has its moments, although it gets old after a while.
The final game is Space Pop which puts you in a room with no gravity and allows you to fly to collect the incoming pins, but it also makes you go forward and backwards to reach them. It takes a while to get used to and can be quite exhausting after a while, but the same can be said for any of the other games.
There is an adventure mode which gives you targets to reach to earn medals, but it doesn’t seem worth it when you can choose which games you want to play in Free Play. You can also play others online as well as sharing your highlights of your Kinect career by uploading your photos and videos. I can’t understand why you would want anyone to see you jumping around like a buffoon, but at least the option is there. Visually, Kinect Adventures is pretty basic but it’s also quite charming to look at.
The Verdict
The games although fun have quite limited appeal and will get old quickly. I was expecting more than just 5 games from this package, despite the fact that Wii Sports shipped with the exact same number of activities. The problem though is that feels more like a tech demo than a full game, which is more or less what we all expected. Having said that, it is enjoyable and a good way to show off what Kinect can do.
